Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

In the near future there is a pandemic raging. The novel follows three characters. Hannah wakes up in a bus with several others after a crash while fleeing their boarding school. Meg wakes up in a cable car high above the ground with several strangers. Carter and his crew make vaccines against the virus in exchange for supplies. All three face different survival challenges and they are all somehow linked together.

As the links are revealed you keep thinking "Oh Wow." Highly recommend.

This was the perfect “post pandemic” read! Such a fast paced thriller that I couldn’t put down! There are different POVs so it could get confusing but it was a fantastic read. This was my first book by this author, so thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

In the beginning: corpse in the snow in the woods being beset by scavengers. First crows, then bigger preds at night. Then rolls on to a wolf bagged by hunter for food & death of hunter after consumption along with crows falling from the sky so corpse was somehow contaminated. Thus begins this I Am Legend viral apocalyptical tale. This was an easy fast moving read. One slight nod that brought out my college paleo/anthro chords twinging was something most don't know: Aryans are Assyrian/Babylonian ethnic type base & Germans are Teutonic. The author uses the multi character in each group type narrative which I like if done properly. There are three groups & each chapter goes from one to another sequentially & seamlessly which is easy to follow. The best little blurb in this thriller can sum up the twists & turns: "Their existence had always been a fragile balance. Now the pendulum had swung, the scales had tipped, and the house of cards had come tumbling down. Not to mention, metaphors had been well and truly murdered." this was a wild little ride & author was ingenious on how he put this together.

Absolutely everything I could hope for in a post-apocalyptic thriller following the fallout of a pandemic. Some may say ‘too soon’ but I say bring it on! It happened and, let’s be honest, a pandemic is fabulous material for a horror story. What’s scarier than a potential reality? So I guess it should be clear, if you read to escape then steer clear. This is bleak, macabre, and suspenseful. My type of read!

Three character POVs and plot lines is tricky, especially with such a large cast of characters, but Tudor did a phenomenal job. There was not one point of the story where I was bored. All three were well executed and they blended together so seamlessly. A+ work for creating tension, making everyone untrustworthy, and building such a scary and claustrophobic world. Truly an edge of your seat type of read.

The only other Tudor novel I’ve read is The Chalk Man, and I really was not a fan. After recently reading and enjoying her short story collection, A Sliver of Darkness, I decided to give her another chance. So glad I did! This was completely different than The Chalk Man and just better in every way. I really loved the King vibes I got from this one. Excited to check out her other books now.

I’m not sure what to say about this book! There’s Hannah on a bus trip in a blizzard in a dystopian world and the bus crashes. Then there’s Meg on a cable car stuck during a blizzard and discovers a dead body on board. Then Carter who is at The Retreat and things start to fall apart. Some how it all connects. This is a rough story to read. But it did keep me reading to see where the author was going to take me. I would recommend but with a caution attached. Thank you NetGalley for letting me review this book.

This was so good! Creepy and atmospheric, I also enjoyed the post-apocalyptic setting. I’m a huge fan of CJ Tudor and this did not disappoint! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I've enjoyed all of C.J. Tudor's books so I was so excited when I got a chance to read an early release of "The Drift" on Netgalley. This apocalyptic thriller was right up my alley. Not only was it full of suspense and action, it also had. mystery and a post-covid feel. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to any other book by this author.

Thrills on top of thrills on top of more thrills. What a whacky and grotesque adventure. this book is about three different timelines that converge into one at it's ending. Take a zombie causing virus that has caused an end of the world crisis with characters from all walks of life. I loved everything about this book but must have missed something towards the end because I had a very hard time following how a few of the characters tied together. There were definitely a ton of bOh, shit moments and a ton of very vulgar killings! I loved it! I've never read a book by C.J. Tudor but will definitely be reading more soon. Many thanks to the author/publisher for the ARC. Will definitely reccomend.

Wow! That was truly an amazing read! I was on the edge of my seat page after page. Heart thumping thriller, with just enough gore. The details were so captivating, I was able to set the scene in my head. From the sights, different smells, it felt like I was actually there with the characters enduring these horrific events. So many different twists too which made it even more exciting.

Quite different from Ms. Tudor’s previous works but exceptional as always.
Sci-fi, horror and mystery in one.
Pick this one up.

I was so excited when I was approved for C. J. Tudor's newest book as I have loved all of her previous works and I am happy to say this one did not disappoint! She does a fantastic job of world building and you can feel the terror the characters are going through. While reading I knew the three groups would be connected somehow but I was not expecting the reveal of how.

Tudor did an amazing job of bringing this apocalyptic story to life.

First of all, big thanks to Penguin Random House for the publisher recommendation and advanced access to this book. There were absolutely parts of this book that had my enthralled, and other parts that left my scratching my head a bit.

Generally, I enjoy books that have multiple POVs. However, I felt that this one was a bit confusing. Eventually, it all wraps together (and nicely), but for the first half of the book, it was a bit tricky putting together who was who and what was going on.

The storyline, overall, is pretty depressing. There is a lot of sickness, death, anger, revenge. Very few allies are made and very little trust is had by anyone. I was about to hate the ending, but the very last chapter made up for it a touch. I genuinely enjoy & appreciate the quest for survival (and being a survivor), but disagree with some of the methods these characters chase after it.

This is the first novel I've read from CJ Tudor. Man, what an Awesome Storyteller!!!!

The intrigue, suspense and back & forth of the different characters. Each character had their story and secrets that they wanted kept. The end delivered a punch to the whole storyline, that was masterfully done. Trying to guess where the next shoe was going to drop was never easy and I was always wrong.

If you want an edge of your seat thriller, then The Drift should be your next read!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. I briefly read the synopsis, saw people were trapped in snow, and decided to go for it, despite vague talk of the end of the world (well, “danger…consuming all humanity”). I was pleasantly surprised by how creepy and intertwined this story is!

As we know from the synopsis, Hannah awakens in a snowy coach crash. Many of the students aboard are dead, and the rest of them are left wondering if help will come before they freeze to death - or if they even want help to come.

Meg awakens in a cable car, hundreds of feet above the snowy peaks below. She has no idea how she got there, along with the others who are also waking up. The car is stuck, hanging on by one cable, and they are trapped. They, too, wonder if anyone will come for them before they succumb to the cold.

The third group of people are at “The Retreat”, a secret place in a secret location, doing secret things, and the snowstorm is putting them in danger as well. Their generators are on the fritz, and without those, they will certainly freeze. They are also low on supplies (in more ways than one) and going to get more may be deadly. Will help come for them, and again, do they want it?

All three groups are tied together, though they and the reader don’t know it at first. The world is in the middle of a decade-long pandemic, and some of these people have agendas. Some of them have paranoia and anxiety. Some of them have secret pasts. All of them are just trying not to be infected or freeze to death while stuck with random strangers.

The first half of this sped along and had me immediately engaged. I felt that it started to lag a bit around the 50-75% mark, but then things picked up again as my jaw repeatedly dropped throughout the last few chapters. This is listed as an apocalyptic mystery/thriller, but I’d class it as a thriller/horror. It was creepy as hell, and I really enjoyed it! Four stars for this book that had me huddled under a blanket for more than one reason…

(Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, C.J. Tudor, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released in January, 2023.)

Ooohhh goodness! An accident leaves survivors stranded in the middle of a snowstorm. But wait, there’s more! It’s also the end of the world! I think that is all you should know going in to this book. Let the rest keep you in the edge of your seat as you race to the conclusion.

4.5 rounded up
This is a fast paced thriller that gave me chills.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

There were so many characters and so many secrets. There were double crosses and many McGuyver-like scenes that were very plausible. This novel has many twists and turns and loose ends that would seem to never make sense, until they get tied up in the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Well Tudor does it again. It is super unique and original, as all of them have been! I must confess I did not read the blurb before requesting this. Any novel written by this author is just a no brainer to request. I'm glad I did not dig into it further before reading because this would not be my typical read but so glad I did read it.

It is broken out in three different POV"s: Hannah: the medical student stranded after an accident on a coach bus heading to the Retreat, Meg stranded in a cable car (proves my point on why you should never get on one) heading to the Retreat and Carter who lives at the Retreat. How these tie together is the crux of the story and one that was pulled together super well.

I don't want to get into too much more to avoid spoilers because this is best going into blind but I'll say two things: the relation to Covid scared me and I'll never let my cat kiss me on the face again. Ok I will, but just saying. I can't wait to see what else this author has up the sleeve! This one will have me terrified for a few more days!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author in exchange for my honest review.

Tough to put down. A well-crafted puzzle-box of a thriller that sticks the landing you never saw coming.
5 Stars

My take on The Drift:

As a reader, I love when a story grabs me and pulls me close, maintaining a grip on my thoughts whenever real life intrudes – walking the dog, bathing, sleeping – and it’s not right in front of my eyes where I can find out what happens next. Such a novel is The Drift by C.J. Tudor, which I tore through faster than any novel I’ve read in a long time.

This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley for that purpose. The book will be available on January 31, 2023.

Set during a worldwide pandemic caused by a virus that is highly contagious and incurable, the story unfolds from the perspective of three protagonists in different locations. A bus with students from an elite school crashes on a remote mountainous road during a heavy snowstorm. A woman comes to on a stalled cable car, gently swaying a thousand feet above a snowy forest barely visible through swirling snow.

Hannah and the other students on the bus, and Meg and the five people with her in the cable car, are all headed for The Retreat, a key research site in the battle against the virus, where Carter is faced with the prospect of making a supply run through the woods to a nearby village before the storm gains strength.

Hannah, Meg, and Carter must determine who around them can be trusted as they struggle to survive and unravel the mysteries of their situations. As engrossing as they are apart, the three separate story threads slowly combine to form an unexpected but satisfying conclusion. To say much more than that would spoil the fun for future readers, but let me add many chapters end with a surprise reveal or twist that made me want to immediately skip ahead to that character’s next chapter to find out what happened next.

I’m absolutely going to add anything else this author has written to my To Read List, and encourage everyone looking to get lost in a thriller to give The Drift a look.

The Drift is an atmospheric end of time survival story that will have many readers holding onto their seats as they turn the pages. The story is bold and destructive, it is haunting and engaging. I was addicted to the story, to the characters and to finding out how it would all end.

I think those readers looking for an exciting story, to follow groups of people as they experience and must survive some very disturbing issues will really enjoy this read. Going into the winter months now, this book is the perfect read for a cozy, cold winter's day. But watch out for others, they might just be your demise!

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and I am leaving an honest review.