This book was heart pounding and terrifying. The chapters alternate between Hannah, Meg and Carter and the difficult situation they find themselves in. A deadly virus has destroyed all social norms and humanity has turned on itself. Little by little these three different situations culminate into one common theme of revenge. When everything clicks into place, you are left stunned.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC and the chance to review.

The Drift is quite a ride. The story is set in a post apocalyptic world and everything has changed. The setting of the book is very inventive and I was drawn into learning about what this new world was like. The story is told in alternating POVs. At times it was hard to keep the characters.
Hannah- awakens to realize she and a handful of survivors have survived a bus crash. The bus was evacuating students from a secluded boarding school during a snow storm when it apparently careened off the road. The crash has left them trapped inside the bus but danger is lurking both inside the bus as well as out...they will have to work together to survive.
Meg- awakens to realize she and a handful of people are in a rocking cable car stranded high above the snowy mountains. They were volunteers, headed to a place known as "The Retreat". Not everyone is who they appear to be and Meg quickly realizes they might not all survive.
Carter- The generator at the isolated ski chalet is malfunctioning due to the storm. If it goes out, what they are trying to contain is released...and it may mean the end of humanity.
This one was a little different from other Tudor novels I've read - it's an apocalyptic thriller about a world during a pandemic. While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as other Tudor books,
The storyline, overall, is pretty depressing. There is a lot of sickness, death, anger, revenge. Very few alliances are made and very little trust is had by anyone.
Overall, it was a decent and quick read for what it was. But unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of this novel. The characters were hard to connect with, and the plot direction was sometimes predictable. While I tried hard to like the book, this genre and style of writing aren’t my usual go-to.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book and it has a publication date of Jan 31. 2023. Book was given free for a honest review.

So I finally get to read a book by C.J. Tudor! I heard so much about how awesome her books are so was really excited to read "The Drift" And it was killer! No pun intended.....

We have three different POVs that Tudor goes 123, 123, 123. First you have Hannah. She is a student heading by bus to "The Retreat" when the bus careens over a cliff. There are very few survivors and she and the others fight to survive in brutally cold and trapped conditions. Then you have Meg who wakes up with several others trapped in a cable car suspended about a mile up headed to "The Retreat" With a dead body among them.... And Lastly you have Carter. He is at a high end Ski Resort, aka "The Retreat" with his crew manufacturing vaccines to fight against a deadly virus.

And there is the rub. A virus has pretty much wiped out all mankind and has thrust everyone into a dreary and apocalyptic world. And wow, that is all I really want to say. I went into this thing blind and was gut punched about a hundred times! This is a dreary and brutal book, (with some dark humor laced throughout) and it is going to kick your butt but in a good way. You have no idea what these two unrelated POVs mean and to have them come together is a absolute masterpiece to read. Is it a twist to have them ultimately intertwine? I'm still not sure...

The only negative I found was the sheer amount of characters I thought I had to keep track. But don't worry, I already said this book was Killer. You won't have to worry about that many toward the end. Maybe don't get too attached to anyone? Oh, and the poop. Jesus, why is there so much poop in this book? Like real human feces all the place. I hate poop.

To sum up this book is how apocalyptic thrillers should be written and has Netflix series written all over it. I really recommend going into this blind. Five stars and I can't wait to read more books by C.J. Tudor.

I really appreciate Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book and it has a publication date of Jan 31. 2023. Book was given free for a honest review.

CJ Tudor is one of my favorite thriller authors and I was so excited to get a galley of this newest book! This isn’t my favorite of Tudor’s offerings, but it was still really great! A survival story set during a pandemic, it has some scenes that may be a little much for some readers, but I think most that are used to reading Tudor will be able to handle it. There are 3 parallel storylines, which some may not enjoy, but I enjoyed once I got in the rhythm of the story. Overall, this was a fast-paced enjoyable read,

CJ Tudor has quickly become a favorite author of mine - with great original stories well thought out and WELL written with relatable characters. This story hooked me right from the start and I couldn’t put it down. Very relateable apocalypse - world of sickness and disease anyone? And the Farms - so sad and likely. The characters really drew me in as well, and you couldn’t help but root for them to make it out of these crazy impossible situations. Although I don’t always like multiple POVs, the author did this so well and I didn’t see that twist coming!

Thanks NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me a review copy!

This is a wild kind of story. About a virus taking over the world, people being contained so they can’t harm anyone else – I’m still on the fence about liking this story. I’ve read The Chalk Man and really liked it but this one was hard to follow – the back and forth stories of Meg, Carter and Hannah and a lot of other characters became a little confusing– I also did not care for the language as well – the “f” word was used too many times along with a few others. I would have to give it a 3 at the most.

I usually like her books a lot but this one fell short for me. Too many characters, three different storylines, nothing grabbed my attention enough. For me, as well anything virus related feels too close to home to make me want to be involved in it and it felt like blood and gore for it's sake rather than really moving the story along I will try the next book but for me, this one was a miss

After reading and loving The Burning Girls last year, I was excited to get an advanced copy of CJ Tudor’s new novel.

This book reminded me of The Guest List (for the larger cast of characters and murder mystery aspect) and No Exit (for the snowy atmosphere and action). The beginning of the book was fantastic. I loved being introduced to the characters and discovering each of their unique predicaments. I also appreciated how Tudor described the snowy setting.

Once I hit the 1/3 mark, my enjoyment of this book started to really decline, unfortunately. It became a bit silly and cheesy, which a lot of action-packed thrillers seem to do. I never developed a deeper interest in the characters or their survival. The part of the book that really lost me was the chapter that was almost entirely about characters deciding where to use the bathroom. Like I get it, she wanted to create a realistic, claustrophobic setting, but it was a bit over the top. And there was a lot going on in the story, from the blizzard, to the murder, to the contagious virus. It wasn’t hard to keep up with and I did like how parts came together, but it definitely was a busy story.

So overall, this book ended up not being for me. I can see how bigger fans of action mystery/thrillers might enjoy this.

Not my cup of tea. I was expecting a post-apocalyptic survival story. This felt like a zombie survival story, where characters are weeded out one by one while a virus is runs amok. In the bottom of the retreat are “specimens” that should not be allowed to escape. Quite predictable and not my type of book. Others who enjoy this type of genre mar enjoy it.

Hannah- awakens to realize she and a handful of survivors have survived a bus crash. The bus was evacuating students from a secluded boarding school during a snow storm when it apparently careened off the road. The crash has left them trapped inside the bus but danger is lurking both inside the bus as well as out...they will have to work together to survive.
Meg- awakens to realize she and a handful of people are in a rocking cable car stranded high above the snowy mountains. They were volunteers, headed to a place known as "The Retreat". Not everyone is who they appear to be and Meg quickly realizes they might not all survive.
Carter- The generator at the isolated ski chalet him and his companions share is beginning to malfunction due to the storm. If it goes out, what they are trying to contain is released...and it may mean the end of humanity.

The Drift is a post-apocalyptic horror in which three seemingly ordinary people find themselves risking their lives during a snow storm. Nothing is quite as it appears to be as this twisty tale of terror unfolds. C.J. Tudor is one of those "drop everything to read" authors for me as I devour her new novel. This one had a few elements that bothered me but I still enjoyed it enough to give it a solid three star rating. I won't go into all the knit picky issues I had with the characters but I will say my main issue was with having an individual who had extensive trauma to the face (due to frostbite) which and is depicted multiple times as not having a nose complain about odors and throughout the novel. I realize that this is fiction and the possibility exists but this just seemed a bit of a weird thing to emphasize repeatedly. That being said...I still enjoyed the novel, it's very tense and unsettling, with a plot twist I definitely didn't see coming. She is still one of my favorite horror authors and I will continue to drop everything to read whatever she publishes despite my knit picky disputes...a must read for 2023!

This book was an entertaining read that hooked me from the first page! I enjoyed all 3 POVs but Meg's was my favourite, especially since it explores themes of grief and loss. I also loved the shrewd commentary about mankind and human behaviour, particularly in times of adversity.

The apocalyptic setting was atmospheric but I wish we had more details about the Whistlers and what was going on. And while the book started off promising, it ended up flatlining. I feel like the author tried to do too much but nothing reached a satisfying conclusion for me personally. I was not a fan of how things went from suspenseful horror to action thriller.

Overall, The Drift was enjoyable but didn't blow me away. I wished I loved it more but something just felt lacking. Perhaps it's because of the apocalyptic premise but the prose isn't as beautiful as the author's previous books too. I've been a CJ Tudor fan since her debut and this is my 6th novel by her, so I can't help but feel disappointed.

3.5⭐️

3.5 stars out of 5

I was very excited to read this one - I love survival horror! - and CJ Tudor always delivers a good time. This one was a little different from other Tudor novels I've read - it's an apocalyptic thriller about a world during a pandemic. While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as other Tudor books, I appreciated how it was exciting right out of the gate - this is one of those books where it just gets more and more stressful the further you read. Yes, there's survival horror, but there's also a lot of secrets and conspiracies that characters uncover along the way (provided that they don't die horribly or become zombie-esque monsters). My issue? All that tension just couldn't hold. It unravels toward the end - there are just too many characters in this three-pronged plot, and it's hard to keep caring about all of them.

Still, if you want something fun and intense - the book equivalent of an action film - definitely would recommend this one.

Terrific story! Some grotesque scenes but that did not deter me! There are three main characters. Hannah, who is trapped in a bus, Meg, trapped in a cable car and Carter, who is in a mountain cabin called The Retreat. Nobody trusts anybody, everyone is lying about who they are. The story takes place about ten years after a pandemic was discovered, a horrible virus, incredibly contagious. This is a story of survival.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

3.5 stars.

This was my first novel by C.J. Tudor so I didn't know what to expect. I will say it read like one of Blake Crouch's earlier works when he was first starting out (this is a complement, because I love Crouch). It has that choppy, fast paced writing style where events happen fast and there's somewhat of a chaotic feel. It has a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting (which I also love), where a virus decimated life on Earth as we know it. This may not sit well with some being that we're just easing out of COVID.

Immediately you assume that the three groups of people that you meet will converge at some point. There's a lot of tension building and suspense, but I felt somewhat let down with the conclusion. There were a few surprises here and there but I really expected to be floored, and I was not. I wanted to yell out loud, "holy shit!' but alas, that did not happen. All in all, it was a fast-paced easy read,

I really tried with this book. It was a struggle to stay invested, unfortunately.

Tudor is one of my favorite authors so it is with a heavy heart that I rate this three stars. I just didn’t really feel interested in any of the characters or the plot. Maybe I will pick this up and try again at a later time because objectively, this book has all the makings of an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed how this one just jumped right into the action, especially in such a frightening setting!

I read the first half of this book very quickly but at some point, it took a sharp detour from where I thought it was going, and that slowed it a bit for me. It's difficult to describe without spoilers but I do wish there was some sort of way to at least vaguely nod to the plot of the back half of the book right on the jacket. It would help the book find the right readers because it does venture into unrealistic. Some people will love it, but if it's not your thing then it's a bit of a slog through the back half.

Overall, though, the writing is good, the tension is good & the characters are well done.

The Drift is quite a ride. The story is set in a post apocalyptic world and everything has changed. The setting of the book is very inventive and I was drawn into learning about what this new world was like. The story is told alternately in a person POV. At times it was hard to keep the characters, Carter, Meg, and Hannah and their stories all straight in my head. I got there in the end as the story comes together. I like the concept of this book. There are imaginings of creatures from after an apocalypse, action, thrills, and gore. I would recommend this book if you enjoy this type of setting for a thriller. I think it hits the mark.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Drift is a propulsive thrill ride through a post apocalyptic world where a virus has changed humanity at its very core.
Tudor tells the tale from three rotating perspectives and each feels a bit like its one tale of survival, horror, and mystery. The less you know going into it the better, as there are plenty of twists and turns to navigate throughout.
The only knock I have against it is that even after 350 pages I still feet a there was so much more about this new way of life that I wanted to know.

This book just wasn’t for me, but I could see plenty others enjoying it! Personally it just didn’t keep me attached to it.

I think that I liked this book, but then I think more and I wonder why or why not. Ultimately, the book has a very cool concept built in that, if I was to say what it was it would ruin things for you, and I like that. However, I then think about what the book was about and ponder whether the built-in cool factor of the book was wasted on a fairly pedestrian story (I mean, it's an interesting story if you like suspense and pandemic crisis and really, who doesn't at this point in life?).

The three main characters are well developed, Hannah, Meg, and Carter, however, I felt like I wanted more out of all three of them because there were some lagging portions that didn't exactly add to the bulk of the story. Regardless, there was some good suspense here, good character development, and an okay story. I recommend it for fans of suspense, otherwise, you may not like it at all.