A book that has both a Locus and a Bram Stoker nomination under its belt must have done something right; The Hunger gets plenty of things right, but also others not so right. First the background:
The Donner Party (based on a true Donner Party journey that's infamous for resorting to cannibalism when becoming stranded) sets out on a wagon journey towards the fabled West. Winter hits them hard but apparently it's not the only thing that threatens to take chunks off their skins. As they travel across plains and valleys they become aware that something is looking at them, stalking them to be more precise. Not only are rations depleting fast, but so is lucidity and rationality. A dead, horrifically mutilated boy is discovered and the real tragedy starts.
The Good: The book is well researched and the historical part is given the respect it deserves. The characters have believable backgrounds that reflect the prejudices of mid 19th century America (if it was a crime, it must be an Indian; don't trust the Mormon; stay away from the unmarried man). The paranormal aspect is cleverly done and feels fresh, and the horror that it brings with it can be uncompromising and quite graphic. The prose is clean and witty and carries no traces of laziness in it - this provides a satisfying page-turning experience that will be kind to your eyes and brains.
The Bad: The real issue I have with this book is its narrative editing. Its quite common for books to provide a main story and a background story running in parallel. The problem that I found here is their contrasting rhythms, in particular beyond the 70-75% mark of the book. I understand that the author, Alma Katsu, wanted to reveal important aspects about the main characters during crucial moments of the main story, yet I found myself more than once shouting (like a Moran) at my book "Why now??" Think about this: One of the main revelations of the story is revealed, you find your self excited because finally you can start sniffing blood, tensions run high, you're 75%, 80% through so your eyes are drooling for the climaxing desert and then....then....boom: BACKFREAKING story that lowers the tempo back to a pre soup-aperitif. Imagine if in Die Hard, just as Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman faceoff in that last famous scene at the edge of the Skyscraper, Bruce Willis stops, takes out his phone, and calls to check if his laundry is ready (maybe I exaggerate just slightly, but you get the point).
Now, I might have forgiven Ms Katsu if she did it once, just to put more meat in her characters so we can care more - most authors do that, no prob. But, according to my count, this is done around three times in the last 15% of the novel and the overall effect is that the story starts to feel stretched out. Mind you, every backstory is as interesting as the main story, but unfortunately the out of synch tempos takes away the heat from their flame.
I've read a few reviews about the book complaining that it focuses more on the people than the paranormal, but I beg to differ. The problem is not the balance here - I think that Ms Katsu struck that just fine - the problem, as I described above, is the alternating tempos at the wrong moments that simply take our minds away from that monster beneath our beds. I think that this is very unfortunate because the rest of the book has been done with a commanding precision and is deserving of high praise.
Overall I still felt that a 3.5 stars was adequate because its hard in 2018 to release a horror novel with a fresh paranormal take like this one. If you are a horror lover this will still make a fine entry in your library, but just be aware that this could feel at times like the proverbial nuts with chocolates rather than that good old Cadbury your horror buds salivate for (alright, enough food analogies for today).
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