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The Hunger

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The Hunger

By: Alma Katsu
Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
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About this listen

"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.

©2018 Alma Katsu (P)2018 Penguin Audio
Historical Fiction Occult Psychological Scary Paranormal Fantasy Fiction Exciting Funny Disturbing Suspense Dream
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Critic reviews

An NPR Best Horror Novel

A Suspense Magazine Best Book of the Year

Winner of the Western Heritage Award

Finalist for the Bram Stoker Award

Finalist for the Locus Award

And one of...

The New York Times's 50 States, 50 Scares Picks

O, The Oprah Magazine's Scariest Books of All Time

Women's Republic's Ten Horror Books by Women to Read This October

TODAY.com's 13 Scary Books, From Classics to Modern Fiction, to Read for Halloween

AARP Magazine's 20 Scary Books for Grownups

Forbes's The Five Best Horror Books of 2018-2019

Vulture’s 13 Great Horror Books Written by Women

Refinery29's 20 Terrifying Books for When You've Already Read All The Spooky Season Classics

BookRiot's 15 Favorite Historical Thrillers

BookRiot's 9 Great Camping Horror Books

BookRiot's Best Horror Books of the Decade

The Observer's Best Books of 2018

InsideHook's New Wester Canon Selections

Mental Floss’ 13 Essential Horror Novels From The Last Five Years

Goodreads’ The Most Popular Horror Novels of the Past Five Years

Shondaland’s 16 Spine-Tingling Reads for Halloween

Men’s Health’s Best Horror Books

“Supernatural suspense at its finest...It is strangely ethereal, yet gritty...But the best thing about The Hunger is that it will scare the pants off you....Enjoy the journey, one so entertaining that you almost don't mind feeling queasy at dinner.”—The New York Times Book Review

"Not only will Alma Katsu's acclaimed novel haunt you, it will give you empathy for the people forced to undergo such horrors."—O, The Oprah Magazine

“Katsu shows an acute understanding of human nature.…[She] is at her best when she forces her readers to stare at the almost unimaginable meeting of ordinary people and extraordinary desperation, using her sharp, haunting language.”USA Today

Featured Article: The top 100 horror books of all time


This list encompasses the full spectrum of what horror can be—campfire-worthy tales, stomach-churning gore, and incisive social commentary. The classics are accounted for, but it also spotlights more recent titles, because that’s the nature of the genre—it is as perennial as it is ever-evolving, conjuring whatever frights most haunt our collective consciousness. Each title does have one thing in common: It makes for devilishly good listening. So cut the lights and press play—if you dare.

What listeners say about The Hunger

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

It was an enjoyable story to a point but a major let down at the end.
It had a build up that kept you interested, especially going into this having been told it was a horror novel, but when it got to the actual climax of the story and the end, it was a let down. When you’re expecting something terrifying and supernatural and basically get a Little House on the Prairie version of The Shining… eh.
I feel that people who are a fan of Nora Roberts or even Ruth Ware would highly enjoy this story but it definitely was not for me.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Could have been better/not bad

Character development was all over the place. Good premise but seems hastily written. Kept me engaged just enough to get through it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I liked it but it dragged on a bit

Sometimes I forgot the characters because we met them at the beginning and then don't see them again until halfway or three quarters of the book. I feel some stories felt unfinished.
I did enjoy it. It entertained me.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Slow start but good

You have to get quite a few chapters in (maybe 11?) before things really pick up and get good. I’m glad I stuck with it. Interesting take on the story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great ending

wasn't a bad read! I'd of liked to know more about a few loose ends left open, but not a bad ending

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping and emotional.

This book was very suspenseful and had so much heart. I love the supernatural elements. This book Will keep you thinking and it made me cry I was moved to tears at the end. Kirsten Potter did such an amazing performance I loved all of your special characters and I was truly captivated.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Solid historical fiction with a nightmare twist

Wow I really enjoyed the contextual information and terse, suspensful tone, I would have liked more of a horror storyline.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting spin on the Donner Party

Overall the book had a good pace and story was easy to follow, even with a lot of characters. Performance was well done.
I gave the story 4 stars because I can’t decide if it was appropriate to put a spin like this on a true story that had a horrific ending… but at the same time I enjoyed the book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Slow Burn Thriller

The story's plot is a slow-burn thriller, with some parts putting you on the edge of your seat. As I progressed towards the end of the book it started to pick and got more interesting but the cliff hanger at the end made me want more and left me rather disappointed. Overall, it’s a good book but I was expecting more action-packed scenes especially with it involving folklore and mystical creatures on the Oregon Trail.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite

This book was slow or maybe I can say it never picked up
Not my favorite story… kinda want to get the time I wasted listening to it back. It’s a whole No for me.

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