Set in the world of David Moody’s Hater trilogy, All Roads End Here is the sequel to the “top drawer horror” (Booklist, starred review) One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning.
It’s taken Matthew Dunne almost three months to get home. Never more than a few meters from the Haters at any time, every single step has been fraught with danger. But he’s made it.
In his absence, his home city has become a sprawling, walled-off refugee camp. But the camp–and the entire world beyond its borders–is balanced on a knife-edge. During his time in the wilderness, Matt developed a skill which is in high demand: the ability to anticipate and predict Hater behavior. It’s these skills that will thrust him into a web of subterfuge and danger. As the pressure mounts inside the camp, he finds himself under scrutiny from all sides.
He’s always done his best to avoid trouble, but sometimes it can’t be helped. The shit’s about to hit the fan, and this time Matt’s right at the epicenter.
All Roads End Here is a fast-paced, and wonderfully dark story about humanity’s fight for survival in the face of the impending apocalypse.
What We Thought:
I liked David Moody’s One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning because of the setting. It was cool having a sort of zombie apocalypse happening while a group of people are trying to survive off an island away from the rest of the world. All Roads End Here continues that story with the lone survivor Matthew Dunne back in the U.K. trying to get home to his girlfriend Jen.
This time the setting is your basic government/military run area which is over populated and under fed. Supplies are low, you wait hours in line to get a hint of food unless you work which puts your life at risk. Matthew has found Jen and swears to protect her at all costs.
Matthew’s character has developed greatly since the previous book. He was an accountant with very little skills. Now months later he’s a survivor and finds himself working with military offshoots to keep their people safe and away from the “Haters”, human zombie type hybrids whose only goal is to kill. Some people think they can be fixed, others just want to hide and survive.
With this new book, Moody writes a relatively safe horror story. I much preferred the setting of the previous book because of how different it was. This is your standard post-apocalypse environment with walls and armed soldiers and every day people struggling to survive. All the while those outside are trying to get in.
Even though this book is more the standard than something different, I did get into it and read it quickly. I finished in under two days because Moody’s writing is fast paced and easy to read. Matthew as a character is easy to root for and you understand how he could survive by doing the opposite of what he sees others doing. I did think there would be more to the Jason character who lived with Jen while Matt was away, but I guess that’s a good thing on the writer to keep you guessing.
All Roads End Here doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel but it’s a good companion to One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning. I liked the ending which might piss others off. I’m fine with it though and like that every storyline wasn’t necessarily wrapped up nicely. Overall if you’ve read Moody’s Hater books so far, no reason not to read this one.
The Nerds Templar 