The story was slow, and not really interesting to me. The fact that the Amish are in fact Vampires is somehow weird and doesn't sit well with me. It's more of a Horror / monster novel than I anticipated, which I am not really a fan of

I did not finish this book. The pacing is very slow and could not keep my attention. I did like the setting and it sounds like a good idea but it just didn't work for me. Sorry.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for an Advance Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think I have ever read a book like this before, which I should have guessed because I had no idea that there was any such thing as an Amish Vampire Thriller.

This book follows the lives of an Amish family and a curse that marks their community and the people they love. When mutilated bodies start turning up in the community and outside, the people turn in on themselves and against each other.

Haddie is on the cusp of womanhood and about to go on Rumspringa, the Amish rite of passage for Amish people,. but there are changes happening within her that threaten her family and their safety.

Meanwhile, a couple of detectives find the body of a woman in Chicago that might be the work of a serial killer and their investigation leads them to Haddie and her family.

I really didn't know much about the Amish so this was a very interesting read. The author weaves the plain life the Amish lead with mythical vampire legend so expertly - the prose is beautiful and I found myself drawn to the characters.

This is not your usual thriller - it's gory and raw, as a vampire book should be, but it's also beautiful and touching. It stayed with me, long after I finished it.
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This was a long book at just over 500 pages but the suspense was good enough to keep me intrigued. A vampire story different from all the others with it's toss into a amish community setting. There is Religion, community, family, love, gruesome murders, blood! I loved it.
Worth the read if your wanting something different in a vampire novel other than the same old storylines.
I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion from NetGalley.

This was quite an interesting story! I loved the idea of mixing Amish culture with vampires! I was extremely intrigued from the very beginning of the story. Learning about the curse was exciting, and I loved it! I got a bit bogged down in the middle of the story, and it slowed down for me. I think this portion could have been shortened, but overall this was a fun, exciting story.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This was a really unique vampire read, the summary was what drew me in and I'm glad I did. It was a really good read with interesting characters and a great setting.

I can’t lie. When I saw the subtitle of this book, ‘An Amish Vampire Thriller’, I knew I had to read it. Amish. Vampire. Thriller. Where do I even begin?
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Those Who Hunger (literally) kicks off at a fair, when young Roy Moore has his ribs broken by a flighty mare. But that isn’t what takes his breath away. Instead it’s Hadassah Zook, a mysterious Amish girl, that leave him reeling. When a series of grisly murders shakes her quiet community, Hadassah uncovers sinister secrets hiding behind the Amish community’s pious façade, secrets that threaten to chage everything for her family.
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A lot that I like about this book comes down to the Amish lifestyle being my cuppa tea - handcrafts, animal husbandry, rural isolation (not the religion bit though), but this book has more than #cottagecoregoals. While @owenbannerbooks gives a very interesting insight into the Amish community through the narratives of Haddy and her family, he also injects serious grit in the form of detective Jacobo Barrabas' investigations (Jake needs his own cop show). There's a part of me that wants to say that this book was wildly silly, but I can't. Sometimes it was a bit hammy, but I sure do love hammy horror and hammy vampires ESPECIALLY. Banner's take on the vampire has some interesting lore, and I was kept guessing as to who our (secret) murderer was throughout - though, as always, I would have liked a little more teasing on that front. In spite of that, I did really enjoy it!
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Some TWs for anyone interested in checking this book out: aside from the blood and guts that one expects of a vampire thriller, there is also some sexual violence in there, so be warned!
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Thank you to @netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 💀💀💀

Those Who Hunger follows a young Amish girl named Hadassah as her community deals with violent and suspicious deaths. The FBI becomes involved and it's a race to solve the series of murders before another happens. The Amish community is hiding dangerous secrets and it's not clear who is guilty and who is innocent.

This book is made up of the oddest combination of elements ("Amish Vampire Thriller") but it works. It works very well. The story is such a unique take on vampires and the folklore behind it is incredible. Having a vampire story set in and around an Amish community could seem like a risky choice but it adds to the secretive element of vampires. Then adding in the murder investigation and the FBI could seem like too many things for one story, but they all mesh together so well. The story is so engrossing. It's a long book at 508 pages but at a certain point events are happening so quickly that you don't even realize the story is approaching the end. It's very similar to a Stephen King book in that respect, and in the combination of odd elements that are brought together to make an interesting story.

The book is written from multiple POVs so you do get insight into several different characters, which is especially helpful when Hadassah and some of her friends leave their community for Rumspringa (when Amish teens venture into the modern world). There are several twists and turns that happen throughout the book, and there is a bit of graphic violence, but the ending is satisfying. It's very character driven and some of the characters have really interesting arcs. It's an incredibly unique vampire and Amish story but it's very good.

I was interested in this book out of sheer curiosity because I could not imagine an Amish vampire story. I didn't expect to love it so much either but I really did love this story! The descriptive style of writing was almost poetic and a bit seductive. If you're interested in a different type of vampire novel I suggest this one.

From the moment I discovered this book existed, I knew I needed to read it. Vampires? The Amish? I clearly needed this (what I assumed would be a) trainwreck in my life. And then I read it, and the only thing I was right about was needing it in my life. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking and unsettling and nerve-wracking and wonderful in so many ways. I honestly loved everything about it, from the story itself to the writing style. And Banner writes about the Amish way of life and traditions with a great deal of respect; nothing ever comes across as mocking or offensive, even as he weaves this tale of horror into the day-to-day of their existence. I never should have underestimated this book, or this author. I'm officially an Owen Banner fan for life now, and I can't wait to read more by him. Unrelated side note: I've chatted with him a bit on Instagram, and he is a truly lovely human. 10/10 would recommend.

When I saw this book listed on NetGalley, I requested it because I thought an “Amish vampire” book would be kind of campy and fun. I was wrong and it was definitely not a genre that I enjoy. It was more of a horror and monster novel than anything else. There was a lot of physical and some sexual violence. It was hard for me to get through the book and took me a lot longer to read than usual for me. It wasn’t objectively bad and the story hung together fine, but it wasn’t my taste. I also thought it was way too long and there were a lot of overly-descriptive scenes that could have been cut way down or removed altogether. I found myself skimming a lot, which I don’t normally do.

I requested this from NetGalley because of two words: “Amish Vampires”. I mean, there is no way I’m not going to request this! And it’s not even a parody – Those who Hunger is an actual Amish vampire thriller. But while the book is interesting and has its good points, it was also let down by its length and pacing that did not manage to pick up enough speed.

Those Who Hunger has an interesting premise: the Amish are vampires. Not all of them, but as descendants of Cain, enough of them are marked that they will start to crave blood. Hadassah, a young Amish girl, finds out the truth about her heritage when an outsider tries to sexually assault her. Torn by the guilt and horrified by news of more murders, she takes advantage of her rumspringa season to travel to Chicago to find her estranged brother and find the truth.

Although ‘Amish Vampires’ could very well be the topic of a parody/satire story, the book plays it straight and does it well. The worldbuilding is serious and complex – Haddasah struggles with the implications of what being a vampire means and as she works through her struggles, her family has to deal with the discovery that her youngest sister, Mary, is also marked. This is a shocking secret, and because that the younger children are not told, Hadassah and her brother Peter are left with a lot of emotional baggage over this. I actually really liked how the novel handled their struggles about it.

That said, the story does have one fairly big flaw: pacing. Perhaps it’s because there are too many characters and too many subplots (for example, I didn’t see the need for Hadassah to have a romance), but the story didn’t feel like a thriller; quite the opposite, it felt quite slow to me. With the amount of character POVs in the book, I normally feel the story speed by, even if I don’t connect to the characters because of the constant switching, but this time, I had the unique experience of not connecting to most of the many characters (Hadassah being the exception) and feeling like the story dragged. Honestly, I felt like there was enough content for two or three books in this, and while I normally prefer standalone novels, perhaps the author should have developed this as a trilogy or duology to allow for the plot to speed up a little without losing any of the complexity.

As for the killings, it was a bit confusing. I know that Hadassah went to Chicago to find her estranged (and shunned) brother, but there was a sudden twist into how other vampires were doing and I wasn’t sure how it was related to the killings in a small town (plus all the romance stuff) and then the whole book seemed to speed up towards the end. Honestly, I don’t know if the Chicago section of the book was even necessary to solve the murders. And what was up with the detectives? Were they necessary? What were they even there for? The solution to the killings seemed unrelated to a good part of the book.

Overall, I’m kind of torn on this one. It’s definitely a unique premise and I really enjoyed the family and community tensions here. Hadassah is also a good protagonist. The pacing, however, doesn’t really match my expectations of a thriller and when you couple that with a rather confusing progression to the climax, you get a somewhat frustrating read. I guess it’s a tentative recommendation for me: pick this up if the concept of Amish Vampires appeal, but don’t expect this to behave like a typical thriller.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

When I saw the description of this novel, I was really fascinated with the idea. I was like AMISH? VAMPIRES? Holy Fangs!

The story revolves around the Zook family, an Amish family who have been touched by the curse of Cain: vampirism. The way the curse and religious components are described and crafted are creative, original, and so very smart. I think the part that most surprised me was how well thought out the plot was, especially when it came to how the community hid from society to protect the world from its vampirism.

The first half of the novel set the stage and helped me understand the premise more. The middle was slow, but still engaging. The ending though...that was a work of art. I couldn’t put it down by the end.

Thanks to the author and to Netgalley for a review copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

When I saw the premise of this novel, I was really fascinated with the idea. Having spent time with family in Lititz, PA in the heart of Amish country, I was always intrigued with their culture. Also, anything with vampires is totally my jam.

The story revolves around the Zook family, an Amish family who have been touched by the curse of Cain: vampirism. The explanation of the curse and religious aspects are creatively imagined and the idea that the Amish shy away from society to protect the world from them is really genius.

The first half of the novel was really interesting as the details of the society and the curse were revealed. The middle was a bit slow and convoluted for me, I think I would have cut about 100 pages from this overly long story. The end made up for it and resolved the story really cleverly.

With the world as it is now, I really enjoyed the aspects of the story that focused on self awareness and feeling challenged to fit into a society where you don't quite belong.

This one gets 3.5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

5 STARS Great storyline, I was unable to put this book down after the first chapter! Wanting more!!!

“Those Who Hunger” centers around Hadassah Zook, a young Amish girl living with her family in Hager’s Valley. Haddie, as her loved ones call her, holds a secret that her neighbors also work to keep hidden from those outside of their tight-knit community: vampires, or “marked ones”, are very real. After the brutal slaughter of a local boy, their secret is threatened as local law enforcement come sniffing around. Haddie struggles with balancing faith, community, and her own horrible secret as more mysterious murders unfold in and around their valley. Will her faith (and family) survive the growing suspicion of outsiders and those in her own community?

Owen Banner writes his characters very well, and I was immediately invested in them. Haddie especially faces a lot of the same struggles most teens face, with the added struggle of being a “marked one”. This hits home for me, especially during pride month. Banner really delves into what it’s like to have to hide a part of what you are and never acting upon it, lest you become a target in your own community. He manages to somehow encapsulate the fear minorities face for having been born different, and the struggle to still be “good” when everyone views you as a monster. I would have liked to have seen some more common sense used by the characters, but in the interest of plot and character development it’s permissible. He manages to wrap up a broad story with several POV’s quite well, I just wish I had gotten closure for some of the characters that sort of disappear by the end.

At times the story meanders to the point of being dull. I found myself beginning to lose interest at a little over the halfway mark, and then about 75% in, we get a whole new cast of characters being introduced with no lead-in, and no backstory beyond some obscure mythology. It’s irritating as a reader to have a major plot point or character dumped on you when you near the end of a book. This is a horror novel, and while some do well with a slow-burn, this isn’t one of them. It would have created a better through line if the rest of the story was tightened up and these characters introduced sooner. I would have liked to have seen the backstory of these characters more fleshed out, because it would have helped fill in some holes of the other characters' backstories. This is what kept this book from getting a five star rating.

On that note, the majority of the character development and culture is thorough and well-done. A mistake a lot of writers make is “information dumping” when it comes to obscure topics or cultures, and it creates a lot of confusion and back-tracking for the reader. Banner manages to space out information and references throughout the story so I had an easier time keeping up and staying in the story. His descriptive writing is eloquent, yet simple and easy to read. One part that stood out to me was when Esther, Haddies mother, is walking next to a field sunflowers and she:

“... grabbed five by the stems. The fibrous hairs scratched her palm as she yanked them out of the dirt. Then, in spite, she snapped their necks and dropped their heads onto the road as she walked. With sick pleasure, she flung the leaking bodies back into the field, to be carried on the faces of their brothers and sisters and wiped her hands on her apron.”

I really enjoyed the way he anthropomorphized the sunflowers here to highlight how Esther feels like a monster, yet is embracing it. Also, the use of sunflowers as symbolism throughout the Hager’s Valley scenes didn’t go unnoticed. I really liked the small touches he puts in this story; it helps flesh out the more topical issues discussed, and makes this tale ascend above the others.

“Those Who Hunger” is a book I could see myself revisiting time and time again, which is rare for me. I think the takeaway from this book is based on your own personal experiences. It definitely has a nostalgic feel to it, so if you’re a fan of the seventies and eighties mass market paperbacks (MMP’s) or Stephen King then this is one you would really enjoy. I’m giving this a four out of five star rating.

This is a stylish, beautifully written tale that has a fresh take on the vampire genre. The Amish, a quaint hardworking group that separates itself from the rest of society, are hiding a dark secret. This book has a great attention to detail and a polished writing style. I found the pacing to be too slow for my liking and it is a long book at 509 pages. While this book could have gone either way, it has a serious tone and it not campy or tongue in cheek. Overall it is an interesting and unique addition to the vampire genre.

"The murder of Abel, his brother, was Cain's curse [...] And Cain had children, and their children had children, and every generation carried the curse for the next"

Hadassah Zook is cursed, though she didn't know what was happening to her. She's afraid to tell her family, even when she witnesses how the cursed has been passed to her little sister too, she feels like she can't tell them yet. Not after what she has done.

After a young boy is found dead under horrible yet unclear circumstances, other gruesome murders happen near Hadassah's Amish community. Now the ones who are cursed are in the spotlight.

I must say that the title caught my attention and after reading the plot summary I was totally intrigued. Nevertheless, once I started reading it, I couldn't feel immersed in the story. I wasn't able to connect with the characters either. It seems too long and some chapters didn't make sense at all to me.

This is just my personal opinion, so please, if it calls your attention, go ahead and give it a chance. Who knows? It might be one your favourite books of the year 😉.

Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

4.5*
When I read the description of this book, my thought was 'I absolutely have to see how someone can combine these concepts.' I was quite skeptical that anyone could make an Amish Vampire Thriller with any sort of serious tone. My skepticism was undeserved. Owen Banner managed to make a very atmospheric and creepy story with well developed characters out of this.

The book gets off on the wrong foot, the prologue and chapter 1 give a very different impression of where this book is going, full of swearing and stupid banter between the characters. But once that is over, the book really gets going. We meet Hadassah Zook, our protagonist, as she learns the dark secret that her Amish community has been hiding. For those who are marked (aka vampires), there is a constant struggle to control their hunger. When gruesome murders are discovered in their community it causes suspicion, distrust, and drama.

This story is about community, family, betrayal, faith, and commitment. It is also about vampires and the Amish. Banner does a good job balancing the two without making it foolish or too fetishistic. I could not put this book down.

Of course any review needs some criticism. At times the writing became too bogged down and complicated. Not every taste needs to be described to death. There were also too many characters and I found it pretty difficult to remember who was who. There weren't many context clues to jog my memory when a character was brought back from four chapters earlier. I also found the writing to sometimes be confusing in general because there was so much focus on characters' banter and not as much on who is where and what is happening.

In all, this was a book I would highly recommend to anyone who doesn't mind a little gore. Owen Banner managed to do what I would have thought impossible - write an Amish Vampire Thriller that I will seriously consider re-reading.

I must admit this was not one of my favorite books. It seemed to have more gore in it than I care for.