Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow-what a chilling, eerie read. Full of thrills and unexpected twists. A recommended read.

I automatically pick up anything by C.J Tudor having enjoyed her previous books and this latest offering didn't disappoint.
An engrossing read I enjoyed how it was told in different parts by each of the groups, a little slow to begin with, it soon built up to palpable fear and a lot of gruesomeness & death!
I didn't predict the twist. Enjoyable & gripping.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

Hugely enjoyable apocalyptic read. A new virus has broken out amongst humans leaving people either dead or known as a "Whistler" due to the whistling noise they make when they breath as the virus has damaged their lungs.

set in a snow covered mountainside, the stories of Hanna, Meg and Carter unfold. You know they are all linked together and their loves intertwined but how...

Loved it.

CJ Tudor is an auto buy for me and when I got the chance to read and review this one, I squealed.

Tudor just writes bloody great books!!! From the creepy The Whisper Man to the utterly fabulous The Taking of Annie Thorne (my fave) Tudor spins a creepy tale full of suspense and snarky humour.

The Drift is no exception! A post-apocalyptic thriller, Tudor takes you through three separate storylines, each with fully rounded characters, and masterfully weaves them all together in a dark and twisty cobweb. I had an inkling as to what was going on, but that’s as far as I got - an inkling!!! She whipped the rug clean out from under me.

I love, love, LOVE Tudor’s books and if you haven’t read them yet, get cracking!!!

This story was a lot to take in, it was so intense but I loved it. Fantastic characters and wonderful writing!

Three timelines, three stories, all intertwined brilliantly. Each setting is as claustaphobic as the others, I would liken untangling the story to picking apart an over tightened knot. With each small loosening of the threads you become more invested in the challenge with an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when you are done.

The Drift has a dark pulsating heart, a constant reminder of the evil that humanity can do. C.J. Tudor has the ability to wrong foot her readers at every turn. Superb.

The Drift was immediate cover love…I know, I know, shoot me! But it called to me like a siren awaiting its next prey. Well let me just say, this book got its talons into me nice and early. I know its likely an unpopular opinion, but I love a story about viruses and post-apocalyptic worlds. And this take had me salivating with its torturous narrative and blood thirsty scenes. What made it even better was just how all the intricate storylines interweaved into a final reveal, I’m not ashamed to admit that I had no idea what was about to smack me upsides the head.

C.J Tudor is a relatively new to me author and I’ve instantly fallen in love with her storytelling. It’s sharp and punchy and she isn’t afraid to tackle those hard-hitting themes. I think especially during lockdown times we became so insular – we had no routines, no sense of anything else going on in the world, just those four walls, day in and day out. It was a form of torture for many. Anyway, I digress, Tudor created a story that allowed the reader to experience many different perspectives. The effect these conditions created the longing for loved ones and time to plot against those who have done us wrong.

The Drift follows three groups of people, narrated by Hannah, Meg, and Carter. Hannah and her group have been involved in a crash after the bus that was taking them to “The Retreat” to be involved in trials that could significantly help them if they were to become infected. Hannah’s father, Dr. Grant is the professor running the establishment and boy is he a cold son of a cow if you ever met one. Absolute rage this character brought out in me. The trials aren’t exactly legal nor ethical but don’t let that stop powerful men. Hannah and her group wake up after the crash, feel discombobulated and realise that they’ve been drugged. They are surrounded by the dead and very quickly realise that either the cold will kill them or the department because at least one of them is infected.

Meg and her group are trapped in a cable car. They are around 1000 feet in the air with no where to escape. They were also on their way to The Retreat. They also awake after being drugged and find that someone has stabbed a member of their group. Who managed to smuggle a knife on board. Quickly they become weary with exhaustion and hunger and tempers become frayed. Meg is an ex- police officer who has nothing left to live for and a palpable sense of resentment towards The Department. Her six-year-old daughter died during the outbreak and just desperately wants to be with her again. Her pain made my heart ache.

Carter is a member of staff within The Retreat. Boy, has he had a hard time of it. After being trapped in the hypothermic conditions his face is a mess from nerve damage. It used to bother him but now not so much. It means that mostly people keep away from him. The Retreat has few numbers now and they take it turn to do chores and the dreaded grocery run – this involves a trek down the mountainside on ski’s. You just have to watch out for the Whistlers – the infected that now live in droves around buildings. One thing you need to remember is to keep out of the basement, that’s where the isolation chambers are kept.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for kindly providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review. The Drift is set in a post pandemic world, set in 3 different locations which all link together as the story evolves. There was perhaps too many characters for me to follow at times, i found that some of them moulded into each other and i found it hard to remember who they were and what their backstory was, i felt i almost needed to keep notes to track them all. The story is quite fast paced, lots of action and drama. Backstory's for certain characters are good and i felt for them emotionally. I will be looking to read more from C J Tudor.

"The Drift" by C. J. Tudor is a chilling and atmospheric thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Set in a small coastal town, the novel follows the story of two estranged friends who return home after receiving a cryptic message. The town is plagued by secrets and sinister occurrences, and the friends soon find themselves embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Tudor's writing is sharp and evocative, bringing the eerie setting to life and creating a palpable sense of tension throughout. The characters are well-drawn and flawed, making them both relatable and intriguing. The plot is cleverly crafted, with twists and turns that will leave readers guessing until the very end. Overall, "The Drift" is a gripping and haunting read that is sure to satisfy fans of psychological thrillers.

I found the first third of the book a bit slow but when it all started to come together, the pace picked up a lot! When I realised the plot twist, it all worked so well and I was really impressed with how it was all laid out. I will definitely be reading more by the author!

General Thoughts 🤔

This book ended up being something completely different to what I was expecting. I thought I was heading into a dark thriller and I ended up getting a bit of a mix up of dark thriller, post apocalyptic drama and horror. I wasn’t mad at it though and it ended up being a pleasant surprise.

I spent a chunk of this book wondering what on earth was going on and where the story was going to go but it was so worth trusting the process, because it all fell into place and it all made shocking sense in the end. I love a good plot twist and this plot was full of surprises.

Characters 👫👭👬

There were quite a few characters in this story, all of them were separated off into groups. One group were trapped in a coach in a snow storm, another group trapped in a cable car and the final group, residents in the retreat. I think the group trapped in the coach were my favourite to read and I found their stories the most engaging. I really liked Hannah and thought that she was so brave and so smart. At the same time I had a huge amount of empathy for her as I think she was quite a lonely person and really craved some sort of emotion/feeling from her father.

My least favourite character across all the groups was Sarah. Not for any serious reason, I just felt like she didn’t appreciate the severity of the situation that they were in and therefore was unable to prioritise sensible decisions. I would have 100% gotten extremely frustrated if I had been trapped in such a small confined space with her.

Writing Style ✍️

This isn’t my first C.J. Tudor book so of course I was looking forward to a clever plot with plenty of twists and turns and that is what I got. The story started to come together for me earlier than I would have liked though which eliminated some of the shock factor that I really love in a twisty thriller. It didn’t completely ruin it though, because I enjoyed reading it all unravel for the characters.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

Although this story ended up being something really quite different from what I expected it to be, I really enjoyed it. I have seen quite a few post apocalyptic books emerge since Covid and some of them aren’t done very well. This book however was written well and the story was cleverly put together with some great twists and reveals. I would have liked to have had a more of a shock factor, but it didn’t spoil the experience of the story for me. A great read that I’d recommend for lovers of thrillers with a different edge to them.

This was a twisty and fast paced horror/thriller with some science fiction thrown in for good measure and I really enjoyed the ride. The way the narrative was constructed was very clever, with three point of view characters throughout in alternating chapters. Each character has a different story to tell, a different awful situation to deal with and for a long time, you aren't sure where the plot is going or if the different threads are going to intertwine at any point. I found the virus element of the novel really interesting and particularly disturbing, given the global pandemic and I also thought the setting was great, as the added threat of hypothermia in the snow was a real presence in the story. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I do love CJ Tudors' previous novels, but this one left me a bit cold (no pun intended). But then it really heats up (OK, maybe intended a little)

The book is told from three viewpoints. Hannah, who has just woke up to find herself in a coach full of dead students in a snowstorm. Meg, who has just woken up as well. But she's in a cable car with 5 other people and no idea how she got there. And Carter, who lives in The Retreat. Once a ski chalet, but now something altogether different. Oh, and there's a respiratory illness that has destroyed civilisation as we know it within 10 years....this is definitely fiction, right?

The problem with this book is that there are too many characters. It's not a long novel, and by the time you've got them all straight in your head, it's almost over, and most of them are dead! And it almost ruins the clever bit of this novel. After all, the devil might have been an angel once, but he's also in the detail.

It's a fine novel but not quite as gripping as Tudors' previous offerings.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC

Very fastpaced, very clever, and very C J Tudor!

Loved the three different POVs and snowy setting.

5/5

I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph for approving me for an ARC of this book.

⛷️Set in an apocalyptic world, amidst a snowstorm, we see the lives of Hannah, Meg and Carter unfold. Three POVs, three locked-room mysteries and three different storylines all added tension to the story. I kept asking myself how all these stories could be connected and what the final reveal could be. Whilst I did figure it out before it was revealed I did have a few other surprises along the way that shocked me.

🚡 The snowy landscape gave the book a very chilling tone and added to an already tense atmosphere. From the fast-falling temperatures to the wilderness, the different characters had a lot to contend with. Seeing how they all adapted and planned their survival was interesting.

🧟A go-to topic in our household is ‘what would you do if there was a zombie invasion?’ so this book certainly gave me some more ideas. Some might be put off by the deadly virus trope, given what we have all been through these last couple of years, but I liked this unique approach to the story. The added threat of the Whistlers gave the book more tension.

🛖Overall this was a fast-paced, action-packed read. I loved switching between the different storylines and was very satisfied with the conclusion. All of the stories snowballed together to create a snowstorm of a finish (see what I did there 😉).

Let me begin by saying that this novel is very cleverly written. There are 3 separate stories running and this book is told from 3 different perspectives. As it is displayed in the blurb, we have Hannah as a protagonist of a story about the crashed coach and the events that are happening there. The second protagonist is Meg and her experiences in a stuck cable car. And the third protagonist is Carter and the events that are happening in the secluded retreat. I absolutely loved the stories and I was extremely engrossed. All of them had different characters, all were about survival and I was so intrigued to find out what linked all these stories together. There are a lot of characters but I found all of them very different and exciting, they all had a part to play in this story.
The plots were very engrossing and quite graphic. Death lurked on every corner and survival was the main topic of this book. What it takes to survive, how far are you willing to go to survive...The stories are full of surprises, twists and unexpected discoveries. The topics discussed in this book were friendships, survival techniques, relationships between strangers and there are many more, but I don’t want to spoil it.
This book was a little different from this author’s normal work. It is a dystopian mystery with horror elements, but I think she delivered this book brilliantly. The chapters are pretty short and it had me hooked, I needed the answers and I needed them now. :D As I mentioned before, this book has quite graphic deaths, so it is not suitable for sensitive readers. I loved the ending of this book, it was very well thought through. :)

Once again, C J Tudor has delivered!!!! I love her books so much. The plotting was brilliant, I was gripped from the start and I loved how everything came together. She really does keep me on the edge of my seat 😱🫣 Full of fire and guts! Definitely one for thriller fans

Survival can be murder . . .
Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school during a snowstorm, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors.
Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She's in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board.
Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger.
Outside, the storm rages. Inside each group, a killer lurks.
But who?
And will anyone make it out alive? . . .


This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

😱 I really don’t think I have enjoyed a thriller this much in a long time. The other people. Just W.O.W. 👏🏻 I’ve only read a few by CJ Tudor (there will be no stopping me now!!), so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I didn’t know this book was going to take me… THERE! 😬😬😬
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🔎 The other people has a lot going on, it’s a complex story with a fair few sub stories that you will be wondering for a while how they all link together – don’t worry, they do.
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🖤 The characters … I lovedddddddd them!

If ever an author was at the top of their game-it’s the phenomenal CJ Tudor. This is brilliant beyond brilliant. This is definitely the best yet from this author. I have no idea how a written review will do this book justice.

This is a clever and addictive read which has been impossible to put down. There are multiple parts od this one which all weave together perfectly. I have been completely hooked from the beginning of this one.

Tudor has captured my attention, pulled me in and made me crave more from the book. This is one of those books that keep you wanting more. I love how haunting and atmospheric this one has been- I have been captivated and hostage by this one.

The Drift is an intense read, filled with twists that keep you guessing. It is always completely impossible to predict where Tudor will take a book. This is definitely an interesting take on survival of the fittest.

I have devoured The Drift in one sitting. I have been completely unwilling to put this down. I have read all of this author’s books and this is definitely a favourite. An absolute must read from a Brilliant and hugely talented author.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟