I'm feeling a bit sad right now writing this review. I really really wanted to like this one. I've enjoyed the three other books by C.J. Tudor that I've read. So I had high expectations going into this one. I'm sad to say this one didn't do it for me. I think the main reason for this was because there were too many people. We follow the perspective of three different people. All of them in these horrible situations. However, there are also a bunch of characters introduced in each perspective. Each time the perspective changed I had to stop for a second and figure out which situation the character is in. Thankfully the author makes it pretty known but I'd still blank. I just only knew the main characters and even then I was a bit fuzzy on them.

I feel that ended up taking away from my enjoyment of the story. I didn't care much about what was going because half the time I was confused by who the people are. I decided to push through and continue on regardless of my feelings.

Even though I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other C.J. Tudor books, I will still be continuing to pick up her books. She's such a great writer and knows how to write a good thriller. Highly recommend checking out The Chalk Man, The Burning Girls and The Other People. All great reads by her!

The Drift by C.J. Tudor is a breakneck thriller. Fast, terse, and brutal at times it rarely lets up and leaves you feeling a little roughed up by the end.
C.J. Tudor herself described the book as "a triple locked room mystery/post-apocalyptic horror thriller."
It took me awhile to get into the book, and I can't really say that any of the characters Hannah, Meg, or Carter ever really connected with me, but I couldn't not read the book. I don't think I've ever struggled with a book as much as I did with this book.
C.J. Tudor is a writer of roller-coaster fiction--you're thrilled, maybe a little afraid and you can't wait for the end, but once it does you find yourself yelling, "Again."
I would probably give this book a higher ranking, but for a few things. The first being that there is sooo much going on and the characters are in constant peril that I at times found myself a little inured to it. The last thing was something that may have been something that had more to do with me than the writing, but one of the characters had been described as horribly disfigured and missing a nose, but at the end has their nostrils clogged with the smell of death and smoke. For some reason that kicked me out of the story right as things were wrapping up.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #RandomHouse, and C.J. Tudor for the ARC of #TheDrift.

The Drift wasn’t exactly what I expected. I thought it would be more of a suspense/thriller type book, but it was more of a horror/apocalyptic story.
There are three storylines: Hannah, who wakes up in a bus crash; Meg, who wakes stranded on a cable car; and Carter, who is an employee at The Retreat. The groups with Hannah and Meg were headed to The Retreat. There is a pandemic going on and the people who become infected are called Whistlers and are feared by the others. The Retreat is where an antivax is produced.
This is a dark book and I kept waiting to find out how the three stories would connect. It is very hard to figure out who the “good guys” are and who can be trusted. I also had a hard time figuring out the timeline of the stories.
I am glad I read the book and thank you to NetGalley.

A well written book. I started this and couldn't put it down until I finished! I give it 4.5 stars and a strong recommendation.

The Drift is another "got me through covid read". I think expectations were set to purposefully distract from the real story unfolding behind the scenes, but in a way that strengthened the book rather than a a dshonest way. Each of the 3 Pov characters are struggling to survive more than just being "locked in with the murder", or keeping the true cause of death a secret. There's something even worse to defend against, and it's out. Theres a need for redemption too, so perfect for those who get bored by the basic hero trope and want characters who may turn the wrong way at any moment. This book is perfect for those who love tension horror and a little bit of Gore.

Unfortunately this one just was not for me. Going to put this one aside for now-maybe I’ll pick it up later. Maybe not?
Too graphic and too many characters.

Bloody brilliant ! Apocalyptic dystopia horror as only CJ Tudor can provide.
The story is told from the perspective of three people, all whom are trying to survive in this post pandemic turns apocalypse world. Soon, the stories overlap, begin to come together in a most unique way.
If you are a fan of her prior work, this will not disappoint. If this is your first read, it won’t be your last?
Thank you to CJ Tudor, the publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy. My personal opinion provided in exchange.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm not sure what I expected of this book, but it definitely surprised me! What I expected was a relatively straightforward disaster-pandemic book, with 3 different groups of people being affected by the events, and with a shadowy, evil government agency in the background. Yeah, there was some of that, okay, but with a few twists that pulled it up to another level. It kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next - this was not a book that I put down and picked up later, but one that I compulsively read!

There were certainly clues throughout that tied the 3 groups togther, and I was constantly concocting theories about how this could be working out - but I was not really ever ahead of the author. I hesitate to say much about the book, because part of the fun of reading it is the twistiness of the plot - so no spoilers!

It was a compelling read for me - well worth reading!

This is a story about a dish best served cold.

I wasn’t sure what to expect having only read normal thrillers by the author, but this was an absolute ride of a book. If you do not need to like the cast of a book, and you’re up for a truly bleak perspective on the collapse of society- this is a solid bet. The book does not stop from the first page to the last!

Thank you so much @netgalley Ballantine for the eArc & @prhaudio for the audio copy!

This multi-POV thriller follows three different stories set in a post-apocalyptic winter. Each character finds themselves suddenly in life or death situations, and as the stories unfold, you realize there’s something more sinister tying their experiences together. I loved the pacing of this book and was absolutely blown away at the way she crafted the big reveals. There is a lot of violence and gore in this one, so it may lean more towards horror than your traditional thriller for some readers. The ending did leave me with some unanswered questions, but overall this was a quality read.

Calling this chilly isn't to make a pun, this was scary in many degrees, even if it's not a book I'll remember for life.

This is probably another child of the quarantine. Even though we could say we have three different stories happening in the same universe, they're all claustrophobic. The world is facing a highly contagious disease and each of the three main characters are doing their best to survive. One is stuck in some sort of refuge but that is running down and without much hope of getting help, so they need to fight for themselves. One is on a cable car to get there when the car gets stuck and the group gets desperate. And the other in on a bus full of students from a boarding school going to a retreat as well, when it gets into an accident in the middle of nowhere.

More than wanting to know what would be of all of them, I was mostly curious about how the stories would connect and got a good explanation to it. It mustn't have been easy to plan for all of that, either, even if it's not so complex.

There is a lot of action and plot twists, but having three basically independent stories made it hard to follow the side characters. Even harder when a lot of them died along the way. Like, I've finally got to understand who this name connects to whom in this scene, why did you have to kill them? That shows it was also hard to care much for them.

Still, if you like action and some scares, this is a book for you. In the end the plot didn't deepen as much as it could in such an apocalyptic world. I imagine Tudor wants us to read it more than once to catch details we wouldn't on the first read, and I don't think I will do it. This or that detail didn't sit well with me either when I started contextualizing with reality, it made me uncomfortable the book could transmit the wrong social message when we're still fragile about the pandemic.

It's good for a momentous fun at least, for that it will work like a good page turner should.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I love CJ Tudor but this was not my favorite by her. The pacing was off and it felt like the ending was dragging. I did love the horror aspects of it and I think that sets it apart for your typical thriller. I would recommend it to people who like survival thrillers.

Told from three different settings, The Drift follows several sets of characters in a plague ridden post apocalyptic world.
Hannah and her fellow students awaken after a bus crash on their way the potential safety at The Retreat.
Meg and a few volunteers are stranded on a cable car, to participate in a a study, also at The Retreat.
And Carter is an employee at The Retreat, where they are up to all sorts of questionable things.
And they way it all ties together....
Very clever!

The timeline in this story is a bit confusing, though I think it added to the suspense and mystery.

This is one of those stories where every detail is crucial and no one is who they seem to be.

I definitely recommend this book. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

C.J. Tudor is always a pleasure to read, and this one is no different. I was fortunate enough for an ARC and was so glad to read this one. Gripping of catastrophic proportions is underselling it.

This book defines the word gripping! I just read the majority of The Drift yesterday on an 8 hour plane ride. Usually, I break up my travel time with napping, some reading, an in-flight movie, chatting, and looking out the window. Not this time! I started this book at my hotel, continued to read it as the plane took off, and was 25 pages from the end by the time the plane landed. I had to be nudged to get off the plane because I wanted to sit right there and finish the novel.

First thing I did when I was safely back at my house was read those last 25 pages!

I have only minor complaints with the book. A few sections got bogged down with minutiae and details, in my opinion. Also, some of the conversations between characters seemed laborious and forced. Dozens of characters are introduced in the beginning, and I was having trouble keeping them sorted in my mind, which made the first third go slowly since I had to keep referring back to refresh my memory as to who was who. I’m giving this book 4 1/2 stars but overall I really liked it so I’m rounding it up to 5 stars.

This novel is dripping with gore in the most visceral way. I loved the frozen, white-out blizzard conditions, and the claustrophobic locations. Reading the intensely vivid descriptions, I could feel the characters’ discomfort in my own body.

CJ Tudor is one clever author. I was enjoying each of the three separate stories well enough, and then when they all came together at about the 80% mark, wow! I relished the feeling of being completely blindsided when it was finally revealed how the different characters connected.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!


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This book is a perfect read for the winter. Although at times, if I was not paying attention, I could easily get lost between the timelines. I love the fact that it had an apocalyptic theme to it. The only downside for me was that the author in my opinion spent a lot in the first half of the book apart from that I absolutely recommend it.

Catching up on reviews this week. No complaints here! Just not totally memorable. Overall 3 stars. Didn’t love it and didn’t hate it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC copy. I am a fan of CJ Tudor so I had to read this book. It is a closed circle horror story that has an "illness " . I wanted to love this, unfortunately it wasn't for me. I was able to guess what was going to happen. 3.5 stars

I'm going to sound like everyone else here with a critique for this book but there were way too many characters to keep up with across way too many perspectives that were way too similar.I kind of wish I could have kept track till the end because I want to know what happens, but this was a miss for me. CJ I'm sorry!!