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No dog can be trusted—and no dog is safe in this gripping fourth book in the second Survivors series.

From Erin Hunter, #1 nationally bestselling author of Warriors, Survivors is full of “wild and wonderful adventure” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) that will thrill fans of Spirit Animals and Wings of Fire.

The Wild Pack is in high spirits after rescuing Alpha and Beta’s pups. Only Storm believes that danger still walks among them—and it won’t be long before the traitor dog strikes again. She must convince her Packmates to stand together against the most malicious and elusive enemy they have ever known...before terror and doubt tear them apart.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

204 people are currently reading
1051 people want to read

About the author

Erin Hunter

274 books10.8k followers
Erin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.

Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.

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5 stars
438 (58%)
4 stars
189 (25%)
3 stars
85 (11%)
2 stars
24 (3%)
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16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Diana.
1,981 reviews309 followers
November 23, 2017
I felt like this book was dragging: yeah, no one trusts storm (this is getting old), the bad dog keeps on doing bad dog things (and no one has yet realized it is Breeze? I mean we can't know for sure until it is revealed, but in the previous book she told the pups a story that almost got tbem drowned... and in this boom she keeps acting suspiciously, at least to me) and nothing else happens to move the plot forward. It was like reading the previous book all over again.
Profile Image for Michelle Elizabeth .
773 reviews65 followers
August 25, 2018


I meant to add excerpts of the text to illustrate my points, but you know what? I can't force myself to spend anymore time on this book than necessary. Worst Erin Hunter book I've read to date. Some major reasons I dislike this story arc:

1) Storm was like a daughter to Lucky in the original Survivors series, but he ignores her now that he has biological pups of his own, and treats Storm like an outcast just as much as the rest of the Pack does. What's worse is that Storm thinks a greater love for biological children (pups) must be natural and right because the dog she she admires for selflessness does it, when it absolutely is not. Lucky is a douche, and she has every right to feel hurt and angry.

2) I'm tired of the Pack treating Storm like a monster because she did what she had to do to protect the Pack. The Pack was happy she was strong enough to do such a thing when they were in trouble in the last arc, but now that there's more peaceful existence on the horizon, they mistreat her for the very act they once praised her for. Perhaps if they were as mean to their old adversaries as they are to Storm, she would never have had to step up for them in the first place!

3) Sweet sucks as an Alpha, and Lucky sucks as a Beta. I cannot be convinced otherwise. They see everything through an intense filter of protecting their pups, and it causes them to become hysterical when the slightest thing happens unexpectedly. Yes, parents should be concerned about their children (pups). However, the Pack relies on their Alpha and Beta for guidance and protection, too, and they deserve that in payment for loyalty; it's how Pack's are supposed to work, which is why the old Alpha and Terror were deposed. There'd be no reason to stick around and keep Alpha and Beta fed, otherwise. If Alpha and Beta can't shoulder the responsibility of leadership along with a litter of pups, then they should step down for less preoccupied dogs to take their place. It's just selfish, otherwise; why should they be entitled to privileges like eating the best food first if they aren't pulling their own weight around camp?

P.S.
Profile Image for Liza.
800 reviews60 followers
November 6, 2017


What was this.

What in the world was this!?



The purpose of a book is to push forward a story. It shows growth of a character and movement of the plot. Besides manga of course. There are some manga that have no story progression but that's on purpose.

This book....

This book could have been combined with the previous one and the one before it and NOTHING would have been affected.

Repeat that in your head slowly.

This could be combined with the other books in this set and there would be no change in the story.

It pretty much went:

The evil dog does evil things.
The dogs blame Storm
Storm tries to fix it
Something good opens and dogs start trusting Storm
The evil dog does something evil
Everyone hates Storm

Rinse and repeat for almost all of the book.

I could understand trying to show that Storm is loyal to the Pack but it went on so long, for 4 books. No. It is torture at that point and bad pacing.

There's also the issue with Lucky and Sweet. The worst Alpha and Beta ever. Alpha is terrible. She can't lead. She has not shown able to make good decisions and Lucky is no better. He TOOK HIS PATROL TO GO DUMPSTER DIVING.

These guys are wild dogs. Like what? Lucky, you gave up that life. That was bringing unnecessary risks for the dogs in your care.

It was so infuriating seeing both of them trying to lead but making poor decisions over and over again.

The few times Twitch was doing "leader-like" things, I liked his style. He was a much better leader than either of Lucky or Sweet.

The only good thing that came out of the book was the ending.

Because it was different, it finally moved on from the cycle that the books had fallen into and I hope for the better.

Let's see with Storm away from everyone else, will this make this series savable.

Profile Image for Kirsti.
2,501 reviews106 followers
September 8, 2018
I'm a little frustrated by the same plotline hashing out again in Survivors; no dog trusts Storm, Storm feels rejected and does something even more stupid. Thankfully this book ends the way it does; hopefully this cycle is over and done with and the plot moves forward.

A little disappointing, but hopefully the next book is better. I feel like the less I say about this one, the better it will be. Three stars.
Profile Image for Sting Key.
82 reviews
April 2, 2020
I loved this book, at first I wasn't that enthusiastic about reading it, but when I started reading it, I really started to get interested. I think you will like this book if you like dogs.
Profile Image for Heather .
171 reviews37 followers
April 28, 2020
4🌟
Probably the best in the series so far. Although I do hate every stupid dog in the entire pack. Can we please have some new characters?!
Profile Image for Cassidy.
91 reviews19 followers
January 20, 2018
I don’t feel like writing a long review, so in short I’ll say I’m still annoyed by how this series is going. Just when the Warriors series wrapped up the whole Darktail debacle I come to find this book dragging out the traitor-dog plotline long past when it should have ended. I will say that at least this book had a lot more action than the last one, but I’m still disappointed by the lack of a clear resolution. And like I said in my last review, if it turns out that the dog killing and hurting the Pack is the Fear Dog I’ll be extremely let down. I don’t want to see any members of the Pack revealed as a killer, but at least the idea that one of the dogs we know is committing these acts of terror rather than an invisible spirit sounds a lot better for the plot. And if I have to read about this Golden Deer one more time without it being caught I think I’ll throw the book across the room. I will say that I’m interested to see how the next story will go I hope it isn’t incredibly boring. I’m just looking forward to all of these plot points being resolved, but somehow I feel like that won’t happen until the end of the arc.
Profile Image for Chuzzy.
32 reviews7 followers
November 27, 2020
Why didn't she kill the Golden Deer?!?!?!?!?!?! SMH!
Profile Image for MacKenzie.
168 reviews12 followers
May 15, 2022
damn that hurts

this book has such a pretty cover tho
Profile Image for Caley.
38 reviews
October 29, 2017
This book was okay, it was very sad and spooky, it wasn't one of my favorite books in the series
20 reviews1 follower
October 11, 2018
Survivors Red Moon Rising by Erin Hunter is a really good book. It is about this dog named Storm and there are a lot of tensions going on in the pack of dogs she's in. There are a lot of scared dogs in the pack with the traitor around who has killed before. I would recommend this book to readers who like adventure stories.
Profile Image for Emma.
700 reviews39 followers
January 8, 2018
Of all the Survivors books, accounting for the six in the original series, and the four so far in the The gathering Darkness series, I think this was definitely the darkest one to date. Oh, it started off innocently enough. After Storm rescued Lucky's and Sweet's at the end of Into the Shadows, things are looking up for the Fierce Dog. She finally feels as if she truly belongs in the pack. All the dogs respect her. Even ones who had previously been hostile towards her. For example, Bruno.

But then Bruno dies. And it's pretty shocking. Things quickly go downhill from there. Like I said, this book was dark. At times, it felt like an episode of Game of Thrones, but with talking dogs. But there were lighter moments, too. The puppies, Fluff, Tumble, Nibble and Tiny were adorable. I actually cried towards the end, because Storm leaves the pack. I look forward to reading the fifth book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
1,208 reviews568 followers
October 29, 2017
Mini Review: I actually thought this was a huge step up from the previous installment, which I had criticized because it was repetitive and nothing was accomplished in the plot. Quite a bit of that uneventfulness was made up for in this book. The pace is quick, plenty of things that we had been building up to finally go down. Storm's decisions can be rather annoying, but there was enough headway made here and I would consider myself pleased with this installment overall. 3 1/2 stars
Profile Image for London Green.
29 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2021
Ever since rescuing Lucky and Alpha's pups from the Endless Lake, things seem to be looking better for Storm. She spends the first couple of chapters of this book feeling like she belongs when things take a turn for the worst and the blames are constantly pointing towards her.

Like several other reviews I've seen, I have to admit The Gathering Darkness arc has been completely stretched out and this book and the last could've easily been combined without much of a problem. However, there were some events that I enjoyed and the slow build-up gave me the time to understand Storm's precise thoughts and her anger over how terribly the Pack has treated her.

With a smaller cast of characters, we get to see more development with them, which was a nice touch. Thorn and Beetle have more fleshed-out personalities, being naive and overconfident. One of the conflicts focusing around this book, despite the traitor dog up to more bad deeds, were the return of the longpaws, who have resettled in the area after the Big Growl. It doesn't amount to much and isn't the most original or interesting conflict, but at least there's a bit more action that comes from it.

Another thing I like was how Bruno's death was portrayed and the warning dream Storm had of the grave where he'd soon be buried. I never really liked him but couldn't help but feel bad when he apologized to Storm. The grief she has for Whisper is also still shown quite well and not forgotten in the midst of a bunch of other events, which I liked.

When the traitor dog strikes it causes for intriguing and interesting problems, though with this already occurring several times throughout the series it doesn't feel as unpredictable or shocking when it first started happening. There are some clues that hint who the murderer is if you're able to catch them, and they're more obvious than they were in the previous book.

One thing I absolutely hated was the Pack's treatment of Storm. Some of them go from practically idolizing her to completely mistrusting her, all because she showed up at the wrong time and the wrong place. And don't get me started with Alpha, who is constantly punishing dogs left and right when the conflict could be so much easily solved in better ways. Twitch's more calm style of leadership was honestly what I wanted to see.

Even when Storm tries to speak up she's immediately forced into punishment and Alpha turns against her over the drama with the foxes that took place at least a few weeks prior to this. I can totally sympathize with Storm on her behalf and she has a right to be angry.

Lucky seemed to be making slight improvements in the last book, but he's back to his usual self. He isn't a good leader, either, brushing off the dog's problems and telling them to stop bickering instead of actually doing anything to resolve the problem. He treats her terribly compared to his own pups and i'm worried about how this will be redeemed, which I can certainly tell it would be. She has no reason to forgive Lucky unless he genuinely realizes his mistakes and improves.

I was actually satisfied with the end, where Storm turned around and straight up left the Pack. After being treated so horribly and being looked upon as the victim of every crime, this was the best thing she could do. With her being a Lone Dog, I can guess that the next book will have a slightly different feel from the others and we'll finally have fresher, more interesting concepts.

Give it or take it, this arc has been stretched out, but it manages to work with the ideas it has and Storm is still a likeable protagonist. I can only hope they'll be more action to come.
Profile Image for Haley Mons.
29 reviews
November 24, 2024
Wow. Just wow. I'd read this series before as a kid, but re-reading this arc of Survivors as an adult had absolutely captured my attention more than most books I've ever read. I could not put this book or the previous one down after I'd picked them up. The plotline of the previous four books is slow-burn, but it expertly builds tension higher and higher until it finally culminates and comes crashing down in the amazingly satisfying ending/cliffhanger of this book. The characters in these books are well-developed and interesting, even the background characters. Everyone has a personality and a backstory and well-established motives for how they behave and watching them interact with each other is so entertaining. Storm is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I'm so looking forward to re-reading the last two books of this series!

Edit (spoilers here) Apparently a lot of people don't like this book??? A lot of people in the reviews are saying that the story is repetitive and boring, but I thought the escalation of the conflict was actually handled very well. Not many bad things happen at first, but over time they get worse and and happen more frequently, to the point where even dogs who were originally fully convinced of Storm's innocence start to distrust her. People also were saying that the Wild Pack is behaving very unreasonably and that makes the story bad, but every character acting unreasonably has a motive for acting unreasonably. Both Twitch's Pack and the original Wild Pack have faced a lot of trauma and been influenced by unreasonable dogs. Both packs were at some point led by a brutal and unreasonable leader, and both packs fought and lost loved ones to the Fierce Dog pack. Their trauma relating to Fierce Dogs doesn't justify the way they treat Storm and Arrow, but story-wise, it makes sense why these characters would behave poorly toward them given the circumstances and their history. They finally were experiencing peace and prosperity and now they're being threatened by a new brutal pack member, even though they don't know who it is. The dogs who behave the most reasonably and have the most optimistic attitudes are the former Leashed Dogs (except for Bruno), who spent the least amount of time in the same abusive situations that their packmates endured. The Wild Pack is SUPPOSED to be behaving unreasonably, so they they can eventually confront their unfair biases and learn to not judge a dog becased on their appearance and ancestry. That's the whole point and moral of this arc.
Profile Image for TheGracefulReader.
301 reviews13 followers
January 6, 2018
THE GOOD

Storm: Storm's moral and spiritual dilemmas seem very well done in this book. She struggles with trusting others and struggles with the fact that others don't trust her. She struggles with the need to protect her friends, even when she knows doing so means lying for them when it's wrong. And a past choice comes back to really bite her in the tail. Even though I still agree with Storm and Mickey with how they handled the fox, it's easy to see that it was still bad to lie about it. Storm's sleepwalking... It is still a fascinating concept to me. And not knowing what she does when asleep is tearing Storm apart. And her only friend seems to be Breeze. But more on Breeze later, kay?

Mickey: Mickey has always been one of the Leashed Dogs that I liked the most. And he goes through so much this book. A horrible loss, the Pack not trusting him (Hey, welcome to Storm's everyday life). But you always know things will be fine for him. No matter if it takes a while, the Pack will ALWAYS trust Mickey again. With Storm? That's not a guarantee.

Bruno: BRUNO. I hate Bruno with a passion, wasn't really sad to see him go, but his death was done so well that I couldn't put it in the bad list. *shrugs*

THE BAD

Breeze: Okay. This dog. THIS DOG. I KNOW ITS HER. It has to be her. I will honestly be surprised if it turns out to be anyone else. She's way too helpful, and the way she happens to cuddle and become besties with Storm is super suspicious. Especially since in the first three books, Breeze didn't seem to like her much. Helping direct and deflect suspicions onto others, planting leaving the pack in Storm's head... I have no doubt Breeze is AT LEAST involved. I look forward to it all unravelling around her.
Profile Image for TheGracefulReader.
301 reviews13 followers
January 6, 2018
THE GOOD

Storm: Storm's moral and spiritual dilemmas seem very well done in this book. She struggles with trusting others and struggles with the fact that others don't trust her. She struggles with the need to protect her friends, even when she knows doing so means lying for them when it's wrong. And a past choice comes back to really bite her in the tail. Even though I still agree with Storm and Mickey with how they handled the fox, it's easy to see that it was still bad to lie about it. Storm's sleepwalking... It is still a fascinating concept to me. And not knowing what she does when asleep is tearing Storm apart. And her only friend seems to be Breeze. But more on Breeze later, kay?

Mickey: Mickey has always been one of the Leashed Dogs that I liked the most. And he goes through so much this book. A horrible loss, the Pack not trusting him (Hey, welcome to Storm's everyday life). But you always know things will be fine for him. No matter if it takes a while, the Pack will ALWAYS trust Mickey again. With Storm? That's not a guarantee.

Bruno: BRUNO. I hate Bruno with a passion, wasn't really sad to see him go, but his death was done so well that I couldn't put it in the bad list. *shrugs*

THE BAD

Breeze: Okay. This dog. THIS DOG. I KNOW ITS HER. It has to be her. I will honestly be surprised if it turns out to be anyone else. She's way too helpful, and the way she happens to cuddle and become besties with Storm is super suspicious. Especially since in the first three books, Breeze didn't seem to like her much. Helping direct and deflect suspicions onto others, planting leaving the pack in Storm's head... I have no doubt Breeze is AT LEAST involved. I look forward to it all unravelling around her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
66 reviews
April 4, 2022
This book felt nearly the same as the last. The pack finally trusts Storm after she saves the Alpha's pups from drowning, but then almost immediately she becomes untrustworthy to the pack all over again (Which is getting kind of old). Pretty much the whole book seemed to follow the same plot as the last like the bad dog striking again and attacking someone or killing someone and no one can figure out who did it because they covered their tracks so well. Now it wasn't all the same, there was a few events that weren't repeated and dull, and that pulls you in good amount, like the red moon happening right when the bad dog's about to do one of their worst crimes and them making it seem like Storm is the one that did all of it. But surprisinly it was still a great book even though it felt like half of it was repeated.
Profile Image for Christine.
140 reviews
May 22, 2018
The danger facing the Pack has not decreased, and Storm wants to figure out why. As things get worse, Storm has to make a big decision.

This read was entertaining, and has me anxiously awaiting the next book. This arc is a lot different from the first, but it still has a lot to offer even though there is a lot of repetition (i.e. something bad happens and everyone hates Storm and Alpha doesn't listen, ad nauseum).

Profile Image for Taco.
230 reviews1 follower
January 24, 2021
Lucky is trash, Sweet is trash, Chase is trash, Snap is trash, Thorn is trash, Moon is trash, Breeze is out of her damn mind. Alpha and Lucky are incapable of seeing beyond themselves and their pups, treating Storm like she's the dirt underneath their paws even though she saved their pup's life.

Lord help me with the next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ✨Rebel Fairy Hiatus .
319 reviews6 followers
February 24, 2023
Book 3's climax and intrigue was a bit better to where the suspicion might lay. This continued to expand with no answers what so ever. Fierce dogs still remain the main problem aince the first series and to be honest it is getting a bit tiredsome. I will finish the series nonetheless, to see if I can out the puzzle together. It is still not a bad series but - it is gettinga bit dragged.
Profile Image for Ava.Truax.
4 reviews
September 3, 2019
This is my most favorite book out of the survivors series! I loved the detail. I read some of the detail to my mom and she made a disgusted face and asked why I was reading the book. I responded with I love a lot of detail in the book.
Profile Image for 3Ch0Fr02t.
1 review
October 12, 2023
í have read this book a lot, because I don't have much to read (almost all of the erin hunter books, and all of the spirit animals books, and also, Foxcraft, and all of the Wings Of Fire series :) )
Profile Image for Ginger.
13 reviews4 followers
October 12, 2017
Awesome book! I hope the 5th book comes out within the next 6 months.
Profile Image for Véronique Laplante Grenier.
1,216 reviews8 followers
November 16, 2017
Really loved it. Poor Storm. She only try to help her pack but always ending up messing and her packmates losing trust in her. Hope they found the traitor in the next book. Think i know who it is.
Profile Image for Bees.
92 reviews10 followers
December 20, 2017
WOW. Just----WOW. This book is like WHAAAA and OMG mixed with BEEN WAITING FOR THIS BOOK FOR MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Happy Dance)(Yeah yeah yeah!!!Uh-HUH!!!)Read this in ONE SITTING!!!!
273 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2019
Good buildup. Exciting last quarter of the book where I couldn't put it down. It kept you guessing who the culprit was. I can't wait to find out who's causing all the trouble.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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