I am a big fan of C.J.Tudor but I just didn't enjoy this one -zombies are not my thing -sorry

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

2.5 stars. I have read this authors earlier books and enjoyed them so I was excited to read this new one. Sadly I was really disappointed I just didn't enjoy it at all. I wasn't expecting this to be a horror/gore book which doesn’t really interest me. I hope the next book by the author will be more like the earlier ones.

In a dystopian near future, ravaged by an infection that has brought the world to its knees, three groups of people are battling for survival...

Hannah wakes up in the wreckage of a coach that was taking a group of elite students to a refuge in the mountains, after the infection found its way to the Academy. Trapped in a snow drift, the survivors are caught between the need to escape from a death trap, and the almost non-existent chance of making it through the blizzard that rages outside.

Meg awakens to find herself trapped in a freezing cable car, stranded high in the mountains. Her companions are complete strangers and no one remembers how they got here, although they all claim to be brought together for a single purpose. Can they find a way to make it to safety?

Carter and his companions call a remote chalet in the mountains their home. A storm is raging outside, and their generator is failing. Their options are limited, but they must find a way to contain the danger in the basement that will unleash itself if the power goes out.

To make matters worse, a killer lurks within each group. Will any of them survive?

This one of those books that I was in high anticipation of as soon it was announced - and all those months of waiting have not been in vain, dear readers!

In The Drift, C.J. Tudor turns her deliciously twisted imagination in a direction that beautifully combines the darkness of her thriller novels with the near-future dystopian nightmares that she visits in her short stories. It is a combination that I am very much in favour of, made all the more delectable by the fact that Tudor makes the utmost best of the isolating atmosphere of a snowy landscape - one of my favourite things to read about.

Beginning with a prologue that told me I was in for something horrifically special, the story flips back and forth between the three murderous scenarios. You gradually get to know the characters in each group, as they try to navigate the odds that are stacked against them - for as long as they survive, that is. The body count is high, and it is impossible to guess who is responsible for knocking off their fellow survivors in each group, until almost the end of the story, when the separate threads collide in the most brilliantly contrived way... but no spoilers here.

This is Tudor at the absolute top of her bloody game, with a story that has everything you need from a genuinely terrifying horror novel, and all the claustrophobic menace of her previous books. She uses the inhospitable conditions of the environment to perfection, and maxes out the danger quota by bringing in stumbling blocks of the human (and inhuman) variety too. The way she misdirects you is a work of genius, and although three stories to follow might seem a little overwhelming, they fit together with accomplished flair to make a whole that is cleverly threaded with echoing themes of family, loss, betrayal, and ethics.

I swallowed this whole, unable to look away for a second, and now I am bereft that I must wait for new book from Tudor's wicked imagination. Auto-buy author status confirmed!

I was sent a copy of THE DRIFT by C. J. Tudor to read and review by NetGalley. Wow, what a page turner! This is well and truly a thriller, right from the first page. There are lots of twists and turns and some surprizes along the way. I did get a little confused as to who was who in the beginning as the story has 3 parallel narratives running through it, though I soon got to grips with that. I don’t want to say anything about the content, I just urge you to read the novel if you are a fan of thrillers with the emphasis on survival, especially as some aspects seems a little close to home considering global events of recent years!

A terrific read.
Focusing on small groups of people, all seemingly head8ng to the same place
Will they survive or not?
Thrilling and horrifying at the same time what people resort to.
An absorbing and compelling book.

C.J. Tudor has been one of my favourite authors since her debut novel The Chalk Man, which was one of the first books I ever reviewed on this blog. It was a runaway success, thanks to its killer twist ending and Stephen King-influenced atmosphere, and cemented Tudor as the queen of British horror – a title she worked hard each year to maintain with subsequent release. Tudor’s style is best described as quintessential Britishness served with a slice of supernatural horror; she also knows how to write compelling cliff-hangers and twists that force you to ‘binge-read’ the entire book. Her latest book, The Drift, is something of a departure from her previous works, stepping away from grounding her work in recognisable locales, such as motorway service stations or sleepy villages, and instead developing a post-apocalyptic vision of a world plagued by a deadly infectious disease. Clearly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Drift feels like a plausible exaggeration of what might have happened if the virus had been slightly different. Much of the paranoia and ruthlessness seen in the book was seen in real life, albeit to different degrees, adding a different type of realism to Tudor’s work.

The novel has three distinctive storylines with alternating chapters dedicated to one of its three protagonists; Hannah, Meg and Carter. At first, it is disorientating as many characters are introduced in quick succession, but it soon becomes clear that these are three separate stories. Despite their different settings (a crashed bus, a broken ski-lift and an isolated retreat), there is a key theme shared across the stories – each of these trapped groups not only has to fight for survival against the elements, but they also each have a murderer among them who is picking them off one by one. The triple narrative ensures a fast pace, and each time the book switches perspective to a different character, Tudor is able to drop a vital clue or cliff-hanger to entice the reader to read “just one more chapter”. As the book continues, the connectivity between the three stories becomes clearer and events in one narrative strand have a direct impact on others. It’s an extremely smart literary technique, and while I did guess one or two of the reveals, Tudor still manages to surprise with some very effective reveals.

As typical with C.J. Tudor’s stories, it is tricky to go into too much detail as much of the fun comes from having the rug pulled out from underneath you, but I really enjoyed this switch in format and tone in her writing. Some familiar trends remained, particularly her knack for describing gore in spine-tingling detail, as well as her morally-grey protagonists. Hannah, the pro-active student trapped in an overturned coach, is one highlight and Tudor explores the relationship between an absent father and a neglected daughter well. Her chapters brought a YA fiction edge to the novel with her student comrades attempting to figure out a way to escape the trapped coach and survive the wintry conditions and deadly predators outside. Meg – the second female protagonist – offers an older and wiser perspective. Her backstory is tinged with tragedy, but she is also extremely strong and resilient – her story takes place in a broken-down cable car and is the very definition of a locked room murder mystery as she wakes up to discover a corpse and four potential suspects.

Carter’s story feels tonally different from the outset, and is the one that leans the most into its supernatural post-apocalyptic setting. Again, the story involves a murder mystery, but also descends into a 28 Days Later-esque zombie siege. While each of the three narratives is based upon the same ‘locked room mystery’ format, Tudor remixes the idea with different genres to distinguish each strand. Without going into too much detail, there are a few common themes that stretch across the three stories that unites the narrative into one story, but Tudor doesn’t rush to get there, leaving the reader wondering how these tales are connected for the majority of the story. I really loved the sense of paranoia that pervades the novel, and the icy cold setting evokes memories of the classic survival horror movie, The Thing.

The Drift is an extremely fun novel, and I love that C.J. Tudor is stepping outside of her usual writing style to deliver a different type of horror story. Even without some of her more recognisable trends, The Drift still has her writing voice at its heart and her knack for creating complex and engaging plots is just as prominent in this book as it is in her other horror titles. In my opinion, no other British writer is able to leave their readers open-mouthed (either through shock or horror) in the same way that C.J. Tudor does. A thoroughly good read from beginning to end, The Drift is a thrilling literary triptych filled with death, destruction and plenty of surprises.

C J Tudor is a favourite author of mine so I was looking forward to reading this new book. A dystopian thriller about a killer virus that had changed the world, and it showed an eerie and often unsettling view of how life could change when faced with threats from illness, severe weather and mistrust.
Three different narrators in three dangerous situations who were all linked by their connection to The Retreat but there was another link that I couldn’t initially work out. This was slowly revealed the more I read. All three were strong characters who were all hiding something and they all desperate to escape their situation. All were struggling with their current situation but they also had problems that they were trying to run from in their personal lives and the one I had more liking and sympathy for was Meg.
Everyone will be aware of how, at times, terrifying the real virus was. The one that features in this book makes that pale into insignificance. The treatment used, especially, was the one that I found difficult to handle and had me thinking about what options I would consider if I was in a similar predicament.
Strangely it wasn’t the storyline about the virus that chilled me. There was the weather, obviously, you couldn’t not be chilled reading about the icy conditions. But more than anything it was the characters, not knowing who, if any, could be trusted and what each of them were prepared to do.
There is a lot more I could say about this book but the less you know before you read the more you will be gripped.

This book was amazing!!! There are three different stories which we switch between throughout the book. You don’t know how these stories are connected at first but when they come together there is a twist that I was not expecting; I don’t want to ruin it so I won’t say more about that.

The story had great character development and really made me care about the main characters. I found it quite sad in parts and also interesting to see how the infected were treated, and how society had fared during the outbreak.

I couldn’t put this book down and I highly recommend it to everyone.

❄️BOOK REVIEW❄️

#TheDrift by @cjtudorauthor

⏩for synopsis

Well I blooming loved this book!!!!

It was a thrilling ride that felt very of our time. It’s marketed as a horror/dystopian thriller, but I found it all very believable, relatable and interesting.

Well I loved everything, but especially the varying narration / stories - every part was just as equally as gripping and I was constantly torn about wanting to read more but also going back to the other stories to find out more.

Suspicion was rife, there was no one to trust; characters were not particularly likeable but it didn’t matter, you still wanted every juicy detail of their lives and goings on. Towards the end I did work it all out but it didn’t affect anything - I enjoyed and relished it all coming out and to an end.

With thanks to author #CJTudor @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for allowing us to read this one early (sorry we didn’t quite make it for publication day!)

OUT NOW!

-EMILY

@the_book_girls_1

I’ve been with CJ Tudor right from the start and she has improved with every single book. Last year’s short story collection ‘A Sliver of Darkness’ was a delicious appetiser to this year’s full blown meal ‘The Drift’.

With a prologue reminiscent of an old Scots poem from my childhood ‘The Twa Corbies’ this terrifying tale starts as it means to go on. With the tease of the opening page we know ‘something’ has happened. We just don’t know what yet.

But as the story unfolds through three different – and at first, seemingly unconnected – narratives, there are lies to be uncovered and secrets to be revealed. And as we slowly shift between the trio of POVs (Hannah, Meg and Carter), we begin to see a world that has been devastated by a deadly virus which turns those affected by it into a terrifying zombie-like state.

With ‘The Drift’ the author has delivered a clever, chilling and complex puzzle – I would love to the Post-it note wall that helped make the final plan come together. And come together it does. But not without a fair amount of bloody violence and inventive kills along the way. Anyone thinking of making a snow angel would find themselves tainted red with the amount of blood that is spilled across these pages.

This may be the author’s best novel yet with fantastic character building and a fair amount of jaw-dropping moments that you will not expect. CJ isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty and bumping characters off. Trust no-one.

It’s a perfectly plotted, part-dystopian, part locked-room mystery that pays off page after page. Which is probably why this, like ‘The Burning Girls’ before it, has been optioned for TV.

Wrap up warm for this well-crafted, adrenaline-pumping chiller and feel the burn as you dig deeper into the mystery of The Drift.

I chose to read a free eARC of The Drift but that has in no way influenced my review.

I am such a HUGE fan of C.J. Tudor’s books. I have read and loved every single one since the author’s phenomenal debut, The Chalk Man, hit bookshelves in 2018. C.J. can do no wrong in my eyes with every thrilling new book going beyond my *ahem* very high expectations (eek, the pressure!). You just cannot go wrong with a book by this author and this latest release proves that, in abundance! The Drift is thoroughly captivating with clever storytelling and intricate plotting. Another tense and addictive addition to Tudor’s catalogue of work!

Normally at this point I would give you my take on the blurb. But this is a very difficult book to summarise due to just how darn clever it is. So I’ll just refer you to the publisher’s blurb which is waaaaay better than anything I could write and tells you a lot of what you need to know. The Drift is an apocalyptic/dystopian horror thriller set in the not so distant future following the outbreak of a virus which has killed billions. In this hell-like new world the reader is introduced to three main characters, each in a unique, snow-bound setting. Hannah is one of the survivors of a coach crash. The coach was heading to The Retreat. Then there’s Meg who is stranded in a cable car, on its way to The Retreat. And finally Carter, who is a resident at The Retreat. The reader visits each setting and gets to know what makes the three main characters tick. There’s plenty of backstory, plenty of insight into their current predicaments and plenty of interesting developments along the way. Meaning all three leads felt fully fleshed out and totally believable. Their situations also felt scarily plausible, which is a very frightening thing to say! Is that due to living in a post-pandemic world ourselves? I do wonder. Whilst not all of the main characters were particularly likeable I did find myself gradually warming to the two women. But there was a feeling that I couldn’t shake that I wasn’t seeing the whole picture…

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I loved The Drift and know it is going to be one of my top books of the year come December. It’s a chilling, atmospheric read where the author has once again excelled at drawing the reader in and immersing them in a thoroughly riveting, nigh impossible-to-put-down thriller. With well placed touches of horror throughout, sky high tension and thrills aplenty, The Drift will no doubt become a bestseller. And deservedly so! It’s one of those ‘one more chapter’ books where you can’t and don’t want to stop reading but promise yourself ‘just one more chapter’ before realising it’s 3am and you need to go to work in a few hours! Chock-full of perfectly written suspense and with a killer twist in the tale, it was everything I was hoping for and so much more. C.J. Tudor knocks it out of the park every time. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Tudor can do no wrong in my eyes. A perfectly plotted tale of survival against the odds with a beautifully written overarching sense of dread and impending doom which I couldn’t get enough of. I loved every single second of The Drift. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Drift. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

My thanks to Penguin Random House Michael Joseph for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘THE DRIFT’ by C. J. Tudor.

This was a claustrophobic thriller set in an unspecified future in which a deadly virus has significantly changed the world. Set in wintertime, there are plenty of snowdrifts though DRIFT is also an acronym - Department of Research into Infection and Future Transmission.

The narrative moves between three points of view. During a deadly snowstorm, Hannah awakens to a scene of carnage. She and a handful of others were travelling from The Academy, an exclusive boarding school, to the Retreat. Yet their coach careened off the road, rolled down a steep slope, and is now on its side in a snowdrift trapping Hannah and a handful of others inside.

Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She finds that she is in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers. No one recalls how they got on board though they are all on their way to the Retreat.

Finally, at the Retreat, an isolated ski chalet, Carter and his companions are concerned about their generator, which is wavering during a fierce snow storm. Yet despite the storm outside, the threat of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger. No further details to avoid spoilers.

I found this a very chilling novel, not only due to the vivid descriptions of snow and winter weather but the tense situations that its characters find themselves in. The swinging cable car especially freaked me. Then there’s the virus aspect of the narrative, which pitched this into post apocalyptic science fiction/horror territory. The violence and gore level is high.

I have only read one previous novel by Tudor, though I understand from those more familiar with her work that this a departure in style.

Overall, I found ‘The DRIFT’ an exciting read and very, very dark.

A group of people are involved in a coach crash. They have come of a mountain road & are buried in snow. Many are dead, many are injured. Another group of people are suspended in a broken down cable car, communication is impossible. A third group are in an establishment that is also suffering from breakdowns. It is revealed that the time in which this is set is in the midst of a pandemic that makes Covid look like a slight chill.

Although this was pretty gruesome in places I was engaged enough to want to see what would happen. However at some point in the last third I became extremely confused as timeline became blurred. I read to the end but I can't say I really enjoyed it. I felt that it could have been so much better. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

RATING:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5 BIG FAT well deserved stars!!)

READ IF YOU LIKE:
🌪️ Fast paced stories
🏔️ Atmospheric/middle of nowhere settings
👀 Multiple PLOTS + perspectives
🔑 Locked room mysteries
🤯 DECEIVING twists
🩸 Gruesome thrillers
🪓 Survival/apocalypse plots
🧬 Dystopian/futuristic settings

𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭: 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.

☁️ THOUGHTS:
Holy shit, this book was so freaking good!! If this isn’t the literal definition of chiller thriller I don’t know what is. It was intense, claustrophobic, atmospheric, and SUPER fast paced, with not one, not two, but THREE deeply gripping storylines. Whilst this may sound like a lot to follow, Tudor’s fantastic writing style easily allows differentiation between the multiple plots.

This gave me a completely different vibe from THE BURNING GIRLS and THE CHALK MAN (both of which I loved) but followed Tudor’s trademark grey line between the horror and thriller genres. Every single character had an agenda, making them all viable suspects, the level of both tension and claustrophobia throughout the book was insane, and there were such high stakes - the risk of being killed by each other, the ongoing pandemic and the extreme elements.

THE DRIFT brings us some reaaally ruthless and brutal characters, and plenty of gore (the head scene..🙌🏼). The chapters shortened towards the end of the book, ramping up the sense of danger even more before the plots collide with one hell of a DECEPTIVE, clever twist.

You need to read this! Deeply gripping, really fuc*king creepy and unputdownable — I read it in three days (and only because with no heating on it was making me feel even colder!)

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 + 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 (𝙄𝙂).

Hannah is being evacuated from her secluded boarding school due to a virulent infection, called Choler, which is sweeping its way through the campus. The coach crashes during a snowstorm however, & when Hannah awakens, only a handful of students remain alive. Hannah along with Lucas, Cassie, Ben, Josh, Peggy, & Daniel are the only ones left & they need to stay alive until they are rescued. The emergency door is broken & won't open, whilst the hammers to smash open the windows are all conveniently missing. Stuck onboard, the survivors search for a way out. Then Hannah notices that one of the dead students has the red eyes of a person infected with Choler, & as the daughter of leading scientist at the school, Professor Grant, she knows that he would never allow an infected person to leave the campus. When Ben also starts to show symptoms & is then found murdered, Hannah realises that none of this is coincidence, they are all meant to die, & the killer could be onboard with them.

Meg wakes up to find herself & five strangers are stranded in a cable car, high above the mountains. Karl, Max, Sean, & Sarah soon start to wake up, but none of them can remember what happened & they realise that they have been drugged. The sixth member of the group seems to still be asleep, but when Meg goes over the wake them up, she notices that they are dead. She also recognises them as Paul, a ex-cop whom she once dated. Realising that this gives her a motive, she pretends not to know Paul, & the group decide to dispose of his body through the floor hatch in the cable car. As time moves on they start to register that no-one is coming to their rescue & without food & water, they won't survive for long. When a second member of the group is killed, Meg realises that she is stuck in a confined space with four strangers & a killer is in their midst.

Carter lives in an isolated ski chalet with Nate, Julia, Caren, Miles, Welland, & Dexter the dog. The ski resort shut down years ago & they are the only ones there. A generator runs their compound & keeps it secure from the dangers lurking in the woods, but it has been on the blink lately, & a new one needs to be found. First, Carter is sent down to the village below for supplies but when he returns he knows there is something badly wrong. He finds Julia dead in the swimming pool,. & Nate is mortally injured. The compound has been keeping something deadly in the basement but the generator problems have meant that it is no longer secure, & it looks like something has escaped.

Wow what a great read! Three stories which start off as separate but gradually the reader begins to work out why & how they are connected. They are all set in a post-apocalyptic future when an infection known as Choler has wreaked havoc on civilisation leaving many people dead, the uninfected living in seclusion, & the infected who survive either become outcasts known as Whistlers (due to the noise from the damage to their lungs) or are herded onto 'farms' to contain them. The three main characters are all well chosen to allow the reader to become invested in their stories & what happens. It's fast-paced with twists & turns & unexpected deaths. I worked out the long term twist but some of the others came out of left field. It's extremely well plotted & well written. It's the type of book I will reread at some point & probably notice things that I missed before. Highly recommended.

TW: swearing, scenes of graphic violence, & one brief scene of sexual assault.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

An intriguing dystopian tale of survivors and survival starting with a coach crash, a cable car that breaks down high in the sky and a strange mountaintop laboratory all affected by a plague. We start off with lots of characters, all with bits of history gradually revealed but soon the numbers are reduced in violent fashion. It all gradually becomes clearer with surprises galore best read in a warm room as the snow falls down throughout. Good twist in the end too!

Hannah is on board a coach that has crashed and overturned on a snowy hillside, trapping her and all other passengers on board; Meg, an ex police officer, is stuck in a broken down cable car, high in the snowy mountains, unsure of how she and her fellow passengers are going to get out; they were all heading to The Retreat to escape a deadly virus that is sweeping the country, but the snowstorm raging around them has put paid to that. Carter is based at The Retreat alongside his associates, who are manufacturing a vaccine to hopefully end this disease but their generator is beginning to fail and could potentially cause a problem with the supplies stored in the basement. None of these people know who they can trust or how it will end...

This is the latest thriller by Tudor, but is quite different to her other books as it is set in a dystopian future. Told from the perspectives of the three main characters; Hannah, Meg and Carter, who are all fighting for survival and none of them know what the outcome will be. It's a well crafted and rather unique plot, very uncomfortable to read at times as it's rather gruesome, but as with all of the authors other books, I was hooked from the start. It's a very busy book with lots of characters, some great twists along the way and an unexpected ending. I would love to see this made into a film/tv series one day.

I'd like to thank Michael Joseph Books and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Drift
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘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.’

We’re thrown straight into the action while slowly being drip feed information as to what has happened to the world and I literally couldn’t put this fast paced book down.

I don’t usually do gory thrillers but was drawn to this one after seeing some brilliant reviews, and I enjoyed the dystopian short stories in her last book, A Sliver of Darkness.

This is the first ever thriller that I’ve given 5 stars to on here but I really couldn’t fault it! Each of the plots could easily have been a book on their own and couldn’t wait to see how they would all come together at the end, plus the splattering of humour against all the blood and guts bought a bit of light relief every now and again!

A survival thriller set during a snowstorm? Yes, please! Never mind that it’s a dystopian future during a pandemic, because the virus is not the focus of the story. We are talking about survival.
There are a lot of characters to keep straight, which is perhaps the book's greatest weakness. But I just kept reading, trusting that it would all come together. And it did.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel

a coach load of teenagers crash in a snow storm
a cable car stuck in mid air during a snow storm
and the retreat where survivors are struggling with survival against the elements and the virus

all three scenarios have their own chapters and with quite a few characters to get your head around it can get a bit confusing until you have them sorted in your mind

each element of their stories are a fight for survival against the elements and different people chasing them, why did the coach crash and the survivors couldnt get out

why was the cable car stuck with people on it

and the retreat where everyone was heading, was it the peaceful safe retreat they were all imagining....

and then there are the things in woods ..the whistlers....

didnt see the twist at the end coming...not a bad read