Today’s post is on The Hunger by Alma Katsu. 376 pages long
and is published by G.P. Putman Son’s. The cover is a picture of the prairie
with dark mountains in the distance and a covered wagon at the bottom. The
intended reader is someone who likes horror stories, historical novels, and
dark legends. There is foul language, sex, and violence in this book. The story
is told from third person close of different characters moving from one to the
next as the story flows. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- Evil is invisible, and it is
everywhere.
Tamsen Donner must be a witch. 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 pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck--the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.
While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions--searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand--evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves "What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased...and very hungry?"
Tamsen Donner must be a witch. 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 pioneers to the brink of madness. They cannot escape the feeling that someone--or something--is stalking them. Whether it was a curse from the beautiful Tamsen, the choice to follow a disastrous experimental route West, or just plain bad luck--the 90 men, women, and children of the Donner Party are at the brink of one of the deadliest and most disastrous western adventures in American history.
While the ill-fated group struggles to survive in the treacherous mountain conditions--searing heat that turns the sand into bubbling stew; snows that freeze the oxen where they stand--evil begins to grow around them, and within them. As members of the party begin to disappear, they must ask themselves "What if there is something waiting in the mountains? Something disturbing and diseased...and very hungry?"
Review- The Hunger is an engaging historical novel
and a spine-tingling horror one. We travel with the doomed Donner party and get
to know the people who made it up. The first few pages are slow, lulling so
when the first murder happens it makes everything snap into focus. Now it is a
guessing game, who did it? It is a monster following them or the monster with
the party already? The writing is tight and very atmospheric with little details
about life on the trail and individual quirks that build up over time and make
the wide open prairie feel close and tight. When the climax comes it is engrossing
and horrifying. I truly enjoyed this book and I recommend it for horror and history
fans alike.
I give this a book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing
for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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