"Hater"

David Moody self-published Hater online in 2006, and without an agent, succeeded in selling film rights to Guillermo del Toro (director, Hellboy 1 & 2, Pan’s Labyrinth and the upcoming Hobbit series) and Mark Johnson (producer, The Chronicles of Narnia).

Moody applied the Page 69 Test to Hater, now available from Thomas Dunne Books, and reported the following:

On page 69 of Hater, my ordinary, brow-beaten, relentlessly hassled ‘hero’, Danny McCoyne, gets a pretty strong indication that the world is beginning to tear itself apart. Unfortunately, he’s too wrapped up in himself and his own problems to realise the implications of events being reported on the TV news from a street corner just a few miles from home. Danny is frustratingly self-obsessed; too busy grumbling about the fact that he’s spending yet another Saturday night / early Sunday morning at home in front of the TV to realise that ‘the Hate’ is spreading and is inching ever closer towards him and his family.

In Hater society crumbles with terrifying speed as a result of an unstoppable and inexplicable epidemic of violent attacks on individuals. There’s no pattern to the violence, no apparent reason and no apparent cause. There are no obvious connections between the attackers and their victims or, indeed, between any of the attackers themselves.

By page 69 of the book, Danny has already witnessed first-hand several bizarre and horrific incidents. At this stage, however, they seem to him to just be coincidental, but this scene is a turning point. As he sits alone and watches the news, he slowly begins to realise that everything he’s seen may be interconnected. Even more terrifying is the realization that this may only be the beginning and that things could easily get much, much worse.

For a while longer, Danny will still be able to bury his head in the sand and pretend nothing’s happening. But there’ll come a point when that’s no longer possible, when he’ll have to face facts and make a stand for his family. He’ll be able to lock the doors and bolt the windows, but will he be shutting the Hate out, or locking it in?

Read an excerpt from Hater, watch the video, and learn more about the author and his work at David Moody's website.

Check out the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue