I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen Published by Redhook on October 8 2024
Genres: Adult, historical, Horror
Pages: 400
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Nicholas Pullen’s dark historical horror novel is bleak but well written, with interesting characters I came to care for.
The Black Hunger is a very slow-paced, complex historical horror novel, and I thought about putting it down at times. But ultimately I’m glad I pushed through. There is something very compelling about Nicholas Pullen’s narrative style, and I think readers who love historical fiction, especially stories set in the late 1800s India, China and other Asian countries, will love it. It reminded me of both Dracula and Raiders of the Lost Ark, so if either of those interest you, please consider giving this a try.
The story is split up into four main sections that focus on different characters. The first section takes place in England where we meet John Sackville, also known as Lord Dalwood, a scholar who eventually goes to Oxford to study Sanskrit and other languages. John is a closeted gay man—absolutely necessary at the time, as it was illegal and punishable by imprisonment—and is in love with his childhood friend Garrett. Over the years, John has been able to take Garrett with him as his valet, from boarding school to Oxford and later to India, but they are always careful not to reveal their relationship to others.
The next section is a series of letters between Dr. Samuel Abravanel, a man who dabbles in both psychology and the law, and Finlay Stewart, an Earl who is trying to declare his wife Clara insane so he can seize control of her property. Samuel agrees to visit the Earl and evaluate Clara, while Finlay hopes his legal expertise will result in a formal declaration of insanity. The catch is that Sam knows Clara and was once in love with her, and he doesn’t believe for a second that she’s crazy. Clara’s story is fantastical and hard to believe, but Sam has seen things himself that he can’t explain.
The third section is a long letter written by Clara’s husband Ian before he died, telling of his horrifying experience while staying at the castle of Count Vorontzoff in Ukraine.
And finally, we return to John Sackville and Garrett, who have been sent on a dangerous mission to Mongolia, from which they might never return. All of these events and characters continue to cross paths throughout the story, and all are connected in interesting ways. At the heart of the story is a secret group known as the Dhaumri Karoti, who use dark magic in order to bring about the end of the world. There’s a lot I’m not saying due to spoilers, so if my recap sounds vague, that’s why!
I loved the way the story unfolds, and while it is slow and full of detailed accounts of places and historic events, it kept me engaged most of the time. Pullen is a strong writer who obviously knows a lot about the time period and the parts of the world where the story takes place. At times I did find myself lost when the story switched to another character, but it didn’t take long to figure out how each section tied into the others. By ending one characters’ section with a cliffhanger and switching to another character, the author created lots of tension.
The overall vibe of the story is gothic horror, and Pullen did a great job creating a creepy atmosphere of dread. He doesn’t give us answers about the nature of the evil until almost the end, so the entire story is like a puzzle that needs to be solved. There are some harrowing sections in The Black Hunger and some of them were very emotional. This isn’t a story with many feel-good moments, and I can’t say it ended on an upbeat note, so readers looking for a happy ending definitely need to pick up something else to read.
As for negatives, I did get bored occasionally, since there is so much detail about the characters’ day-to-day lives. And I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of historical fiction—or history for that matter!—so a lot of the drier passages were lost on me. This is one of those books that would benefit from having a map, since the story takes place across several countries and involves a long journey, but there wasn’t one in my ARC (I haven’t seen the finished copy, though).
The Black Hunger was very different from my usual reads, and I’m very glad I chose to read it.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
It really sounds like an original and intriguing book, and I am glad that, all things considered, you still enjoyed it!!
I really did! It definitely expanded my horizons:-)
I know you had mixed feelings and found parts of this slow but I really like the sound of it. Admittedly I’m not sure how I’ll find the day to day details either – although I love history – but I’m really curious to find out how those separate sections come together. I’ll have to make sure I’m in the right mood for something pretty bleak whenever I pick this up though. Wonderful review and I’m glad you enjoyed this, it’s just a shame about the slower sections.
I think for the right reader this will really work, especially if you love stories set in Asia.
Historical fiction is something I don’t tend to read much either now I think about it, not sure why.
I like the sound of Dracula and Raiders of the Lost Ark but I think the drier passages and the bleakness may put me off a little.
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It’s definitely more focused on the historical elements than horror.
This seems like it has all the vibes that I love. Obviously I love historical fiction and gothic vibes. I also really like that letters are part of the story too. Although I recently read Dracula and I didn’t totally love that so it depends from book to book. But from everything you said in your review I would love to give this book a go!
It felt like Dracula because of the journal entries/letters, and I have a feeling you’d enjoy this more than me:-)
I just posted my review for this today, too! Raiders is such a good comparison for some of the vibes I got from it. I definitely agree that it leaned towards being a bit dry at times, and a map would’ve been SO helpful. I loved the slow unfolding of this one.
I’m headed over to check out your review!
I recently placed this on my TBR, so I’m grateful to see you do a review of it. I’ve seen other reviewers also say it gets boring at times, or they’re tempted to put the book down. I guess it will probably be the same for me, but I’m still tempted to try it.
I’ll be curious to see what you think if you decide to try it!
Interesting — the plot itself sounds like something I’d enjoy, but hearing you say that you got bored and thought about quitting does not make me want to read this! I’m torn… this is one for my “maybe -s omeday” list!
It was a lot of detailed information, and I wanted more of the horror parts. But still, it’s so well written and very interesting.
This sounds completely fascinating. I was waiting to see your thoughts on this so thanks so much for your thorough review! I do like historical fiction and I find that as a non-horror reader, reading horror mixed with other genres works best for me 🙂 I hope to try this at some point.
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I hope you enjoy it, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I do recall seeing this and I really think it’s something I would enjoy but I had too many books already and knew I couldn’t possibly fit it in. One for the wishlist though.
Lynn 😀
Exactly, that “one day” pile.
It’s interesting you mentioning how helpful it would be to include a map. Had me thinking how very common it is in epic fantasy to include a map, but how very uncommon it seems to be in anything set in the “real” world, despite how useful it could be.
Maps are definitely more of a fantasy thing, but because this story is historical, a map would have been very helpful.
Hmm, I was considering this for October. After reading your review, it’s still on my maybe pile.
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It’s very slow and history heavy, not quite my jam but you might enjoy it!
I’m not sure slow-paced and bleak is what I’m really after right now! Since I have a copy I’ll definitely read it at some point, but maybe it won’t happen this month.
Definitely save it for a time you want something slow paced. I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts if you read it:-)
See, I DO like history, so I may actually like this more? And thanks for the heads up about the bleakness- I like a dark book but it is good to be in the right frame of mind, too! I am definitely going to keep it on my list, especially because it was emotional!
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I think this is a very fair review! After I got through the first quarter of the book it became much more interesting. My favorite section was the action set in Scotland.
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