I am a big fan of CJ Tudor so when I see their books I havent read yet I have to grab it asap.

CJ Tudor, in my mind, writes thriller novels and over the last few books I think it is going more towards horror and I am living for it. The Drift is a horror/apocalypse novel with a good amount of blood and gore.

We follow three groups of people:
one wakes up on a ski lift headed to the retreat
one wakes up having crashed on the hillside headed to the retreat also
and the last group are employees of the retreat stranded at a ski resort.

Everything in this book happens during a pandemic, but it is different to ours. I was very disappointed in this book because it felt a little all over the place. I personally think there can be too many perspectives in some writings. It is giving a 3in1 locked room mystery.

However, the last 15% was stellar. I was on the edge of my seat, but I would have loved the whole story a bit more if I was not confused or bored going back and forth between each group. I feel like I could say Meg's perspective was my favorite for more of the book, until Carter in the end.

3 stars

I loved the setting of this one! I did not know how much I was going to enjoy it but it kept me wanting more all the way through! Such a great thriller with many twists. This was also written in 3 different scenarios which I thought was clever and fun!

What a wonderful read! I gave the book 4 stars!
I loved the overlapping timelines and intricate construction, the action and suspense.I could not stop turning the pages!
A really gripping read on a post apocalyptic theme. It’s a perfect read for winter when it’s cold outside and you have hot tea by your side! Definitely my mood when i read it!
I loved following all the characters! Sooo much happened in every chapter! I could not put it down! I finished it in two days. Also cover is super cool! I recommend!

This book is wonderfully atmospheric, but has elements of dystopia and religious views that just don’t work for me.

The Drift by C.J. Tudor is a gripping and suspenseful novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. Tudor is a talented author who knows how to craft a compelling mystery, and this book is a perfect example of her skill.

A fantastic post-apocalyptic thriller that gripped me from beginning to end. I could not stop reading. This book hooked me from page one.

Three POV/ storylines that eventually merge. It's done so cleverly that I didn't guess anything.
One of the strengths of this book is the way Tudor builds tension throughout the story. The atmosphere is eerie and unsettling, and the reader is left constantly questioning the motives of the characters. There are also plenty of twists and turns that keep the plot moving along at a brisk pace. The pacing is tight and the plot is well-crafted. The atmospheric setting is written so well that I could almost feel the cold.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Drift to anyone who loves a good mystery. C.J. Tudor has created a gripping and suspenseful novel that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Drift is a twisty apocalyptic horror/thriller page turner with a well thought out ending that I didn’t see coming. I almost always figure out the twist in thrillers, but this one had me guessing until the final pages.
The author uses three POVs to tell the story, which all come together for a somewhat gore-y but exciting ending. If you’re squeamish, this might not be the book for you, although I didn’t find it all that violent (but take that with a grain of salt, gore has to be pretty bad to give me the icks). Also, if you have pandemic trauma, you might want to avoid this one.
Tudor did an excellent job at creating an eerie and dark atmosphere- it was easy to get lost in the setting. I loved the characters, namely the strong females. The story was fast paced with a chilling, page-turning plot. All in all, a perfect read for Winter.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A puzzling survival thriller that describes the horror of living in a dystopian world shattered by a deadly virus. It can be triggering for people who have been through tough times during covid.

The Drift is not Tudor’s usual horror-thriller, this is more chilling as she describes the end of the world. 3 timelines of 3 people who are trapped in do or die situations because of the deadly viral outbreak. We see more of how they survive the obstacles and what pushed them to the situation they are in, along with several other characters that are introduced to keep the momentum going. As these three people fight for their lives, I was debating who was going to survive! Its all great writing and thrilling to read because its not just the virus that is a threat—the characters still have to deal with wild animals, the wilderness touch made the story more realistic imho. There are parts that made me sad, like too sad. May be Tudor wanted those parts to be very sad?! My advice is don’t get attached or root for the characters.

If you want to read a dystopian thriller that is more closer to the reality with great writing it almost feels like a movie, pick The Drift!! You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you Ballantine Books via Netgalley for the ebook.

What an interesting take on the viral epidemic/apocalyptic/dystopian genre! I truly enjoyed reading this story!

The characters were fleshed out well, the story was original, and it was suspenseful - three very important qualities in a novel such as this.

After a deadly and super-contagious virus spreads, people have to do what they have to do to survive. These are their stories.

I truly did not like most of the characters, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Most of them just were not good people, some because of the need for survival, and some were probably bad people before the virus was even thought about.

I liked that the settings were all secluded areas with little chance for survival/escape because it gave the story a claustrophobic and disturbing feeling.

What I really loved was the message at the end.

I highly recommend this one!

I went into this one blind and did not know what to expect. This turned out to be a five star read that was absolutely wild with a few twists I did NOT see coming. This is a post apocalyptic story with a few other elements / plot lines going on, including a whodunnit as there is a deadly virus looming, a crash with a handful of survivors trying to make it out alive, and all is not what it seems. This was suspenseful, funny at times (which certainly helped the tension), and such a thrilling, satisfying read. I have not read all of Tudor’s books yet but this was definitely a favorite by far. I read this via audiobook and it was fantastic, contributing to the suspense so I definitely recommend reading it this way if you can.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the ALC and to NetGalley / Ballantine Books for the digital galley to review.

What did I just read??? This book was not at all what I thought it would be and definitely wasn’t my type of book for the first 2/3. And then it all starts to come together and the twists were wild! Everything I thought I knew was wrong and the ending was so unexpected. This is one crazy roller coaster.

1.5 stars for the first 2/3, and 3.5 stars for the last 1/3.

A triple locked-room mystery. A post-pandemic, post-apocalyptic setting. Scores of characters you simply can't trust. Frigid winter raging outside. And an ending you will never see coming?! All the ingredients for success in CJ Tudor's latest book, and even better, it's one she pulls off masterfully.

We follow three groups of characters in three distinct settings: (1) A bus on its way to The Retreat, escaping a global disease, crashes and is stuck in a snowbank with only a few survivors trapped inside; (2) A cable car similarly on its way to the retreat stops midair in freezing conditions, and the passengers have to find a way out; and (3) The few people inside The Retreat are in serious trouble when their carefully protected sanctuary is threatened by outside forces.

Tudor is very good at the locked room mystery, especially pulling off three at once. She rotates between these groups and inches towards subtle progress, discoveries, and character reveals with each subsequent chapter, keeping you hooked on each individual locked room's story. (She also manages to have the reader keep track of dozens of names in each different room and still remember who's who, which is a feat in and of itself!) She doesn't give away too much of the outside world, the context for why and how we got here, or how the three locked rooms relate to one another - until the very end - and it's a really effective narrative device.

If you like locked room mysteries, post-apocalyptic novels, or edge-of-your-seat thrillers, you'll love this.

C. J. Tudor drops you right into frigid survival storylines in The Drift. I could almost hear the wind howling in the middle of a snowstorm as I curled up with this book trying to piece together what connected the three groups of people. The Drift was not short on danger, suspense and intrigue which lasted until the very end. I don’t envy the characters navigating life or death scenarios along with others they have been thrown together with that are hiding their own secrets and will be ruthless in order to survive. I finished the book hungry to know more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book and offer my sincere thoughts on it.

Wow! This one is heart-pounding and such an amazing thriller! I highly recommend this to my friends who also love mysteries and suspense.

First line: A watch alarm was beeping.

Summary: Told through three people trying to survive a blizzard in the middle of a pandemic.
Hannah, wakes up after a bus accident. Several people are dead and the bus is stuck in a snow drift. She does not remember how they got here and she has to decide how to help the survivors escape alive. But it appears that the escape methods have been tampered with, leaving the occupants without many options.

Meg, finds herself with other volunteers for the trials, stranded on a cable car, suspended high above a forest in the middle of snow storm. One person has already been killed while they were sleeping so it appears that there is a killer among them. They must out who the killer is and hope they don’t kill again before rescue comes.

Carter has been living at the Retreat for three years helping to keep the place running. The Retreat was once a ski resort but has since been commissioned for scientific research to try and cure the pandemic that is ravaging the world. But as a storm moves in they are increasingly plagued by power outages which could lead to even more dire circumstances.

My Thoughts: I love C. J. Tudor. Her books are always lots of fun and a wild ride. I read a majority of this one in a weekend. I spent hours on the couch in between laundry, diving into the this story that at times felt very close to home. We have recently lived through and are still dealing with repercussions of the Covid pandemic. Each story gave new insights in to the lives of the population and the nature of the illness. It sounds terrifying and once again very similar.

There are a few twists and turns throughout which I really enjoyed. The big one is one I figured out about half way through, before the reveal. I was happy that I caught it but I don’t believe it spoiled anything. I think it made me look at everything closer and pay more attention. I highly recommend this quick read because it will keep you interested and on the edge of your seat. The only thing that would have made my reading experience better was actually having February weather rather than 60s to help set the atmosphere.

Three people are trying to survive in a world that has been overtaken with a deadly virus. The alternating stories have interesting characters and find themselves in unbelievable situations that I was interested in. As the story unfolded and I learned more about the characters I found myself less interested. The stories started off really strong but kind of fizzled out by the ending. Just a little off the mark for me. Still a big fan of Tudor’s writing this one was just not for me.

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

3 ⭐️

Wow. I did not expect “The Drift” to be anything close to the mystery thriller that I just completed reading earlier today. I elected this book, and NetGalley was gracious enough, to deliver this book to my e-reader and I was thrilled to read another story by C.J. Tudor. I was expecting a quirky mystery with a bit of graphic violence. In fact I received a quirky series of mysteries with an apocalyptic theme with plenty of violence. A one- sentence summary: Three groups of people intertwined with each other on the side and/or top of a mountain in an epic winter storm. These stranded folks are not only facing a killer snowstorm but they are also facing a killer epidemic whilst also facing mysterious nasty creatures that may/may not be human.
Everybody has secrets which will keep the reader guessing all the way to the final chapter. The extraordinary violence and gore is something I left behind years ago; I suspect the younger generations reading this book will like the graphic detail surrounding the bloodshed. Despite Tudor’s use of mystery stories tropes one will not confuse “The Drift” with an Agatha Christie best seller. So for me 3.33 stars with this asterisk **.
**I bet this book will be a best seller.

Woah! That was one fast crazy book. I was a little confused at times but overall I couldn’t put it down. I definitely recommend this one!!!!!

The Drift by C.J. Tudor is one heck of a ride, a roller coaster, in fact, from beginning to end. A virus hits and just reading about all these people... liars, survivors, crazies becoming their true selves is horrific. This is a crazy page turner from beginning to end and I couldn't put it down! It is all neatly wrapped up at the end. This is the book to read if you want a fast paced thriller! Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

This is my second book by C.J. Tudor and just like The Burning Girls before it The Drift kept me guessing all the way through.

The Drift follows three different groups who are all stuck in isolated situations thanks to a raging winter storm. At the beginning of the book we are made aware that there is some sort of outbreak that is infecting people and turning them into Whistlers, who are described as humans...but not quite. One group of students is stranded on an overturned bus while predators lurk outside, another follows a group of adults stuck in a cable car (and they all seem to have secrets), and the third group follows employees of The Retreat, a supposed safe zone. It soon becomes clear that all are not safe.

This book had me guessing all the way through as I tried to figure out how everything was connected. I loved the twist at the end. I will say that this book wasn't so much a monster/zombie horror as it was a suspenseful social commentary. If you're looking for more of a horror you may want to look elsewhere, but if you want a wintery pandemic thriller you will love this one. I read the majority of this book on a snowy day and it really added to the experience - would recommend if you're able!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for a review copy.

I don’t typically go for dystopia books, but this one grabbed me right from the start. At first, you don’t know what has hit the world, only that it is something truly terrible. As readers, we follow three groups of people in three perilous situations, trying to survive. The book is very mysterious as well, which kept me constantly turning pages. Even if you don’t normally go for dystopia reads, give this one a try.