The Drift by C.J. Tudor follows three storylines featuring three main characters: Hannah, Meg, and Carter. Hannah awakens after her bus carrying students to a mysterious location called The Retreat crashes. Meg awakes to a gentle swaying and realizes she is stuck in a cable car during a snowstorm. Carter is at an abandoned ski chalet with several other people maintaining the premises. All three perspectives face the reality of a deadly virus that has been sweeping its way around the globe, killing many and turning others into so-called Whistlers. They all struggle to survive in their own circumstances.

I actually loved how this book was set up. All three storylines feel like separate stories until you near the end of the book. I loved trying to guess how they were all connected, and I felt like each one had its own tension and suspense that led me to keep flipping pages. I do agree with other reviewers that keeping track of all of the characters was a struggle at times, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book.

I did find that this book had a fair bit of what seemed to be commentary on our experience with COVID-19. It didn't deter me from my overall enjoyment of the book, but a few lines here and there pulled me out of the story a little bit. Perhaps it was just my reading of it and not the author's intent. It is a story about a deadly virus, and given our recent experience with COVID, it's hard not to make those connections.

Ultimately, I found this to be a gritty fast-paced read with a wonderful snowy atmosphere that I would highly recommend! I loved the distinct storylines and liked how they came together. I had some reservations about the ending, but I don't want to spoil anything. You should definitely be able to handle a bit of gore and language to enjoy this book!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Drift by C. J. Tudor (book review)
Thriller - Available on January 31st.
352 pgs.

"Three ordinary people risk everything for a chance at redemption in this audacious, utterly gripping novel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man."

The Drift by C. J. Tudor is set after a mysterious disease has spread throughout the world. Three main characters are all isolated by accidents, made more dangerous by winter snow storms. At first, it seems like a lot to keep up with, but you adjust quickly. It soon turns into a mind-bending book you don't want to put down. Tudor leaves readers wanting more at the end of each chapter, and there are many plot twists.

Since this is a somewhat stark and tense read, I highly recommend proceeding with caution if you are still dealing with depression or anxiety. It is not for the faint of heart. There is a strong horror element to it. The style reminds me of Stephen King's.

Synopsis:
Hanna is involved in a terrifying accident as she is being evacuated from her boarding school during a snowstorm. There are only a few survivors of the crash. They’ll need to work together to survive this devastating situation.

There's no way out for Meg as she is trapped in a cable car high up in the mountains. She is with five strangers who have no idea how they got there. Their destination is "The Retreat". Are they all going to make it there alive?

It is snowing outside Carter's ski chalet, which he and his companions call home. Something deep within the chalet threatens to escape as the generator weakens due to the storm. Carter and his close friend's relationship is tested when they lose power.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to review this amazing thriller. I look forward to reading more from C. J. Tudor.

Brief review - Take notes or outline the beginning, multiple povs, confusing beginning but worth it for that glorious ending, murder mystery in the midst of an outbreak, secret remote laboratories, claustrophobic/trapped environments, blizzard conditions, complex storyline:

From moment one, readers are dropped into the tail-end of a roaring viral epidemic, but this is not an apocalyptic book. It's a book about the people in the apocalypse. Narrated by multiple characters and with each chapter ending in a cliff hanger, the initial confusion over the setting, society and the many character introductions that happen quickly it's a challenging first 15% to say the least. Despite the beginning being a jumble of various points of view, different settings and confused characters, it actually sets the mood for the plot to come nicely. The reader feels as panicked and uncertain as the characters themselves, which I think was genius. The chapters do clearly mark narrator changes but I kept having to refer back to my outline to remember who everyone was. Just when I felt like I was getting a handle on it, the pov changes back to another setting. That said, if you can push through the beginning 15% then typical fantastic CJ Tudor style mystery takes over and the purpose of the cable car and coach riders is revealed. The characters are so beautifully developed. There are nice nods to CJ Tudor's previous books as well.

To paraphrase, we have stranded Invicta Academy students that have been evacuated from school, and are now trapped in a wrecked bus/coach with the infected. Next up there are volunteers and recruits on a suspended cable car with limited power and trapped with a potential murderer. Then there is 'The Retreat' itself (a former ski resort turned into a 'Seclusion Centre') with it's secrets, staff, recruits and 'Whistlers' to remember. But nothing is as it seems.

Fortunately I started taking notes from page one otherwise I would've missed all the subtleties. Had I not at leasted outlined the beginning, I think I would've given up on this book frankly. Even having taken notes there were still important characters that I'd missed and couldn't remember. The bottom line is this isn't a quick easy read and it won't be for everyone. The Drift could be described as a puzzle (where every piece of information reveals more of the plotline) with the vibe of an escape room. I was intrigued enough by the mystery to continue reading and thank god because when the plot opens up at 25% then it's utterly fantastic. Have patience with the beginning, it is so very worth it for that ending. I absolutely hate unreliable narrators but in this case CJ Tudor made me love this one. It's a testament to how good the twists were for me to say that. I can appreciate this book's complex storyline and the superb storytelling. I'll definitely be buying a finished copy of this book. Trigger Warnings for suicide attempts, child death, graphic C-section, claustrophobic/trapped senarios and acrophobia.

3.5 stars

This was exciting and pretty fast, and a great winter horror/thriller. It didn't quite live up to other CJ Tudor books for me, but thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the early copy!
*
This starts off right in the middle of the action. Hannah wakes up after the bus escaping from her boarding school crashes, killing about half of them. and leaving the rest of them trapped. In the next chapter, Meg wakes up trapped in a cable car with several other people, one of whom has been murdered. The third group, with Carter, is at an abandoned ski chalet with the power failing and threats all around.
*
For the first half or so of this book, I really thought I was going to love it. It was fast, people keep dying, and the characters are at risk of being killed by each other, a deadly virus, or the elements if they are able to escape their confines. There's a lot that can go wrong so I looked forward to seeing how it would develop.
*
But it (and I) started to lose steam. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and with everyone suspicious of each other, it got hard to get invested in them. I also found some of their underlying motivations, once those were revealed, to not quite sit right for their actions.
*
Don't get me wrong, it's a wild ride, and I enjoyed the twists and how they came together. I just wasn't necessarily super invested in the outcome, but I flew through it in 2 days!

Wow, what a dark and brutal book! Tudor did a great job weaving together three stories and showing how the world dealt with the aftermath of a viral outbreak (definitely hit a little close to home) and how humanity has changed to survive in this dystopia. While I enjoyed the book as a whole, it was really the end that cemented my fondness for this book. The twists and turns and reveals had my jaw dropping over and over again. Even when I thought I knew where the story was going, Tudor would throw another wrench into the works. Great winter read!

I am a huge Tudor fan. I’m have LOVED all of her other novels. I was jumping up and down when I was approved for The Drift. However, and I cannot believe that I am typing this, this book was almost unbearable for me to read. There were just too many characters. Also, the characters themselves lacked development and I didn’t “bond” or care about any of them. My brain just felt discombobulated reading this. Such a disappointment, but I won’t stop reading her novels!

The Drift was a very interesting and well written book. This was the first time I’ve read this author. I struggled to get into the book at first, but once I had the three POV’s down, I was totally invested. It’s not my typical sort of book, but regardless- I still enjoyed this one and would recommend to others. The characters, plot, and the ending were all solid.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Another wonderful book from the author. After writing an excellent collection of short stories, she comes back to a full-length book with an apocalyptic novel. The chapters are told by three different characters who are trying to survive after a virus destroyed the world. Hannah is trapped in a bus, Meg inside a cable car stuck in the air and Carter in some kind of shelter. They all need to keep safe not only from the virus, but also from the infected, as well as the forces trying to contain it. Everyone is hiding something and it was hard to figure out what was going on. Eventually, I got it, but not until Tudor had led me to the resolution. The plot is very well thought out. The characters are put in impossible situations, where it seems like it’s all over, only for their resourcefulness to show. And no one is perfect. When things go wrong, some people choose to do the right thing, others don’t. I can’t say that I was looking for fiction that reminds me of what happened in the real world just recently but, told by Tudor, I enjoyed it.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/# Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!

This is my first time reading a book by this author, and my interest was peeked once I read the synopsis. The story definitely kept me engaged and wanting to read what would happen next. Sadly, the last few chapters is what made me not like the book as much as I wanted to. The story is told from three different characters points of view with a mystery in each of the narrations. It makes you wonder if there is a bigger meaning behind what is going on and wanting to know if it will all tie together. I was able to guess one of the mysteries, and was a little disappointed with the outcome. Saying that, I would still recommend this to other readers who like horror with mystery and suspense thrown in. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC.

This was a thrilling and great paced mystery thriller with a good helping of horror for good measure. I really enjoyed it (as I did the other Tudor novel I’ve read) and will definitely be recommending it to others!

A big snow storm with 3 different scenarios going on at one time! Lots of characters to keep straight. This started out strong for me but then lost me at 50%. I gave up! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review. Since I have enjoyed other books by this author, I look forward to her next one. This one just wasn’t for me.

I am a huge fan of C.J. Tudor books and was so excited to be able to read The Drift early!! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the ARC!! The Drift had many elements that I enjoy reading, mystery, horror, locked-room type mystery, and a story told through multiple points of view. I really enjoyed how C.J. Tudor upped the horror level in this. It made for some very tense and creepy scenes. I also loved how when I got to the end that I was so surprised at how everything played out between the different points of view and different locations. I have to say that since Covid and the pandemic I am not much of a fan of apocalypse stories like I once was, but with all the other elements she weaves in I did want to see how everything played out.

I've been looking forward to this one ever since CJ Tudor mentioned it as her passion project in the introduction to her previous book, A Sliver of Darkness, and she did not disappoint!

The atmosphere makes it the perfect winter read to hunker down with during a snowstorm. The three storylines are equally interesting, with strong narrators and supporting characters, and each chapter ends with a reveal or twist that kept me reading. Slowly the reader discovers how the three storylines are connected in an unexpected but interesting twist. It did take a long time for the full story of the apocalypse to be revealed, so things were a little confusing in the beginning, but the mystery also added to the general sense of unease.

One thing that drove me crazy was the repetition of certain phrasing. It seemed like almost every chapter had a phrase along the lines of "something stirred/flitted/niggled in the back of her mind" or "she was missing something but she couldn't place it/put her finger on it". But looking past that annoying bit, this was an overall fabulous read and one I recommend.

Sadly, this is a DNF for me at 50%. The cast was too large and lacking identity, so they tensed to lump together for me. There were multiple times Tudor seemed to go for an obvious "jump scare" that fell flat. And the story itself was doing nothing to reel me in. There were elements present that could have been used better, which was frustrating. I've enjoyed the other two Tudor stories I've read before, but The Drift was simply not the right book for me at this time. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more as a TV show or movie than in written form. But this ARC left me itching to read something else.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"The Drift" by C.J. Tudor was brilliant.
It was an addictive, dark & disturbing thriller that had me hooked right away.
It was one of my favorite reads of this year.
I loved how Ms. Tudor told the story using 3 main characters in 3 different timelines to connect all of their stories to us.
I am excited because I just read that Buccaneer & Halcyon Studios have secured the rights to adapt this book for television.

This little winter jewel of a puzzle box has sharp edges. Three interconnected narratives showcase three set-piece stories, and while each one requires solving on its own, the picture formed by the whole is terrifying. Curl up by the fire with this thrilling page turner which involves an apocalyptic virus but isn’t totally nihilistic. Great for readers who like fast-paces thrillers but who also appreciate multiple POVs.

I am a huge fan of the author, like really huge, so I’m going to keep this super brief. I didn’t care for this one as much as her previous work. It could be because it’s too soon for me personally to be reading about Covid-esqe virus taking out the world but with 3 crossing over storylines that never actually seemed to cross over there’s way too many characters to keep up with I found it difficult to care about any of them or at some point to even care about the story. I guess I am way out of sync with the other readers but I felt like with the post apocalyptic type “whistlers” that gave me Walking Dead vibes, that come as a result of being infected and there’s just a lot of violence in killing said infected people, but these elements don’t make it a horror story. There wasn’t anything horror about this book. It was more matter of fact than anything and I think that was due to the choppiness of the 3 stories trying to get them to intersect and for lack of better terminology, I found myself…drifting off.
I typically read a book a day, or in 2 days max, but this took me almost a week to finish because I just couldn’t get into it. Again, it could just be me because I’m not ready for Covid era books. But I think maybe it’s not.
Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This book was everything I needed, and it’s everything you’ll need for this upcoming winter season. Light a fire. Grab a blanket. We have a book to discuss.

What you need to know:

The Retreat: That’s the epicenter of our story, but we get there through a few different pathways:

1. A bus going to the Retreat has an accident. There are several fatalities, and the survivors are trapped. The big question, though, is what’s trapped on board with them, and will they survive the impending snowstorm?

2. A cable car suspended 1000 feet in the air malfunctions, and again, the passengers are stuck. The big kicker: No one remembers how they got on the cable car. Oh, and one of them may be a murderer—because there’s a body with a suspicious cause of death. It’s the very definition of a locked room mystery.

3. The Retreat itself: Who are the occupants, and what do they have to do to survive? These questions have shocking answers. Trust me.

Guys, this book is frenzied. It’s chaotic and disorienting. Details swirl about like the snowflakes in a blizzard. Sometimes, it’s hard to find your way in the confusion. We experience the same questions at the same time as the characters, which means we are rewarded with answers when they earn them.

When things begin falling into place, GAH! I actually yelled “Oh my gawd!” several times while reading. This is an incredible show of writing chops and imagination. I couldn’t read quickly enough. I never wanted it to end. If I could, I would quite literally shout from the rooftops about this book. I desperately want everyone everywhere to read it. It’s just that good!

I dare you to pick this one up, and I dare you to try to put it down. You will not be able to tear yourselves away from it. Every chapter ends with a revelation that will leave you reeling and will force you to keeping turning pages. Resistance is futile. There’s no functioning as a human until you’ve reached the end. Buckle up and bundle up. You have a very chilly and very bumpy road ahead.

In a world devastated by a swiftly mutating and infinitely transmissible rage virus, people will do anything for safety. Medical student Hannah was being whisked from her boarding school to the security of the Retreat when her bus crashed, leaving a handful of teens trapped in a blizzard. Ex-cop Meg was on her way to the Retreat via ski lift when the mechanism broke, trapping her in midair with four strangers and a corpse. Carter is already at the Retreat, where both the infrastructure and the personnel are falling to pieces. No one can be trusted in this grim depiction of humans pushed to the edge of humanity.

C.J. Tudor has outdone herself in her latest novel. The Drift, is a high-octane roller-coaster ride, speeding along the tracks at break-neck velocity. Just when you think the ride will give you a bit of a reprieve, the story slams you down a longer, faster stretch you didn't think was possible. Told in alternating chapters between the perspectives of three main characters, The Drift takes place in the not-so-far-off future when the most deadly virus on Earth has taken a massive toll, and science is desperate to find a cure. To this end, the three narratives are revolve around people trying to get to the scientific facility known as "The Retreat," or taking place at The Retreat itself. Hannah finds herself one of the few survivors of a bus crash, a coach that was taking medical students to the Retreat. When the driver isn't found among the dead yet a previously alive passenger is found dead, suspicions arise among the survivors as what was really behind the crash comes to light. Meg awakens on a cable car suspended high up in the mountains along with five other passengers, all who appear to have been drugged, and who are now stuck in an unmoving car short of their destination - the Retreat. When one of the passengers is found stabbed to death, suspicions arise and soon the body count goes higher as hopes of rescue slip away. Carter is one of the few remaining members at a scientific facility located on an isolated mountain where promise of a cure for the deadly virus may be close at hand. Once the bodies start to show up everything spirals out of control quickly, and the everyone still alive is in grave danger.
Unlike her previous novels which tended to be quieter horror in smaller locations, this one takes place in three separate, though connected, locals and have equal measures of intensity, mystery and nail-biting suspense. It's like three horror movies stuck together with them all working in harmony. This is Tudor's most ambitious novel to date and arguably one of, if not the best one yet.