A tense and gripping reimagining of one of America’s most haunting human disasters: 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, unknowingly propelling them into 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.

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I stumbled upon this novel while browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I was drawn in since it centered around the Donner Party. I found the concept of meshing horror and historical fiction together to be very interesting. Despite my glowing excitement over this, it fell flat for me . . . quickly too. This was a rather plot-heavy novel, depending heavily on the wagon train traveling while neglecting to provide much character development. There was a good deal of characters to follow, including the Donner family themselves, a lonely traveler, and other groups of families. The Donner family and the lone man traveler got the most attention in terms of development, Katsu gave us glimpses into Mrs. Donner and our lone traveler. These were the only characters that got much attention, leaving me a bit bored with the others. Aside from poor character development, I did not find any of these characters likable. With a lack of detail, you are left with only the horrific actions that these characters play out on each other as they slip further into madness.

Not only did Katsu leave me wishing for more backstory to these characters, but I was also hoping for more detail about their surroundings. There was rather a vague description of the atmosphere within the trip. I was honestly hoping for more detail of the environment so I could better picture just how desolate some of the areas they traveled through were. I also felt there was a lack of research on the Donner Party as well. I honestly believed this was going to have more Historical information throughout, yet the only historical part was the use of the Donner name and that they followed the historical path. I was really anticipating more from this overall, I came out incredibly disappointed in this.

Overall, this was a slow, dull, repetitive read that lacked detail and chapter development. I felt that Katsu could have gone in so many directions, but failed to provide research or depth to this story. I thought the writing itself was well done and easy to read. I will say Katsu brought a great horror element to make up for the historical downfall. The detail into the attacks that happened to some of these characters was well done, truthfully being the best detail proved. The fact that there was detail in these small moments if I recall maybe three scenes, made it difficult to get through the slower parts. I was constantly hoping for something to happen when all I got was a view of what was transpiring between the characters. This was not my favorite horror or historical fiction novel, yet I was able to make it through till the end. I appreciated the idea, I just wish there was more to it. If you enjoy slow burns or are interested in trying something a bit different.

Pages: 398

Published: 2018

Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror/Historical Fiction

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