The Hunger cover art

The Hunger

 Preview

Audible Standard 1-month free trial

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo + applicable tax after 30-day trial. Cancel Anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

The Hunger

Written by: Alma Katsu
Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.80

Buy Now for $25.80

"Supernatural suspense at its finest...The best thing about The Hunger is that it will scare the pants off you."--The New York Times Book Review

"Deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark."--Stephen King

A tense and gripping reimagining of one of America's most fascinating historical moments: the Donner Party with a supernatural twist.

Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere.

That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels, and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the isolated travelers to the brink of madness. Though they dream of what awaits them in the West, long-buried secrets begin to emerge, and dissent among them escalates to the point of murder and chaos. They cannot seem to escape tragedy...or the feelings that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it's a curse from the beautiful Tamsen Donner (who some think might be a witch), their ill-advised choice of route through uncharted terrain, or just plain bad luck, the ninety men, women, and children of the Donner Party are heading into one of one of the deadliest and most disastrous Western adventures in American history.

As members of the group begin to disappear, the survivors start to wonder if there really is something disturbing, and hungry, waiting for them in the mountains...and whether the evil that has unfolded around them may have in fact been growing within them all along.

Effortlessly combining the supernatural and the historical, The Hunger is an eerie, thrilling look at the volatility of human nature, pushed to its breaking point. Historical Fiction Horror Psychological Thriller & Suspense Scary Paranormal Exciting Fiction Fantasy
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most Relevant
This was definitely a glimpse into the reality of our history. A bit gory but good storyline with an unexpected twist at the end.

Chilling Account of the Donner Party

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this is not the typical type of book I would read it, but the fact that it is historical fiction and a western theme made it more accessible. the story was very interesting and well laid out. the characters are also different from what you would typically expect. although I don't think that the ending was the best. Good narration

a good historical horror story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like many people, I'm fascinated by the story of the Donner Party. Also a fan of horror fiction, I was looking forward to this adaptation of the Donner story. The author took a bit too much license, in my opinion. I understand the author was asked to write the story as the basis for a future screenplay. However, I found it more like a soap-opera drama rather than horror. There was not much creepy atmosphere or build-up to the real action. And when it came it was nothing really shocking or scary. Just okay.

The narrator was just okay, too. She was reading with an attitude and sounded contemptuous when narrating simple descriptions of characters and events. Strange.

Not what I expected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
fun but predictable story. author tries to drag out the supposed plot-twists for too long. It could have been a shorter novel. Parts of it feel unnecessarily salacious like the author is trying to rely on drama rather than talent as a writer to create a more interesting story. It could have been a better story if it played more with the subtleties and the depths of fear as the wagon train progressed. instead it relied on constant flash backs that revealed the dramatic pasts of each character. these flash backs sometimes gave us insight into the character's psychology but usually just felt like a ploy to add more "juicy details" so that it ended up as a wagon train filled with the most interesting people in the world... in the 1800s.... it was a bit over the top in that sense.

Fun listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book. It’s a good one for road tripping as it hold your attention.
However, the author left a lot of loose threads and unexplored ideas that I think detracted from the story.

The real Donner party faced hopelessness, starvation, infighting, the butchering and eating their loved ones and freezing to death.

The story also adds a disease that turns people into monsters, a girl who hears the voices of the dead, a family of pseudo vampires who spread the disease, and a journalist trying to piece everything together.

The story addresses all of these but doesn’t really go into any depth with a lot of those points, and doesn’t do a much to bring them together.

Example, a number of the party are infected and join the monsters in the woods, attacking the party again at night. This should be horrific! However this is only mentioned once.

Did not play to the strengths of the Donner story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews