Voracious

by Alice Henderson

Hungry for a good read? Voracious is... A GRIPPING, ATAVISTIC SUPERNATURAL THRILLER sexy, sensuous, and terrifying (BRAM STOKER AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN). Madeline Keyes giftto touch someone and see flashes of the pasthas set her apart from family and friends. She finds sanctuary in the wilderness, until a backcountry hike in Glacier National Park turns into a huntwith her as the prey. Because something thats not human is out there. And its hungry.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Paranormal, Thriller, Fiction, Adult, Urban Fantasy

320 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alice Henderson's love of wild places inspired her thriller series which begins with A Solitude of Wolverines, and continues with A Blizzard of Polar Bears and A Ghost of Caribou. The latest novel is The Vanishing Kind, about jaguars in New Mexico. The series features a wildlife biologist who encounters dangerous situations while working to protect endangered species.

She has also written media-tie in novels, including official novels for the TV shows Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While working at LucasArts, she wrote material for several Star Wars video games.

She was selected to attend Launchpad, a NASA-funded writing workshop aimed at bringing accurate science to fiction.

In addition to being a writer, Henderson is a wildlife researcher, geographic information systems specialist, and bioacoustician. She documents wildlife on specialized recording equipment, checks remote cameras, creates maps, and undertakes wildlife surveys to determine what species are present on preserves, while ensuring there are no signs of poaching. She's surveyed for the presence of grizzlies, wolves, wolverines, jaguars, endangered bats, and more.

Please visit her at www.AliceHenderson.com.

Reviews

[S. Wigget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This horror novel is about a young woman named Madeline who has the psychic power to tap into people’s thoughts when she comes in contact with something they have touched. Because of this ability, everyone in the small Montana town where she grew up socially ostracizes her, even her parents. Fortunately, she has met a friend in the form of a new resident, George, and equally fortunate is her future as a college student far away.

Tired of alienation and rejection, she takes a trip to Glacial National Park, where she encounters a monster far more horrible than social stigma. When Madeline was fourteen years old, a serial killer who knew about her psychic abilities killed her best friend in front of her, and Madeline believed that if the killer hadn’t known about her powers, he would have left her friend alone. Ever since then, Madeline has considered her “gift” a curse and has vowed not to ever use it to help detect murders, because she doesn’t want to absorb so many evil memories and thoughts and thus experience similar trauma. However, now that a monster is hunting her and killing others in Glacial National Park, she must use her psychic powers or the monster will continue killing.

Voracious is a gripping and terrifying novel that is character-driven and with a particularly strong female protagonist. It reminds me of Frankenstein, due to the monster chasing Madeline, the threat of others’ deaths, and above all Madeline’s conversations with the monster, which is intelligent and capable of human speech. Full of vivid description, fast-paced action, and suspense, I highly recommend this book.

[Corie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a WICKED book. I will say this one left me guessing till the bitter end. I couldn't always tell who was who, who was bad who was good... And then how would they defeat the bad guy... I was surprised! But I did find my self at one point 'liking' the bad guy, sympathetic to his plot in life, almost rooting for him, even though he was HORRIBLE! I must be twisted on some level.

Somethng else, that hit more home for me, was the setting. As I live here in the towns at the gateway to Glacier Park. It was fun to read a story that takes place in our own back yard. The names of the places, buildings, towns, roads are all familiar. I had a constant grasp of where they were in the story at all times.

Overall, kind of a strange, twisted storyline. But interesting! I was excited to finish it. Makes you wonder what else is "out there" and we just blindly look past it, seeing what we want to see.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Often I come across the same type of creatures with the same types of characters in horror stories. The creature in this story was different enough to satisfy my desire for a new type of villain.

[Ann Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review pending at Mostly Fiction. http://mostlyfiction.com

Interview in October at Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys.

[libri_una_passione · Rating 2 out of 5]

📚I predatori della notte è un libro che avevo in libreria, se non mi sbaglio l’ho preso tramite uno scambio. Non mi convinceva al 100% però mi incuriosiva.
La storia inizialmente mi sembrava interessante, un po’ lenta, però carina. Ma poi più andavo avanti e più la storia si faceva pesante. I personaggi sono interessanti ma non mi hanno fatto innamorare di loro.
La storia avrebbe dovuto essere, secondo il mio parere, più emozionante, invece, anche se i colpi di scena ci sono, è molto piatta. L’autrice è molto descrittiva, troppo a mio parere. Questo suo modo di scrivere rallenta moltissimo la storia.
Ammetto che da come era iniziata la storia mi aspettavo qualcosa di molto diverso e che ne sono rimasta delusa.
Però è anche vero che comunque la storia è interessante e l’autrice, anche se con troppe descrizioni, è riuscita ad incuriosirmi con colpi di scena che non mi aspettavo.

Nel riepilogo delle letture ho dato 3 stelle ma ora scrivendo questa recensione e ripensando alla storia, credo che ⭐️⭐️,5 sia una valutazione più adatta.

[Mia Millington · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing wasn't the best I've ever read. A handful of lapses leading to plotholes and just an overall sense of confusion at some parts. A little fast paced, bordering rushed. But besides that, a decent read. The plot is definitely interesting. A couple predictable twists, but a few moments did catch me by surprise. I haven't read a book that contained a similar monster to Stefan, so this in and of itself was refreshing. Henderson lost me a couple times, but did manage to hook me back in towards the middle of the book. Honestly, it's worth a read if you can forgive a little bit of sloppy writing.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perplessità sulla protagonista ne ho avute molte, a cominciare su che età avesse effettivamente.
Capisco solo in parte come abbia potuto la scrittrice avere il premio Bram Stoker ma, sinceramente alcune cose non hanno senso.
Tira e molla, alti e bassi, c'è del potenziale narrativo ma non è così chiaro come dovrebbe essere. Tanto vale chiudere e passare oltre.

[John Ulferts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really love the Alex Carter series Henderson has written. Not only are they thrilling adventures, but they also pack solid environmental messages and teach about endangered species. So i thought I’d like Voracious, one of her early books. Well, I found it tedious, implausible and unsatisfying. That said, Henderson’s Alex Carter books are amazing and I highly recommend all of them

[Ione DeOllos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great debut novel. I think I ended up holding my breath every time I picked it up. The suspense was amazing making the horror even more enticing. I never expected the ending but it made sense, just surpeising.

[Jane Pettitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read. Madeline small town girl with a special power, sight of happenings. She feels closed in , and decides to take a break . Strange things begin to happen deaths, creature lurking, fast paced areal page Turner 5/5

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative dramatic writing!

I loved this book! It was in some ways very far fetched one could say, or was it? The characters were likable (or at least some of them). The villain was terrifying!

I will definitely be looking for more by this author in the future!

[Brianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Action packed from the beginning. It had me hooked, but felt a little rushed!

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good thriller. Great ending.

[Lindsay Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to give it a 3 and a half

[Sunday Hollis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, loved the setting of the story. If you like paranormal/things that go bump in the night, I would recommend it. Not the usual monster, and the story moves along well

[Cri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura molto scorrevole, devo dire che mi ha tenuta sulle spine fino all ultimo. Non amo questo genere ma questo libro mi ha piacevolmente colpito

[Alexis Noriega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good pacing, great twists and turns. Keeps you guessing.

[Elisa Vangelisti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creature nere come la pece, con gli occhi rossi, artigli e denti aguzzi, che inseguono escursioniste veggenti nel buio del bosco? Non è proprio la mia trama, grazie.

[Hazel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually finished this, although it's very clumsily written, and in dire need of editing; plot holes and pointless sequences/characters galore. Still, Henderson came up with an unusual type of vampire, (one which feeds on particularly talented people) and I kept reading to see how it would end. It reminded me of those made-for-tv movies we used to see in the 80s; plucky leading lady, sometimes rescuing, sometimes needing rescue, two or three potential love-interests, heart-stopping chases, bloody denouement. On the closing shot, the victorious heroine looks off into the distance, and her eyes glow red. Dah-dah-dahhhhh...


One and a half stars for effort...

[Shankia Tinsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really like the ending, but overall, this book was awesome! It wasn't even the suspense that got me--and believe me, that was great too--it was simply the originality of the story. There are many fiction books out there involving voracious creatures like vampires and werewolves but this story was a LOT different from all of that.

Like I said, I didn't like the ending, but I hope to heaven there is no sequel because it's fine the way it is!

I love Alice's writing style! Cheers to her!

[Kaleela · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'ho iniziato diversi mesi fa e per un contrattempo l'ho dovuto mettere in pausa, quindi c'ho messo un'eternità a finirlo e nonostante la mia memoria vacillante è rimasto vivo il ricordo dell'inizio, una volta recuperato.
L'ho trovato veramente molto bello, fin dalle prime pagine. Avvincente, pieno di colpi di scena. Una narrazione incalzante nonostante le approfondite descrizioni di personaggi e luoghi. Così appassionante che mi dispiace averlo finito.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voracious, by Alice Henderson was a decent book. It definitely wasn't the best book I've read, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't feel that the love interest was natural, as in, I felt like the author put it in there just so teenage girls could rant about how much they love him, or whatever. But I did like how he had a part to play in the whole story, he wasn't just a useless character added in for no reason.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ancient shapeshifting predator sets his sights on Madeline. By consuming his prey, he can gain the knowledge and skills of his victim and he wants Madeline's psychometric ability. Who can she turn to for help, though, when the predator can become anyone he wants to be?

This was a fairly decent horror story.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The storyline provides a unique take on shapeshifters and the main character, Madeline has the unique ability to touch an object and learn information about the person who last touched it. The writer's style allows you to feel the fear and sadness within the characters. I just wish the ending had been a little more detailed.

[Teno Q. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Creepy, suspenseful, scary, creative...I loved the myth it told about how it all started. And it was nice to see that a woman was the one who finally defeated the creature, not her man-friend, even though I thought what the creature thought about Madeleine was creepy...
This is a supernatural thriller in the tradition of a cat-and-mouse chase. I recommend it.

[Randy Newnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voracious is a real page-turner! Alice Henderson does an excellent job of keeping the audience in suspense. The protagonist, Madeline, is hunted by a supernatural creature in Glacier National Park. A psychic, she must use her unwanted gift to stay ahead of the game. A fast and tense pace is maintained throughout; well worth the read!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book from the horror section. Why it was there I don't know as it's more a fantasy book. It didn't scare me or anything. However, having said no that, it was still entertaining. It was interesting to read about Madeline's gift and how it affected her daily life. I thought the ending was a little abrupt. Otherwise a good read.

[BookForAHeart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifyingly sexy!

I have re-read this book countless times and am again because I didn't put the date on here I finished it. And I'm happy I didn't. The monsters- Madeline's psychic powers. The twisting, uncertain waters of plot twists that Alice Henderson creates. A genius. This book will forever be one of my favorites. It is a classic.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey guys, this is my friend Alices book. She is the one who wrote the Buffy novels that my wife Erin loved so much. I ordered my copy through Amazon and expect it any day now. Now go get your copy and help support a local author! Not to mention the fact that she is a great writer who's cool.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the perfect "just bought a lounge chair and now I am going to sit in the sun" book. A good solid read. It moved fast and I was intrigued the whole time! I tend to lose interest pretty quickly sometimes, but this one kept me on my toes!