From GoodReads: ***A Standalone Horror Romance***
A note about this book: Donners of the Dead is set in 1851 – couples were often thrust into marriage together with short courtships, racism was widespread and not overly frowned upon, and women had little to no rights. What wouldn’t fly in today’s day and age was unfortunately the norm back then – it is worth keeping that in mind when reading this book.
Jake McGraw was unlike anyone I’d ever known. He was brash, rude, unapologetic and arrogant; chauvinistic, close-minded, and terribly stubborn. He was built like a tree, tall with a hard chest and wide shoulders and hands that looked like they could wrestle a bear. He was a cigar-chomping, scruffy-faced, beast of a man. I was pretty sure I hated him. And I know he hated me. But among the flesh-eating monsters in these snow-capped mountains, he was the only thing keeping me alive
The year is 1851 and pioneers in search of California gold are still afraid to travel on the same route as the tragic Donner party did years before. When the last wagon train to go into the Sierra Nevada mountains fails to arrive at their destination, Eve Smith, an 18-year old half-native girl with immense tracking skills is brought along with the search party, headed by an enigmatic former Texas Ranger, Jake McGraw.
What they find deep in the dangerous snow-covered terrain is a terrifying consequence of cannibalism, giving new meaning to the term “monster.” While the search party is slowly picked off, one by one, Eve must learn to trust Jake, who harbors more than a few secrets of his own, in order to survive and prevent the monstrosities from reaching civilization.
***This is NOT New Adult***
Review…
Can you really go wrong with a story by Karina Halle? I think not and this one was fantastic. While I’m not a fan of anything zombie related, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, even though I was creeped out by these flesh-eating monsters. *cringe*
This story will make you thankful to be living in the 21st century and it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. You might even feel exhausted after reading it (but in a good way) because it’s so action packed.
Donners of the Dead moves at an incredibly fast pace, almost too fast and it felt like a short read. Normally, I love fast and engaging but a few things needed to slow down. The beginning is perfect because it has this intensity that’s totally attention grabbing but then, so many things are happening and relationships are developing so quickly that I thought I might get whiplash. With that being said, I think it’s rare to read a standalone anymore, that of course made the relationship seem like it evolved within a chapter! But nevertheless, I do think there could have been more push and pull between Jake and Evie.
My only other concern was that I wanted to understand Jake more. I felt his character didn’t fully develop. He was a douche one minute and in a blink of an eye he was professing his love to Evie. I’m all for romance, trust me on this but this was another area where it needed to slow down. He was a flawed character and I knew this because of the small hints that were dropped here and there. His back story felt incredibly compelling, having met his wife in a brothel (of all places) and it almost seemed like a plot hole of some sort.
What worked really well was not knowing what these creatures were up to at night while everyone was sleeping. *bites fingernails* I swear, I almost had a heart attack on more than one occasion. What’s refreshing is…this is a unique story line or at least to me it is. And as far as I’m concerned, originality makes up for a lot when it lacks in other areas.
Even though I had a few call-outs, I do think this story is totally worth reading. If you are a fan of Karina Halle or have never read anything by this author, take a chance on this standalone novel because you won’t be disappointed. 
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