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The Hunger
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
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Summary
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.
Critic reviews
"Deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark." (Stephen King)
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What listeners say about The Hunger
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Simon
- 07-04-18
History Merged With Supernatural Imaginings!
Alma Katsu has taken the real life historical tale of The Donner Party and moulded it with considerable respect to the factual detail into a horror story. It seems likely that the real-life version ended in cannibalism which you might say is horror enough but Katsu throws a supernatural angle into it too.
A wagon train of 100 people sets off on what back in 1846 seems like an incredible journey to even consider. Travelling across obstacles like the Sierra Nevada and the Great Salt Lake Desert Donner and his party encountered a myriad obstacles. Poor decisions and delays meant they missed a proposed rendezvous with a larger group and from there everything but the terrain went downhill.
I enjoyed the book and thought the near seamless integration of the supernatural element with historical fact was done extremely well. I couldn't quite see it as a five star read though because the book took a long time to get to the meat of the story and then an awful lot happens in a very short space of time. Even then though there are one or two long flashbacks which added little right when it all got exciting.The narration by Kirsten Potter is strong if a little mechanical in the quieter, more descriptive moments.
So it's a clever concept executed fairly well to create an enjoyable listen.
23 people found this helpful
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- F E Harrison
- 25-04-18
A bit underwhelming
I had high hopes for this book given the previous reviews but it didn't really hit the mark with me. The characters didn't grab me and the story just seemed a bit disjointed, the narrator was ok.
3 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 16-04-18
Sorry but let down by the narrator
Just could not get into it due to the drone of the narrator who clearly was not into it either. Felt like I was being read to by my old head teacher
3 people found this helpful
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- Mr. A. J. Quaeck
- 20-08-19
Completely underwhelmed
I know, this book has had rave reviews from both the punters and big authors alike.
Stephen King called this book "deeply, deeply disturbing..."
It has four and five star reviews galore here, on goodreads.com, amazon (etc.) yet I can't recall a single time I was at the edge of my seat nor creeped out. I didn't empathise with any of the characters, the supernatural elements - although a clever mix of ghoulish and scientifically explainable - just weren't scary.
It isn't poorly written, nor does it lack flair or style. It simply didn't connect to me.
Oh well, it happens I guess.
1 person found this helpful
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- Tom Adams
- 29-09-18
A disturbing horror tale living up to all the hype
The Hunger is described as a reimagining of the story of the ill-fated Donner Party expedition with a horror twist. If you want to see how closely it follows the historical narrative you can check out Alma’s blog here. But, in a nutshell, the story follows a real journey of a wagon party in 1846 as some ninety odd settlers as they made their way from Independence, Missouri to California. They became stranded in the snowbound passes of Sierra Nevada and purportedly resorted to cannibalism in their struggle to survive.
Accolades for the book include The Hunger making NPR's list of 100 Best Horror Stories and being named one of the 21 best horror novels written by a woman. It’s now being optioned for film production by Ridley Scott.
So, does the story live up to the hype? Well, if you know how I listen to my audiobooks from previous reviews, then you’ll know I tend to partake during the early hours of the morning. So the idea of listening to a horror book at these times adds some context to how scared I am while immersing myself in the tale.
Let me say straight away that Kirsten Potter’s narration is the perfect mix of storyteller and dramatist for this kind of tale. She has quite a breathy style, but to my mind this doesn’t detract from the listening at all and her separation of character’s voices works very well for both male and female. She succeeds in creating atmosphere in the scenes, particularly in evoking the ambiguous sense of dread that pervades this novel.
Despite a sense of being on the wide open plains of America, the ever impending doom over the party and the notion that they are being tracked creates a ‘closed-box’ feel to the story. There are numerous flashbacks which are skillfully written and I never lost sense of what was happening or when. These serve to set the characters in the mind of the reader, and I think it’s fair to say that the majority have dark secrets to hide and are in some way running from their past. The author manages to make the reader/listener identify with every one of them – even the most despicable. From a teenage girl haunted by the voices of the dead, to a lone man fleeing a misplaced guilty conscience, to the errant wife of the wagon train’s leader.
The setting is wondrously described and I had no problem imagining the baking heat of the mid-west plains to the freezing heights of the Sierra Nevada mountains. All are expertly described, together with harrowing scenes of bestial attacks, mass graves of the Hunger’s victims and depictions of the hardship endured at every step. You get the sense that none of the characters are safe, but I’ll not spoil it for you by saying how things end up. Suffice it to say that the book will leave you affected afterwards. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have you reaching for Wikipedia to see how much of the story was true.
The only niggle I have is that the UK cover for the book does not hold up to the scope and vividness of the UK cover (I’ve shown the latter here.)
So, my verdict? If you’re a horror fan you won’t be disappointed by this offering. Alma Katsu has departed a little from her usual territory with The Hunger and her next book is apparently a thriller drawing on her experience of working as an intelligence operative. But, I hope she’ll bring her pen back top horror in the near future.
1 person found this helpful
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- Emma Brodie
- 25-04-18
great
loved it .. the writing was so imaginative and the reading was excellent. definitely recommended
3 people found this helpful
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- Don't normally review
- 25-04-18
underwhelming
pretty disapointed with everything about this story. The concept was great but the execution was pretty poor.
it's so disappointing that I really don't want to waste my time writting a revuew
3 people found this helpful
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- Molly
- 09-04-18
Donner party?
rubbish... sentimental... unbelievable... and waste of time. I continued listening in the hope it would get better but it didn't. waste of time and money.
10 people found this helpful
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- Ms. G. B. Catton
- 12-04-22
Good in places
There was a good development of atmosphere and of social tension. However, I became confused about the characters and their locations and the backstory came too late for some. Unfortunately I didn’t care enough about any of them to be affected by their fate.
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- Survive UK
- 07-04-22
a letdown for me
It started great and was building well but then just fizzled out to nothing.