Medically trained Edwin Bryant hopes to interview Native Americans regarding a supernatural disease.

From the beginning, horror seems to follow the party; a young boy disappears and his mutilated corpse is found several miles down the road.

He and several others, including Mary Graves, make snowshoes and attempt to reach safety in California as members of the “Forlorn Hope”.

In a flashback, it is revealed that the men of the Keseberg family are “cursed” with a disease that causes them to become violent and hunger for human flesh.

Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review, calling it "a brilliant retelling" and adding that "fans of Dan Simmons’s The Terror will find familiar and welcome chills.

"[1] Alison Flood of The Guardian called The Hunger "an absorbing, menacing thriller" as well as "a nerve-jangling, persuasive story of survival and desperation".

[2] Steph Cha of USA Today gave the novel 3.5 out of 4 stars, particularly praising Katsu's "sharp, haunting language" and "acute understanding of human nature".

The review noted that the supernatural elements "almost relieve the tension and horror of the story" with "some of the darkness pushed onto external threats, or disproportionately contained in one sociopathic villain.

Their review stated that "Katsu creates a riveting drama of power struggles and shifting alliances", while the characters' intertwined narratives "create a sense of claustrophobia, a feeling that the coming tragedy isn’t just an accident of bad weather and poor leadership, but a matter of fate."

[4] Writing for Locus, John Langan called the novel a great example of historical fiction which "impart[s] a vivid immediacy to past events, making them live in the reader’s mind, allowing her to draw near to them."

Langan also praises Katsu for avoiding the trope of "the supernatural threat to the European settlers functioning as a stand-in for the native peoples".

[5] Also writing for Locus, Stefan Dziemianowicz praised the way in which Katsu fleshes out the historical narrative, "providing its players with backstories and motivations".