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David Moody has created a thrilling joyride through an apocalyptic world of zombies, but without an apocalypse or zombies. This may need some further explanation, so bear with me. First of all, Dog Blood is the sequel to Moody's previous novel, Hater. In Hater, the world changes when people suddenly and inexplicably begin killing other people. It is soon discovered that a certain percentage of the population is changing into what is labeled as Haters.

The Haters kill for no reason, using only their bare hands in most cases. The book Hater follows Danny McCoyne as he tries everything he can do to protect his family, but near the end of the book, Danny becomes a Hater. The change in him is sudden, as if a switch is thrown. Once changed, he immediately feels the urge to destroy the Unchanged. When his wife realizes he is now a Hater, she gathers the children to make their escape. As they flee, Danny looks into the eyes of his 5-year-old daughter and knows she is like him, but by then he is incapacitated and can do nothing. This leaves the novel with either the most thrilling ending ever or a serious hint at a sequel.

As it turns out, in Dog Blood, Moody continues the story with such intensity that you become exhausted -- as if you are the one running around and trying to survive. The story creates such a unique insight into the world of Haters and Unchanged with its descriptions of the battles, the survival tactics, and the lack of governmental control that you feel as if you've become part of the story.

The reader, Gerard Doyle, does a great job as he further presses that urgency and emotion within the story. It is as if the story were written with him in mind as the intended reader. At times, when the story calls for it, Doyle can be emotionless; then making split-second shifts into rage-fueled scenes with some very artistic voice work.

In Dog Blood, Danny McCoyne continues the bloody killing to destroy the Unchanged while also looking for his five year-old daughter, Ellis. After escaping from a camp where Haters are destined for slaughter, Danny makes his way back to the city where his wife and daughter could be hiding/surviving. It seems that a former politician is forming an army of Haters to destroy the Unchanged, but he's finding it difficult to organize because all killing by Haters is done by instinct -- not unlike a zombie horde. This is where the zombie aspect comes in, as the Haters act as vicious as any zombie from any zombie movie or story, but they can think and they don't eat their victims. Well, not always. Moody also takes us through the lives of the Unchanged by jumping into the story of Mark Tillotsen as he helps the military to scout for food and locate survivors in the area.

Dog Blood takes up where Hater left off with the struggle for survival, hordes of violent attackers and the possible end of the world. I will warn you that the ending keeps you questioning. I'll also warn you to make sure you allow extra listening time when you approach the end of the book, as the last few chapters are so exciting you cannot stop listening. Actually, once you start the book, you won't want to stop listening at all.

Gil T. has spent a quarter of a century working in radio and has lots of spare time on his hands and reading or listening to books takes up all that time. Check out his blog to find out what he's up to at any given moment.