Shannon Turlington

This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu (2018)

Certain historical events have always held a grisly fascination, and the infamous Donner Party is certainly one of those. Fictionalized accounts cast different members of the party as heroes and villains because we don’t really know–nor can we probably ever truly understand–what these people went through. This account introduces a supernatural element to explain what happens (and also changes up some key details). Most of the book is a gripping, chilling thriller, with the unlucky wagon train constantly being stalked by … something. Gradually, the monsters show themselves more and more. This was quite a page turner, although I think it rushed too much through the last and most compelling part of the journey, when the party is stranded through the winter in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I enjoyed this intriguing combination of gothic horror and historical fiction based on real events.