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I thought this was an interesting book, if somewhat confusing at times.
The portrayal of a man worn down by his dead end job and frustrated with his home life was painfully honest. I've been in that kind of rut before where you literally dread Mondays. I feel his wife's pain, too. Taking care of 3 kids is no doubt exhausting.
I was really surprised at how he spoke to his kids though. My parents may have told me to be quiet but they never told me to shut up. I'm sure they were probably tempted, but they never said it. (They also had fewer kids and more space). I have to agree that it's the kids who are running the asylum, as it were.
It took me about 2/3 of the book to realize something was missing from the story -- the Internet. At no point did any character go online to look for more information. I finally had to check to see when the book was printed (notebook computers get a mention) and it was 2006. So was this a story that was written prior to that and not revised? Even if they couldn't afford Internet at the house, surely Danny's job had access. Everything these days has a "for more information go to this URL." It wasn't as prevalent in 2006 as it is today, but still. I don't know about Britain but in America we probably do turn to 24 hour news channels when something major is going on, but we also check things out on the Internet.
The Haters were certainly interesting although it did get to a point where I felt like there were too many random Hater stories (the one shots that often opened a section of the book, not encounters by the protagonist). It's sort of like Stephen King with all the individual characters dying in the first part ofThe Stand. After about the third one we get it. Really.
I thought this was going to be a lot like 28 Days Later, with people driven insane by rage, but it wasn't like that at all. I liked 28 Days Later, but I'm glad this is different. I think it makes for a stronger story.
Haters are an interesting invention, and Moody is consistent about them until Danny becomes one. Prior to Danny all the Haters started their killing spree because they were terrified (though in some cases it's been a bit ambiguous). But Danny is never portrayed as being in fear for his life. He's afraid for his daughter Ellie's life, but not his own. Instead, Danny is almost clinically dispassionate about things. He believes it's us or them, but he sees it as a simple fact. It makes him a little sad with regard to the rest of his family, but otherwise he doesn't feel afraid or angry about the people he's about to kill. At the end he's anticipating it and killing makes him feel satisfied. It's the normal people who feel fear and possibly hatred as their friends and loved ones suddenly become dangerously irrational.
It's Danny's cold assessment that's the most chilling. Again, he seems dispassionate about the people he's going to kill. He has to kill them before they kill him. (Of course, if he didn't kill them they wouldn't kill him, but that's never thought about).
I'm assuming this was some government super soldier project that got out of hand. He's certainly acting like a super soldier. Ready, even eager to kill with no fear and no remorse. Suddenly faster and stronger and deadly. I'd still like to know how it's spread.
It's kind of scary how quickly the government was able to put together a death camp.