The Gathering was not in my usual wheelhouse but it certainly delivered as I spent hours riveted to this incredible story about…vampyrs. The deep chill of Deadhart, Alaska captured my attention immediately, as did the story of the murder. And then Barbara arrived. Loved the many times Tudor showed Barbara’s personality and perseverance as opposed to a laundry list of her personality traits. Her detective skills were so astute, thank you to CJ Tudor for making her so very likable in the midst of so much racism and hatred. Having lived in a small town divided by racism and mistrust, Tudor kept the pot simmering with her realistic depictions of the characters that live in towns like this.
So very many topics were threaded throughout this engrossing storyline creating many What if … wonderings. Love when author’s are able to engage their readers in this way. I have to admit that certain passages and interactions did seem too over the top for me but an excellent story over all. This read was a very refreshing change from the historical fiction and thrillers that i have been reading recently. Please keep writing CJ Tudor as you have got a new fan in me.
Many many thanks to CJ Tudor, Ballantine Books, and Net Galley for affording me the opportunity to read this absolutely engrossing, chilling arc, published on April

Happy Publication Day!

I really enjoyed this one! This is my third book by the author and I am officially a fan! Although this book mentions Vampyrs, just know that this isn't exactly a vampire/horror book. Yes, there is some horror, but it's more of the human variety than of the supernatural. I went in not expecting anything except a good yarn and I was not disappointed. While vampires (called Vampyrs) do play a role, it's a story that could take place with or without the supernatural element. This is more about the evil that mankind (and Vampyr) is capable of, and how evil can have repercussions generations later. At its heart, it's about racism, hatred, resentment, vengeance, and about standing up for what is right, despite the pressure to do the "easy thing".

The setting is a small town in Alaska called Deadheart where a chilling murder takes place, and while all signs point to Vampyrs, Barbara, a Vampyr anthropologist, is called on to investigate, and potentially authorize a cull of the colony that has settled near the town. Barbara has her own demons to deal with, but she is determined to do her job correctly, despite what her boss, her liaison in the town, and the townsfolk are pressuring her to do (authorize the cull).

I really liked Barbara. She is not your stereotypical kick butt heroine who might shoot first and ask questions later. She very intelligent, but more importantly, she is patient, open-minded, and thorough. It was also refreshing to have the heroine be an overweight older woman who, while she might acknowledge she could be in better shape, doesn't particularly seem to be self-conscious about it. Much of the story was from her point-of-view but we also hear from Tucker, who I also liked, Beau, who we were supposed to not like, and a mysterious girl who is being held against her will "for her own safety". I think I would have appreciated a little bit more character development with Tucker and maybe a tad bit more on some of the townsfolk, but overall, I thought the author did a good job.

While I was able to figure out some of the mystery, there were a few surprises, including who the mysterious girl is, and an ending that possibly suggests Barbara will be coming back? I really hope so! I really enjoyed this story and if I had had more time, I would probably have read it in one sitting. Instead, my reading time was interrupted quite a bit. But each time, I looked forward to getting back to the story and trying to figure out what was going to happen.

Overall, if you're looking for a well-paced mystery with a unique setting, you should check out this book.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was so good! It was giving Midnight Mass x 30 Days of Night vibes. Going into it blindly, I had no idea that it was paranormal so I was pleasantly surprised.

Modern day colonies of vampires reside in secluded places and live amongst humans despising them yet not harming them. There’s lots of racism in here against both parties.

Thennn there is a murder. Of course the town thinks the vampires did it. The vampire professionals are called from out of town. There’s lots of questioning and paranoia. Pointing fingers and high suspicion.

The story weaves in an out with a side plot of other monstrous things going on in someone’s basement.

The vibes of the cold Alaskan setting really made the claustrophobic atmosphere pop! CJ never disappoints!

I wanted to love this because the drift was so good. But this was slow and tedious and the vampyrs like what was even happening in this book all the characters I just felt lost and no idea what was going on

To start this off... Happy Pub Day!

The Gathering is a spine-chilling murder mystery full of characters whose pasts aren't exactly what they seem to be. You CANNOT trust anyone. Between this and To You Shall All Flesh Come I’ve realized that I have missed out on a whole sub-genre of horror. This one had me in a chokehold and if it weren't for having to work so often, I would have devoured it in no time at all. Truly enjoyed the slow thrill and body-dropping excitement of the twists.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest rate and review.

4 stars plus...C. J. Tudor takes a detour into vampyr fiction here and has created an alternate reality where vampyrs and humans live in neighboring remote communities. It's often an uneasy alliance, their existence a favor granted by humans, so when a human teen in Deadhart, Alaska, is found dead with his throat slit open, Barbara Atkins, a detective from the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department is called in to determine whether the killer was actually a vampyr. If so, the human community will be allowed to 'cull' the vampyrs from their area. At first, it seems like a slam dunk, there's even video evidence, but a closer look at it has Barbara wondering...

So, part mystery/police procedural and part horror story. To me, the basic message here is that humans tend to hate and fear what they don't really understand and so it might seem easier to eliminate what they perceive as a danger to peace and harmony and life itself.

Alaska is the perfect setting for this story with the added dangers of the bitter cold and perpetual winter darkness. I enjoyed the characters, especially Barbara, who is refreshingly normal in looks and figure, but has a code she lives by to do her job, based on her own life experiences. I'm happy to see that Tudor has left the door open to a possible sequel. I'm certain I'd enjoy that just as much.

The author and publisher offered me the opportunity to read an arc of this novel via NetGalley. Many thanks to them. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to Ballantine Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

In a remote Alaskan town a teenage boy is brutally murdered in what appears to be a vampyr attack. A special vampyr investigator is dispatched to figure out whether this death is vampyr violence and if a cull of the local vampyr colony should be ordered. The townspeople have already decided that a return of violence is the answer but Detective Atkins and the local PD need to slow the reaction and figure out what really happened before more people or vampyrs end up dead.

This reminded me a lot of the new season of True Detective, it's set in a cold bleak world with a female investigator who has beef with the townsfolk. There are supernatural elements and yet the humans are generally the worst. Finger pointing and bigotry, drugs and sex trafficking. Yet, let's blame the vampyrs for everything. It also had some fire and brimstone anti-vampyr religion craziness to add to the fun.

I loved that there was some lore and explanation of the vampyr culture and the building of the colony but that the focus was on the police procedural. I would love to see another story in this world.

The Gathering by C.J Tudor. I went into this book completely BLIND. I didn't read the synopsis - I just looked at the cover and started reading. This book was so outside of what I usually read because I do not not tend to gravitate towards vampyr books but this book grabbed me from the first page and NEVER.LET.GO. - I could not stop reading this book - it was action packed, full of suspense and kept you guessing until the v very last page. The twists were NOT reserved for the end - they were all through the book. This book was FANTASTIC!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"The Gathering" is the 2nd book that I have read & loved from author C.J. Tudor. I read "The Drift" last year & when I discovered that her newest book was available to review, I couldn't wait to request it.
I loved it!!!
It was such an unique & exciting story.
It was part mystery/thriller & part horror with vampires in it.
The characters, storyline & location were well developed & interesting.
I'm secretly hoping that this might become a series.
I can't wait to read what she decides to write next.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House for the e-arc!

The Gathering is a book set in the small town of Deadhart, Alaska and they're undergoing some dark things. With a population of only 673, the recent killing of a boy who was drained of blood raises suspicions and fears. The local colony has to be responsible for it, right? Do they have to enact a cull? Surely their small town is being threatened by this colony, right?

This books is fast-paced, gritty, and full of dark twists that you genuinely won't see coming. The constant twists in this book will grip you and not let go. Twisted, dark secrets will have you clutching your metaphorical pearls. Barbara Atkins is one of the best detectives I've ever read.

If you're looking for a dark, atmospheric read that grabs onto you and won't let go, this is it right here.

Five fully deserved stars!

"The Gathering" by C. J. Tudor is a thrilling ride through the dark secrets of a small Alaska town. From the very start, I was hooked by the gripping storyline and atmospheric setting. As Detective Barbara Atkins delves into a gruesome murder case involving a mysterious Colony of vampyrs, the tension builds, keeping me on the edge of my seat.
The author’s writing is engrossing, and I found myself turning pages at lightning speed to uncover the truth behind the chilling crimes. While some scenes pushed the boundaries of believability, they only added to the allure of this captivating novel.
Overall, "The Gathering" is an engaging and suspenseful read that will keep you guessing until the very end. If you're a fan of dark mysteries with a touch of the supernatural, this book is definitely worth picking up.

Very grateful to the publisher for this copy, opinions are my own.

This book didn't hit everything I was hoping, but I still had a great time reading this one and would recommend it for a fun weekend read! It was a nice palate cleanser to some of my bigger reads this year and it's always fun to read a good thriller/suspense. I adored the setting and felt like it was easy to immerse myself.

Thankful to have received this advanced reader copy!

Vampire crime thriller what’s not to like? This was a fast paced murder mystery that was not easy to figure out (all my ideas were wrong). I am not always a fan of police procedural or detective novels but this one was interesting and had an interesting premise with vampyr being real and everyone knows about them. There seems to be a lot of books and TV lately set in remote areas of Alaska which can make for a more creepy atmosphere. I really liked the MC because she isn’t one of those cocky male agents that can do everything. She is more down to earth and easy going. There is a hint at the very end of maybe a possibility of another book to feature the MC, Barbara Atkins. I hope so, because I think there is more that can be explored.

The Gathering is hands-down my favorite C.J. Tudor book. Let’s go through the highlights of her newest novel, shall we?

- An isolated Alaskan small town called Deadhart
- An ostracized Colony of vampyrs, protected by law, with whom the residents of Deadhart must uncomfortably coexist
- A violent murder
- Detective Barbara Atkins, a middle-aged, burger-and-beer-loving forensic vampyr anthropologist, who is called to town to investigate the murder and is charged with determining if it was committed by a vampyr

I mean, it all had me salivating as much as a vampyr in the presence of human blood.

Tudor is one of those authors whose books I always appreciate, even if I don’t necessarily end up loving the book itself. She has a vivid, creative mind and a willingness to be bold and daring in her plotting that makes her books exciting and fresh to read. This is on full display in The Gathering, which is based on such an intriguing idea: that vampyrs exist, humans know they exist, and there have been laws established to protect them – unless they murder a human, then all bets are off. The setting of an isolated Alaskan town is perfect for this type of book. The atmosphere is frigid, and the townspeople are insular and suspicious of outsiders. Fear of their vampyr neighbors simmers underneath the current of the book, and we all know what people do when they are afraid of what they don’t understand: They seek to destroy it. It seems to me that Tudor is making some interesting parallels with our own society, lack of real-world vampyrs not withstanding.

The narrative is full of tension and creepy moments, shifting through several perspectives to keep the plot moving forward, even as Tudor, through Barbara, delves into the fraught history of the town of Deadhart. The world of the book is so interesting and well-thought-out. And can I just say how refreshing it was to have a heroine like Barbara, who is not young, who is not beautiful, and who may be unapologetically carrying a few extra pounds of burger weight? She is a fantastic main character, smart and compassionate and competent and tenacious, and her interactions with disgraced police chief Tucker were some of my favorite moments of the book.

If that Epilogue is any indication, we just may be seeing more of Barbara in a future book, and I’m HERE FOR IT. There’s so much more that Tudor can explore in this wild world she’s created, and I’d gladly read an entire series of books about Barbara’s investigations. Thank you to Ballantine Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

Release April 9.

In a vague way, now looking back at the story, there is some resonance to True Detective: Night Country; but all the kudos in that comparison belong to C. J. Tudor and THE GATHERING. This novel is one of those exceptional stories that is not read, then immediately forgotten: the multi-layers in this are so many and so deep I expect to be considering them months from now, maybe years. Ms. Tudor has accomplished here not only a work of stunning Horror, she has made the "monstrous" (monstrous from the humans' viewpoint) both real and accessible, and amazingly, comprehensible. I didn't have to wait till the end to find my takeaway: as frightening as is the concept of actual vampirism existing in mundane reality, far more terrifying is the pervasive existence of human evil, manifesting in many various forms. Just writing this review I'm experiencing chills.

📱 The Gathering 📱⁣
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⁣Length- 352 pages. ⁣
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⁣Genre- Mystery thriller / Horror. ⁣
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⁣My thoughts- Confession time… I’ve never liked a vampire book before and vowed to just start skipping them. Thankfully, I didn’t realize what this book was about before requesting it, because The Gathering was fantastic! ⁣
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⁣Part police procedural/ part horror, The Gathering is set in rural Alaska where a colony of vampyrs are living in their own ostracized community. When a local teen is killed, Detective Barbara Atkins is called in to investigate and decide if a culling of the community is needed! ⁣
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⁣This book is so stinking fun! It’s atmospheric, exciting and easy to follow. The vampyrs and humans live along side each other, but their relationships are very full of hatred and discrimination. It was such an intriguing concept! ⁣
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⁣I cannot believe how much I loved this book! So good! Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⁣
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⁣Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of The Gathering. It publishes today, April 9, 2024 and is a must read.

Part supernatural thriller and part crime procedural, I enjoyed this book quite a bit!! Taking place in a small, Alaskan town I found this one to be super atmospheric and chilling throughout.

The vampire lore was incredibly interesting and I loved reading about a world where these creature people lived in disharmony among the rest of the world. Tudor did an amazing job at drawing parallels between real life and fiction with how minorities are often ostracized.

I think this one will appeal to a variety of audiences as it seemed to have a blend of so many genres. Check this one out if you like vampires, thrillers, horror, and small town drama!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC and PRH Audio for the audio version of this book!**

This was such a uniquely told “vampyr” story, where the coexist, have rights, and everyone tries to live happily ever after. But when a young boy is found murdered, and all evidence points to a vampyr killing, Detective Barbara Atkins must find out the truth before the town gets revenge.

Y’all, I love CJ Tudor (The Burning Girls is an all-time fav) but this book was not it for me. 🥲

I was curious to see a different take on vampires; this one was more akin to True Blood, where we live among one another and there are some who accept it and those who are super against it.

There were a ton of extra POVs I didn’t need. Some were interesting…but many could be edited out with no real impact to the story. 😬

The story started off pretty eerie and literally chilling: Alaska in the winter, with only a few hours of daylight every day and a potential vampire attack? Spooky! 🧛‍♀️

But from there I lost steam and interest. It took me days longer than expected to finish. And I wasn’t a huge fan of the reveal, so it didn’t feel super worth it come the end. 😭

In the small Alaskan town of Deadhart, the living population coexists with the undead, a colony of vampires who mostly keep to themselves. But when a boy is found murdered and drained of blood, the townsfolk are sure that the vampires are to blame. Something similar happened 25 years ago in Deadhart, and now the citizens are in a panic. Forensic Detective Barbara Atkins is assigned to the case, to find out if indeed the vampire colony is responsible for the death, and authorize the culling of the entire colony, if so. Barbara enlists the help of Jensen Tucker, a hermit who just so happens to be the former sheriff of Deadhart. As Barbara and Tucker investigate, more bodies pile up and the dark secrets of the town are slowly revealed.

This book was so good! It was something completely different than the typical thrillers I read, but with traditional elements of mystery and suspense. C.J. Tudor is a master at drawing you into the setting, and I could swear I felt the cold and the tension of Deadhart as if I were there. I would love another book, with a new case for Detective Atkins, as this is the most fun I've had reading in a long while. Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the gifted copy.