Chokehold

In Moody’s blood-soaked third Final War novel, Matthew Dunne and a handful of fellow survivors emerge from an underground bunker into a nuclear-blasted Britain still overrun with vicious, rage-fueled Haters, transformed humans whose overriding need is to kill Unchanged people like Matt. Beaten down and exhausted, Matt only wants to be left alone, but he’s drawn back into the fight when he and his group are taken to a fortified compound run by an old acquaintance, Estelle Bisseker, commanding officer of the Civil Defense Force. Estelle is eager to take the Haters down once and for all, but she’s not prepared for a massive cell of Haters that’s primed to wipe out the last of the Unchanged. When Matt spots a Hater in their midst, no one believes him, and he’s drugged, only to awaken to carnage. Matt sets out to find the rest of the group and warn them of the impending bloodbath. Moody toggles between the perspectives of the Haters and the Unchanged, eschewing nuance and peppering Matt’s harrowing journey with brutal fights that pave the way for all-out final battles. Fans of exceedingly bleak survival horror will be satisfied. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Nov.)