A few months back I reviewed Hater by David Moody, and after months of waiting I finally got my hands on the sequel, Dog Blood. I’ve been in contact with David for a while now. He tried to get me an advanced copy but in the end, I was not selected by the publisher. But anyway, I got the book, read it and here is the review.
The war between the Haters and the Unchanged continues. Battle after battle is fought, and both sides have suffered massive losses. After escaping from a slaughter house, Danny McCoyne, continues searching for his lost daughter, Ellis. Danny is a Hater and so is Ellis. Before the young girl changed, she was taken away by Lizzy, Danny’s wife, when he first changed. Danny wonders the streets, fighting the Unchanged any chance he gets, in search of Ellis.
On his travels, Danny sees many things. There’s a new form of Hater that he has never come into contact with. They are known as Brutes. These Haters do not hold back, they are driven by one thing; the need to kill. Danny continues searching for his lost daughter when he is held captive. There, Danny learns how to control the ‘hate’. Is this one step closer to Haters and Unchanged co-existing?
I can’t help but compare Hater to Dog Blood. If you read my review of Hater, you know that it received 5 Undead Heads. In the first book I really felt a connection with Danny. While I was reading I saw a lot of myself in him. In Dog Blood, I didn’t really feel that connection. He was not the same character as the first book and that kind of killed the experience for me.
Despite my feelings toward the protagonist, Dog Blood was a fantastic read. I love the direction Moody is taking the story. The Brutes were an awesome addition to the book, but I kind of wished David would have spent more time writing about them. Maybe there wasn’t much interaction with the Brutes because they’ll have a bigger role in the third book.
(Spoiler) There was one part in the book that was all too predictable. When Danny is caged and his capturer, Joseph Mallon, begins talking about Haters being able to hold the hate, I already knew what was going to happen. It was heavily mentioned in the first book that Haters are able to tell if a person is like them or Unchanged, while non-Haters can’t. A small group of Haters are learning to control the urge to kill so they can infiltrate the Unchanged cities. That was very predictable.
Even though I knew where the story was headed, getting there was a fun ride. The action and gore scenes were just as good, if not, better than the first novel. Ellis is one very vicious child. Her fighting scenes were… I can’t even begin to say how fucking awesome they were. They were perfect. I can't wait for the third book. I will have to give Dog Blood 4 Undead Heads out of 5.
Dog Blood is available at any book store. If you haven’t read Hater, I suggest you do so and then buy a copy of Dog Blood. If you’d like to support the site please use the link to the left and purchase a copy.
