The Hunger

Author Alma Katsu
Narrator Kirsten Potter
Publisher Transworld
Publish Date 5 April 2018
Run Time 10 hours and 34 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Adventure fiction, Adventure fiction: Westerns, Historical adventure fiction.

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What to expect

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Hunger by Alma Katsu, read by Kirsten Potter.

After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. They face two diverging paths which lead to the same destination. One is well-documented – the other untested, but rumoured to be shorter.

Donner’s decision will shape the lives of everyone travelling with him. The searing heat of the desert gives way to biting winds and a bitter cold that freezes the cattle where they stand. Driven to the brink of madness, the ill-fated group struggles to survive and minor disagreements turn into violent confrontations. Then the children begin to disappear. As the survivors turn against each other, a few begin to realise that the threat they face reaches beyond the fury of the natural elements, to something more primal and far more deadly.

Based on the true story of The Donner Party, The Hunger is an eerie, shiver-inducing exploration of human nature, pushed to its breaking point.

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

Critics Review

Deeply, deeply disturbing.

STEPHEN KING

Katsu adds a rich vein of horror to her imaginative retelling . . . astonishingly atmospheric, with a strong sense of claustrophobia, despite the vast prairies and mountains . . . this is an enthralling and chilling read.

GUARDIAN

Uneasy, nauseous, slow-burning tale that marries historical fiction with a hint of the supernatural. Great detailing; colourful characterization; some supremely ominous stuff, but always reined in at the final moment to rack up the tension even more. Loved it!

JOANNE HARRIS, author of Chocolat

This . . . is supernatural suspense at its finest. It is strangely ethereal, yet gritty, with one eye on the distant skyline and the other on the bloody journey. If historical novels are your thing, The Hunger delivers a believable, fully realized 19th-century America. But the best thing about The Hunger is that it will scare the pants off you.

NEW YORK TIMES

An absorbing thriller that had me digging into the history behind this tale as soon as I’d read the last page . . . Her descriptions of the land are movingly beautiful, but there is danger even here.

OBSERVER 'Thrillers of the Month'

Like The Revenant but with an insistent supernatural whisper. The setting and the story are utterly chilling. And the telling of it is so well done.

SARAH PINBOROUGH, author of Behind Her Eyes

Beautiful, lyrical, utterly grounded in the land, and the people, this is the best – and scariest – story I’ve read this year.

MANDA SCOTT, author of Boudica and Into the Fire

The story she writes of human failings and despair is so powerful and so well written . . . Her account of the pioneers’ dawning realisation that pressing on, staying still and turning back all mean death is hauntingly good.

THE TIMES

Alma Katsu’s accomplished, engrossing novel weaves a cocoon of supernatural horror around historical tragedy . . . it is a beautifully intense read.

FINANCIAL TIMES

In an audacious twist, Alma Katsu has made something new and suspenseful from the legendary story of the Donner Party. The Hunger is filled with terror, pity, and grue.

KEITH DONOHUE, author of The Boy Who Drew Monsters

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