🧛🏻‍♀️Mini Review🧛🏻‍♀️
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Thank you so much @netgalley @cjtudorauthor and @randomhouse for the advanced copy of one of my favorite books I’ve read this year! Swipe for the synopsis, this one is a supernatural success! An easy 5 star read for me. It was mystery and vampires, what more can you ask for ?! I think this is the perfect book for fans of True Detective Night Country and 30 Days of Night. It’s super atmospheric and creepy, I flew through this one to get to the end! It also desperately makes me want to visit Alaska, even though it was a scary place to go in this book 😂
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QOTD- who is your favorite vampire ?! Mine is always Eric Northman in True Blood 😍
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Yooooo a new favorite thriller! Will for sure be recommending this one to friends. I did not guess even ONE of the plot twists. So unique!

The Gathering is the perfect blend of crime thriller and horror! A middle aged detective is sent to rural Alaska to investigate a murder perpetrated by a vampyr. A similar murder took place 25 years ago, but is that enough to order an eradication of the entire vampyr colony? This was so different from any other vampire book I have read, and I loved every second. Full of twists and characters, The Gathering is sure to grip your attention and not let go. I am hoping for future installments from C.J. Tudor on Barbara's future investigations.

I received a DRC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little to hard to get into. Did not feel it was as good as other books by this author. Would recommend for supernatural, scary ghost readers. 2 stars

Thank you Netgally,C.J. Tudor and Ballentine books for the ARC of The Gathering.

Another home run book from C.J. Tudor. This was a bit darker than previous books I have read from this author but I loved it. I will be happy if there are more books featuring the main character Barbara and vampires. The ending eluded to that possibility.

I will continue to read anything the author writes as I have not been disappointed. Do yourself a favor and read this book if you love dark, mysterious and vampires!

When Random House sent me an email containing the widget for The Gathering, I knew I needed to read this book. Why? First, the cover. It was (and still is) striking and having finished the book, it suits it. Secondly, I have a slight, tiny, eeny vampire obsession. I usually don’t review anything with vampires (and, of course, this book and the book I just finished will cast me as a liar). Those books are for my pleasure (no reviews/reading challenges). Thirdly, I can count on one hand the times I read a book set in Alaska during the winter. So, all of those reasons made me accept the widget.

The main storyline of The Gathering follows Barbara as she travels to Deadhart to investigate the murder of a teenage boy by a vampyr from the neighboring Colony. But, once she gets to Deadhart, the townspeople and her boss pressure Barbara to authorize a cull of the Colony. Not wanting to jump the gun, Barbara continues with her investigation, and what she finds surprises her. Not only did the Colony not kill the boy, but there is a vampyr hate group active in town. She also sees similarities to a murder committed over twenty years previously. With tensions in the town and the Colony rising daily, Barbara must find out who the murderer is and the reasons behind it before the vampyres and townspeople clash.

I found the storyline fascinating and nerve-racking. The book takes place in the dark because the sun never rises in Alaska during that part of the year. And, I will tell you, it made the horror parts much creepier, mainly because you can’t see who or what is coming for you in the dark.

The storyline is broken into three parts. The first part follows Barbara and her investigation. In the beginning, it was a little boring, but that didn’t last long at all. As Barbara enters town, things start happening and get creepy fast. There are flashbacks to Barbara’s past and her friendship with a vampyr named Mercy. I was also in awe over how calm Barbara was with people. Some of the things said and done to her were awful. But, again, her childhood and friendship with Mercy were a massive factor in how she was able to keep calm.

The second storyline follows Athelinda, the Colony, and the connection to the town. There was a minute where I was convinced that maybe one of her people had something to do with the death, but that was quickly put to rest. Everything Athelinda does in this book is for the good of her people, regardless of how it plays out. Her past also damaged Athelinda. The things she was forced to do were horrendous, and the implications made me gag. I won’t get into it because of spoilers, but I was sick when I read those paragraphs. But I also gained a better insight into Athelinda’s dealing with humans, and you know what? I don’t blame her for the things she did.

The third storyline was also the most mysterious one. There is no date or location, but it is centered on a teenage girl kept captive in a basement by her Captor. At first, I wondered why this girl was kept down there, but that was explained quickly. Then I wondered where this basement was and who the Captor was. I did have a suspect, but I was wrong about that. When the author revealed who it was, my mouth dropped open. It was the last person I expected.

The book also goes into the murder of another teenage boy, twenty-five years previously. But, unlike this murder, it was pretty cut and dry. But the fallout was felt years later. I couldn’t understand why Beau kept the heads and didn’t give them back to Athelinda. It is explained, but it was so wrong. Also, the more that was revealed about the night the teenage vampyr was killed (along with his father and uncle), the more I disliked Beau. But it also made me love Tucker (he tried to do the right thing and paid for it dearly).

The mystery angles of The Gathering were terrific. The author was able to keep me from figuring out who the killer was until Barbara and Tucker figured it out. That was twist number one. The second twist was who killed the town doctor and high school teacher and why. The reason for the town doctor’s murder was apparent, but the teacher, not so much. That leads to the third and most shocking twist. It involves the murder of the teacher and the girl in the basement. As I said above, I was shocked. It was the last person I would have thought. But, looking back, it did make sense, and the author dropped some tiny hints.

The end of The Gathering was interesting. The author wrapped everything up and explained every death in the book. Then the epilogue happened, and again, I was shocked. I was also hoping that this meant there would be a book 2. What was written was a heck of a cliffhanger.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and C.J. Tudor for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Gathering. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Oh CJ Tudor! How I love you! This is my 4th CJ Tudor book and I just am never disappointed! If someone asked me to describe CJ Tudor's books - here are some things I would say.
Crime Thrillers/Police Procedurals PLUS!!
Hypnotic, intriguing, and unique premises
Vivid settings that jump off the page
Well-developed characters that you can invest in
Just freaking awesome!

After reading The Chalk Man (LOVE!) then Other People and absolutely loving and devouring The Drift last year, I was SO excited when I heard that the next CJ Tudor book would involve vampyres! But these aren't your typical movie vampires. CJ Tudor has taken the world we live in and tweaked it to be a world where humans and vampyres coexist - and the vampyres live in colonies that are protected by laws. As long as they don't mess with humans - and stick to drinking animal blood -humans won't mess with them - that's the law. But then... in the small Alaskan town of Deadheart a teenager is found with his throat slashed and blood drained from his body and the town wants to invoke a cull since obviously it is the work of a vampyre...but when the absolutely amazing Detective Barbra Atkins - a vampyre specialist - comes into town she discovers there is a lot more going on in this small town than meets the eye.

Oh I loved it! I loved the main character and her strange sidekick Tucker so much and was so invested in what was going to happen. The mystery of the town, the townspeople, and the vampyre colony was so interesting, eery, entertaining, and propulsive. I did not want to put this one down.

If you loved the most recent season of True Detective with Jodie Foster and are a fan of True Blood - then this is a must read! I need to go see what CJ Tudor books I haven't read yet and immediately dive into them because I MUST be a CJ Tudor completist before the next book comes out!

While I haven't read every book this author has written, this seemed like a big change from her previous work.

Normally, after growing up with Twilight books, I don't seek out vampire books. But, I went in blind with this one because I'm a fan of her writing, and I knew I'd want to read it no matter its subject. I'm glad I went in blind because it was a nice change up in storytelling, and I really enjoyed it.

I liked the setting, the characters, the mystery and suspense, and the briefly chilling moments. The end did sum up everything at once, which was a lot to take in, but it also left most questions answered.

If I were to nit pick at this, the only thing that bothered me was about the main character, a detective named Barbara. We know she is a plus sized lady, and we know she enjoys her burgers and bagels. That's fine. But all of this is stressed several times, kind of making these descriptions and statements about herself a bit too disparaging and verging on being fat shaming/making fun of her eating habits and size. One character even told her she'd slow him down cause she's overweight, which then made her once again have self-hating thoughts about her carbs obsession. So, it was a bit much and unnecessary to keep bringing up her weight and eating habits in a negative manner. That all being said, this was a very small part of the whole book, even if it did have an impact on me.

Still, with this cancel culture,I do not want this to stop you from reading this book or enjoying this author's work. Because I will most definitely continue to read her books, and I really enjoyed this one.

I found this to be a very unique vampire story with topics such as discrimination, family dysfunction, lgbtq+ romance and discovery, and much more.
I gave this 4 solid ⭐️

As always, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Omg I loved this book. I am a huge fan of vampire books and I love C.J Tudor. I will buy anything she writes. Thank you netgalley.

I’ve read C. J Tudor’s thrillers and I loved them and this book was no exception. This was a thriller mixed with vampires and I couldn’t get enough. Once I started reading this book I just flew through it.

I definitely look forward to more books from this author and I also need to read some of her previous novels.

This was a very unusual procedural with a huge twist. Barbara, the protagonist, had been called in because a young boy’s remains had been found and the town’s people decided a colony of vampyrs had killed him and they wanted to exterminate them. Barbara instead looks for the killer and attempts to prevent more slayings. I generally do not read this kind of fiction but did finish reading the entire book which speaks for its well plotedness. Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for an ARC for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley!!

This is a very solid thriller, I really enjoyed this book. The main character Barbara was a complex interesting main character, I like how she was very fair while investigating the murder. I had a little bit of trouble with keeping track of all the characters but everything was interesting so I did eventually figure out everyone.

In the town of Deadhart, Barbara Atkins is called in to help solve a murder. A young boy was murdered, and by the looks of it, by a vampyr. Vampyr colonies and humans live together keeping their distant and there are laws protecting both, but when a vampyr kills a human or vice versa, emotions run wild calling for a cull. Can Detective Atkins keep the town calm while trying to solve the murder?

This book is a great whodunit with twists and turns. The story is depicts a small town in rural Alaska, where the Mayor is also the Police Department Assistant and everyone knows everyone. I first discovered CJ Tudor from reading The Drift and I am immediately hooked on their novels.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

I have been in a reading slump. I have DNF’d several books lately and I can’t focus to read. Where I normally read 2-3 books in a week, it has taken me 12 days to finish just 1 book. I know several others in a slump right now. Not sure what is going on. I had every intention of finishing C.J. Tudor’s The Gathering before it was published on April 9th. This book takes place in a world where humans and “vampyrs” begrudgingly live side-by-side. A boy has had his throat ripped out in a small town in Alaska. Barbara Atkins is a detective who specializes in vampyr killings. She is sent to the town to investigate who killed the boy and decide if a cull on the local vampyr colony should be ordered. She is almost immediately met with resistance from the locals and she quickly finds that everything is not as it seems. Besides the added vampyr aspect, this is a typical detective story. I really enjoyed The Chalk Man by this author, so I was excited to get the chance to read this story. I don’t know if it is my reading slump or what, but I didn’t find this to be anything special. It leaves the door open for more books to follow, but I am undecided on if I would continue reading a series in this world. 3/5 stars for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me access to an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication date April 9th, 2024. This review will be found on Instagram and Goodreads indefinitely.
Instagram book reviews @CandaceOnline

This mix of horror and police procedural was well done and a bit like a a car wreck, I just couldn’t look away. I didn’t think there was anything new that could be told about vampires. But the vampyrs in this book are unique and somehow spookier than any of the others I have read. In a tiny town in rustic Alaska called Deadhart there are 673 people…living. Detective and specialist in vampyr kills, Barbara, finds herself traveling there to determine if the young boy who was killed was in fact killed by a vampyre and if a culling (humans killing the vampyr colony that lives near their town) will be required. Barbara is determined to find the truth and doesn’t want to ok the killing of the entire colony except as a last resort, but the town of Deadhart has already made their minds up. Tensions are rising between the town and the colony and the more Barbara learns the more questions she is left with. This book is haunting. It was easy to imagine the hatred of the “other” but it was hard to picture a society of vampyrs who accept that while they are a protected species they are forever denied access to the creature comforts being human brings. The epilogue implied this is a start of a series and while that’s probably the last thing I need, I am definitely in for future books. Overall I gave this one 4.5 stars rounded up for originality.

Something about an Alaska setting always draws me in. Add in a small tight knit town where everyone has secrets of their own and I’m even more hooked. Add in vampires? Usually not my thing, not even a little, but it worked SO well in this book. I was hooked from the first chapter.

The Gathering takes place in Deadhart, Alaska; a small town living side by side with a colony of vampires. When a boy is found killed, seemingly from a vampire attack, Detective Barbara Atkins is called in to investigate and authorize a cull, allowing the town to hunt the vampires.

This book was ADDICTING. I loved the multiple POVs, the dreary darkness and cold of Alaska and the slowly unraveling of secrets in this small town. The ending got a bit over the top cheesy for me, dropping it down half a point. And that epilogue! 🤯

4.5 ✨
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I love books that take place in Alaska in winter. There’s something so creepy about the snow and isolation, and now there’s vampires? A perfect mixture for a horror story! I did enjoy many aspects of the book, including the writing and some unexpected surprises, but it was a bit slow-moving for me overall. The only reason I gave it 3⭐️ and not more is because it took some time for me to get into the story. I was finally invested at about the 60% mark and then I couldn’t stop!

Another winner!! The colony has returned to Deadhart, Alaska and just like the last time they were here, another young teenage boy has died. A vampyr killing or someone trying to force a cull to be authorized? It’s up to Detective Barbara Atkins to find the truth without getting herself killed. An excellent, intensely suspenseful thriller!

In a small Alaska town, a fifteen-year-old boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The residents of Deadhart blame the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living nearby. Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in to officially determine if this is a Colony killing and authorize a cull which is what the residents want.

This was a different take on a vampire story. Humans and vampires have a truce and coexist together. There is a Vampyr Protection Act which protects the vampires. This book is basically a police procedural of a teenage boy's murder. There were some twists but nothing too surprising or exciting. Also too many characters to remember. Overall, I thought it was lackluster.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and C.J. Tudor for an ARC of "The Gathering".

3.5 stars

The Gathering is a horror police procedural set in the small Alaska town of Deadhart. Vampyrs are a protected class of U.S. citizens in this universe, although they live separately from humans. When a teen is murder by a vampyr, a detective is sent from the Department of Forensic Vampyr Anthropology to investigate. Will she be able to get to the bottom of the murder before the town revolts and illegally eradicates the vampyr settlement?

The Gathering may best be described as a dark mix of True Blood (the early seasons) and True Detective. But make no mistake, this novel is much more gritty crime fiction than a scary story. In fact, I could have done with more vampyrs and less human townspeople. Solving the teen’s murder is the true focus. I found the plot to be entertaining, although a bit slow in the beginning. I also felt like the ending was a bit ambiguous, allowing for a possible sequel.

C.J. Tudor knows how to write an atmospheric book that you easily become immersed in. And a small, former mining town in Alaska during the winter months is the perfect setting for this story. It is cold and mostly without daylight, mirroring the town’s attitude, and giving readers a chill.

When I read The Gathering‘s synopsis and understood that the vampyrs are a socially ostracized minority group (and that it takes place in the U.S. rather than Tudor’s native England), I hoped that Tudor would make some kind of statement with the narrative. The story is set up in a way that would easily lend itself to drawing a parallel to our country’s current political divide. However, Tudor seemingly did not make any larger statement in the book.

My only real issue with The Gathering is the number of characters and the character development. There are a lot of suspects and townspeople, a majority of whom are male with common names. I had a difficult time keeping all of them straight, especially as they are not consistently identified with both first and last names. I liked the female lead character and her backstory. However, I do not feel like she is well-developed or that readers really come to know her. I do not think the lack of character development detracts from the story; it just does not add anything.

Overall, The Gathering is an atmospheric and entertaining crime novel. And while I did not like it as much as Tudor’s last book, The Drift, I still recommend it.