I wanted to read something a little lighter after a couple of pretty heavy books.  Well, The Drift wasn't it.  Too many characters with similar names across multiple scenes made it difficult to figure who was who or what was what.  Yes, I know this is a survival/apocalypse thriller and we need to suspend disbelief but I just found that too difficult without more foundation.  It almost felt like we were dropped into book 2 or 3 of a series.  I could see this as a TV series or made for TV movie.  It reminded me a little of Resident Evil and The Thing, but not nearly as good as either, just derivative.  Possible setup for a series, I won't be reading.

Good quotes tho!
Necessity might be the mother of invention, but it was also the father of f--k you.

Nothing was enough and everything was too much.

...trying to tackle the whole problem was like smashing your head into a brick wall. Instead, you had to slowly dismantle the wall, brick by brick. Smaller pieces.

‘If you can’t say anything helpful, could you kindly just shut the f--k up.’

You’re either a good guy or a survivor. And the earth is full of dead good guys.

Man, he hated f--king acronyms.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was just not my cup of tea. I did not realize this was a pandemic book, and we are still too close to that time of life that I just feel weird reading books like this that had too many real-life things in it. I think if I had read this a few years down the road or in a different year even prior to the pandemic, I think I really could have liked this one.

I really did enjoy all the characters and all the plot elements, but it was hard to get my mind focused on this one.

I still really do want to read other C.J. Tudor novels in the future. There are so many that have caught my eye.

This was the first book by this author that I have picked up. The premise sounded intriguing--Hannah awakens in a crashed coach bus in the middle of a snowstorm after a hasty escape from a boarding school, Meg wakes up in a cable car suspended high above the ground with cold snow and wind whipping around, and Carter is in an abandoned ski chalet manufacturing vaccines against a deadly virus. All three of them are trapped with other survivors trying to find a way out of danger in a broken world ravaged by a deadly virus. How are these three connected?

The big hook to this book is the mystery. Each chapter is told from one of the three POV characters and each chapter ends in a cliffhanger. The mystery is interesting, trying to figure out how everyone is connected and what everyone's secrets are. The struggle for me with this book is that I didn't really care for the characters all that much.

As a reader, you don't learn much about anyone and the big virus is mentioned but not a ton of detail is given on the impact of the world other than it is really bad. Sometimes, I give books a pass when they don't give us much information about an apocalypse-type event but I found it important enough here that the absence of information was distracting. This wasn't a bad book--the pacing was quick and easy to read in a few sittings. Survival horror is not my usual genre to read but the premise sounded interesting. Maybe this book just wasn't for me.

The book follows three different people: Hannah, Meg, and Carter. Hannah and Meg are attempting to reach the Retreat - a haven for those untouched by the virus that is slowing killing the world's population - while Carter is already there.

A virus, you say? Yes, a virus. Yes, yet another pandemic book. Good god, please deliver us from more pandemic books. But I digress.

Hannah is a student at Invicta Academy, a private school for filthy rich kids and the obligatory scholarship students. She is traveling with other students on a coach bus to the Retreat when she wakes up, the bus on its side, the emergency exit sealed, and the driver nowhere to be found.

Meg, a former police officer turned science guinea pig, wakes up hanging in a cable car with a dead man that she knew in her former life. The cable car was heading to the Retreat with volunteers for the scientists running tests there; a desperate attempt to save people from the virus.

Carter ended up at the Retreat by accident - dragged in by Miles after he was found nearly frozen to death outside. Carter treated Miles for his horrible frostbite and hypothermia and allowed him to stay when he was better, but he was never supposed to be there.

And outside are the Whistlers, named so for the havoc wreaked on their lungs by the virus. They prefer full night as the sun is bad for their skin, which was nearly translucent. 

The book pinballs back and forth between the three. Seemingly, the only thing connecting them is the Retreat - and the snow. Everybody was dealing with snow and the cold. But many things are not what they seem...

Some of my opinion of the book stems on this: I am so tired of pandemic books. I get it - we all went through some stuff. But at some point we need to move on. The sad thing is, I LOVED The Chalk Man and I thought A Sliver of Darkness was a brilliant 5 star book, which means a lot because short story collections are almost always 3 star reads for me - love some, not others. I wish I could say I loved this one, but I didn't. I just got bored. I didn't care about any of the characters. Frankly, I just wanted to finish it to move onto my next read. Hopefully her next one will grab me better than this one.

3.5 stars!

I'm not going to lie, it was a little difficult to follow what was going on at first in C. J. Tudor's "The Drift." Several groups of people spread out over multiple locations, and it was hard to keep track. Luckily, each group stays in its designated spot, so it all falls into place slowly over time. I love this book's violent, bleak, macabre outlook on life after society goes through a viral pandemic (too soon?). There is a lot of bloodshed in this book, and I thought these scenes were brilliantly written. Unfortunately, the book as a whole wasn't always attention-grabbing to me. There are a lot of characters and a lot of goings-on with separate groups of people doing seemingly separate things in order to survive. I kept stopping it and picking it up a few days later, and felt like I was forcing myself to finish it. Luckily, the ending saved the entire thing for me. Very well done finale...I just wish the entire thing had been as gripping as the last few chapters. Still, I'll definitely check out C. J. Tudor's other works.

Thank you to NetGalley, C. J. Tudor, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

<b>The Drift</b> is a book that crosses genres. It is an apocalyptic novel involving a viral epidemic, set in the not so distant future, but it is also a thriller with some minor horror vibes as well. You know the horror aspect is minimal if I can handle it because the horror genre is not my thing. It starts with 3 storylines each of which felt like a separate locked-room mystery. 

1. Meg is a former detective who wakes up stranded in a cable car and a huge snow storm approaching. 

2. Hannah is a medical student who wakes up in a crashed coach with all of the exits sealed after trying to escape from a secluded boarding school.

3. Carter has been living at an abandoned ski chalet with a group of associates. 

In the first two storylines, both Meg and Hannah wake up surrounded by strangers with no recollection of the events leading up to their current situations. This is such an atmospheric and at times claustrophobic read that would make a great book to read in winter, well for those other than us living in the warm south. It is at times violent, bleak, tension-filled and definitely a story of survival. I love C.J. Tudor's writing and thought the way she converged the 3 storylines was brilliant. What didn't work for me was that there are multiple characters in each POV which made it confusing keeping them all straight for the first 25% of the book. 3.5 stars rounded up because of that twist. Well played, Ms. Tudor. You fooled me.

Intense!! This is a page turner of a thriller that kept me guessing throughout the entire story! Warnings for harsh images and lots of violence - this isn’t for the timid folks. But it’s totally worth it 😉

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. Definitely recommend!

I’m always incredibly excited when a new CJ Tudor book comes out and it felt amplified with the  release of The Drift 

“An apocalypse doesn’t happen because of evil men, zombies, or even a virus. It happens because of ordinary people. Because somewhere along the way we lost society, lost cohesion.”

I’ve seen nothing but rave reviews for this one and it deserves all of them and more. It’s a triple locked room mystery with a heaping side of extra doom thanks to a devastating pandemic we learn about as we go along. 

Maybe it was the right quarters and the nagging sense that I should trust 0 people (as if I was there 😂) but this has a subtle Saw vibe for me. Especially the scenes taking place in the cable car. I kept waiting for some recorder to be found with a menacing monologue already queued. 

The plot is hands down the most twisty one I’ve read possibly ever. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the full puzzle was revealed and all that was missing was the tiny piece in my hand. 

This book truly had everything: 3 remote locations, multiple mysteries, zombie-like creatures, many gruesome scenes, and societal commentary that will leave you pondering the what ifs. 

Go read this if you haven’t yet. You’ll be happy you did despite the nightmares 🥰

I was really looking forward to reading this book after hearing positive comments about it on The Currently Reading Podcast. 

It has an interesting premise and in the end, the story was okay but did not end up being a favorite for me. The author did do one thing interesting with this book, but other than that, the characters fell flat and I didn't find myself that interested in the story. 

I will try other books by this author, though, and maybe have better luck.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book.

I don't usually read sci-fi or virus books (too soon!) so not sure why I requested this, but I think it was because I enjoyed the author's prior book, The Burning Girls, and assumed this would be similar..

I liked this more than I expected. The story has three strands that eventually converge:  a crashed bus that has left surviving passengers trapped by a snowstorm, a group of people also trapped in a cable car that is dangling from its cables, and a group of people at the Retreat, where a virus is being studied.

In each location, people start dying, and not just from the virus. Picture three versions of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None playing out in three different locations.

The Drift doesn't skimp on the gore, but it also does a good job with character development, giving each location a main character. 

I can see from others' reviews that some people didn't love the ending, but I didn't mind it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this novel in exchange for an honest review. I went into this having never heard of this author. When I was approved for this ARC, I went into it blind as I couldn't remember what it was about. I was hooked from the very beginning! The book went into a completely direction than I was thinking, and I loved every second of it. Started off strong and ended even better. So many twists galore.  I have since checked out more books from this author from my library, and I cannot wait to start them. Thanks, NetGalley for giving me this amazing new to me author to binge!

Thank you Netgalley and C.J. Tudor for the opportunity to read the eARC of The Drift!

This book was one I was looking forward to reading and I wasn't disappointed at all.  The mystery and thriller aspect of this novel keep building at breakneck speed and pressure on the characters was at an intense level!  I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, and next and then that ending ruined me!  I loved it!

I will post my review on Netgalley, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Google play and Amazon.

I love stories like this. Post apocalyptic, a whole bunch of different storylines that don't seem connected, and people that aren't who they say they are. Perfectly tied together in the end, all the intricate pieces coming together, this was fantastic!

This book was so odd. 
This book struggled to hold my attention for the beginning. 

I really got hooked into it when we were halfway through.

And the end had me so incredibly frustrated. It felt like a lot of people had hit wits end and then just truly everyone started dying and or being murdered. I hated the villainous element throughout the book because in a world with a deadly virus, it's like - isn't that the villain? but no! We had someone in every one of these stories who was ready to fight and murder to get their goals accomplished but ALSO like MY GOODNESS the reveal made me a lot more annoyed than I thought it would be.

Overall, a fine book. I really wanted to learn so much more about the whistlers and the world itself but considering this was a ...locked room story (?), it makes sense we didn't. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballentine Books for the chance to read and review.

"ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀɴ ᴀɴɢᴇʟ ᴏɴᴄᴇ."

I went into this book with some pretty high expectations, given the fact that I have never given a book by CJ Tudor less than 4.5 stars. However, this book will now go down in history as my least favorite book by this author. 

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this book. The extremely cold, snowy, and just completely isolated setting of this book set it up for success. Where the book fell flat for me, was the cast of characters. First of all, there were way too many of them. Second of all, not only are we following a huge cast of characters, we are also following three separate timelines. There came a point where I just could not keep straight which people were existing in which timeline and I sort of gave up trying to keep them straight. 

The ending wasn't really satisfying to me, even though the twist did take me by surprise. I really just wish we would've gotten more out of the "infected" plot because that's what I signed up for, and it was what made me want to read this book initially.

[ARC REVIEW]

I will be honest, this book is outside of my usual preference.

I enjoyed the story but it just wasn't very intriguing. 
I kept waiting for suspense! 

It's very apocalyptic and it actually showed me how traumatized I am from COVID... LOL

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this book.

This was unlike Tudor's other book, Chalkman, I had read prior. Think Walking Dead meets Outbreak and this just didn't do it for me. Lots of guts and gore when I came for the suspense and thrill. I am all for books with a thrill, but not ones centered around survival mode. I found myself pushing to finish and I'm glad I did. The ending was appropriate but the journey was not as enjoyable. Average rating from me - 3/5 but won't be one I quickly recommend.

WOW!

I was riveted to this dystopian story from the first page!

Three different POV’s, so much action, good guys, bad guys, a few crazy twists and you’ve got yourself a 5 star read!

I was on the edge of my seat, trying to read as fast as I could, even talking to myself every time I was shocked by something in the story.

Put down the book you are reading now and pick this one up!! <only if you like dystopian books, obviously 😄>

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Drift by C. J. Tudor in exchange for an honest review. This book gripped me from the very beginning and didn't let go. It was suspenseful and gripping. Don't start this at night or you can say goodbye to getting any sleep till your done reading it.

Enjoyed this read and the parallel of pandemic life. I'm a sucker for zombie lore and this is a unique read. Perfect for fans of last of us