"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 📱⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Length- 352 pages. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Genre- Mystery thriller / Horror. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣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! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣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! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣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! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣I cannot believe how much I loved this book! So good! Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣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.

Usually, I love this author's books, but this one I'm a bit lukewarm about. I appreciate that Tudor stepped out of her comfort zone and gave her story a paranormal twist, but I wasn't invested in any of the characters or the mystery. There were just more deaths, more unanswered questions, and more bigotry, which got repetitively old.

Some of it was just silly. The government would never let people just go killing vampires in an authorized cull, they'd send the military to do it. Or the bar in such a hateful town playing reggaeton when there wasn't one Spanish-speaking character.

I was excited to read the gathering as I am a fan of Cj tudors previous works! In this latest, a young boy is murdered and detective Barbara Atkins is sent to investigate in the remote Alaskan village. Barbara isn’t a normal describe though as she specializes in vampiric killing and has to determine if it’s the work of humankind or of the neighboring vampyre colony. As Barbara teams up with the former sheriff, she discovers there is more to the towns people than appears on the surface. As she gets closer to the truth, more bodies begin to turn up and it may not be the vampyres who pose the biggest threat.

As with all her previous works, I enjoyed the fresh spin on a well-established horror trope of vampires. While there were supernatural and horror elements, it felt very grounded in present-day reality and it explored themes of isolation and “otherness,”

A fast-paced and fun read well worth your time and a worthy addition to Tudor’s growing catalogue of thrillers!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fast paced thriller with a unique vampire twist that I finished in 3 days!

When a teenage boy is found dead from a suspected vampire attack in a small town in Alaska, vampire forensic detective Barbara Atkins is sent to deduce whether the killing was a homicide or death caused by a vampire, a decision that would have dire consequences for the vampire population. She gets to know many in the small town of Deadhart and quickly realizes that not everyone is as they seem. As she digs deeper into the mystery and more people start turning up dead, she realizes she may be dealing with a human serial killer rather than a vampire which could be all the more dangerous to the town. Enlisting the help of former sheriff, Jensen Tucker, she weaves her way through the back stories of the townspeople, desperate to put the puzzle pieces together before another life is lost.

Vampires aren't necessarily something that would draw me to a book, but this book was less about vampires and more about hatred and racism toward a group that could be viewed as an easy scapegoat. I loved the intricacies and depth to all of the characters, especially Barbara Atkins, and I truly didn't see the ending coming until I got to the final pages. While there were some minor horror elements to the story, overall, this was arguably my favorite thriller of 2024 so far and may likely ending up being one of my most favorite books of the year.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantine for the book #TheGathering by #CJTudor. This book is scary and brutal and full of vampires. I love a good vampire story and this one is top of the list. A boy is murdered, not just murdered, torn apart starting with his throat. Was it the colony? A human? Or something else? Definitely read this book!

The Gathering won’t be for everyone but I enjoyed it. Written by one of my favorite authors, it was one of my most anticipated books of 2024 and I wanted to read it before it is available tomorrow.

The Gathering begins when a young man is found myrdered, presumably by one of the new neighbors-a vampyr from the nearby Colony. The colony was forced to relocate 25 years ago after another murder and they’ve only just come back to live in Deadhart, AK.

Barbara Atkins is a detective from the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department sent to investigate and determine if a “cull” is authorized which will wipe out the colony forever.

As she investigates, she discovers many secrets hidden in this small town in Alaska.

What a story! Maybe not as twisty and turny as some of her previous novels but at least one storyline had me guessing right up to the end. This was Northern Exposure meets The Lost Boys. Quirky characters who are also deadly.

Thank you to #netgalley and #ballentinebooks for the advanced e-copy of #thegathering. This book is available tomorrow, 4/9/2024.

I would say that this is my definite favorite C.J. Tudor novel. And I would compare it to Season 4 of True Detective: Night Country. But with vampires!
Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, has been called to Deadhart, Alaska, to determine whether a young murder victim was killed by a human or vampyr. What she gets is a whole lot more than she bargained for with an angry town and an even angrier vampyr Colony. Barbara must make the determination of whether or not to call a cull, but she isn't sure the death is vampyric in nature. But when the bodies start piling up and a blizzard hits Deadhart, Barbara might be out of time.
Best part of this novel is that it seems to be the beginning of a series, maybe, hopefully?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this e-arc.*

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, CJ Tudor - 5 stars!

Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is sent to a small town in the mountains of Alaska to determine the cause of the slaying of a teenager. in town, found with his throat ripped and his blood drained. The townspeople know that it is the work of a member of the Colony, a community of vampires living in an abandoned mine settlement in the woods. If it is proven to be the cause, Detective Atkins can authorize a cull. But she's not convinced. She brings in a former sheriff to help her investigate, since he investigated a similar murder years ago and knows the Colony well. But the pair are in deeper trouble than they anticipated. Who exactly are they hunting?

I love Tudor's books but I think this is my favorite - and do I dare hope that this might be a series featuring Detective Atkins? This was such a tense, chilling, atmospheric read but really never delved into too much gore, which is perfect in my book. It was a small town atmosphere, with mob mentality - while this book focused on vampyres, the lessons are easily adaptable to any group persecuted for any reason. Atkins' character was so realistic - she was a bit overweight, not quite fit, yet her sharp mind made for a smart police procedural. The ending was perfect - highly recommended!

Wow, what a book! I found this book to be so descriptive and detailed so I felt like I was there in Deadhart, Alaska with Barbara Atikins. The author did a fantastic job of including the history of humans with vampyrs without it being an information dump, and it weaved into the story perfectly. I loved the whodunit of the mystery, and appreciated how little crumbs were left through various parts of the book to help us figure out who killed Marcus. The writing kept me coming back for more, and the slight horror elements made it difficult to put down because I just had to know more about the vampyr colony. The story was absolutely gripping! how It's clear that this is the beginning book of a series too, and I am excited to read more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

C.J. Tudor sure knows how to write atmospherically creepy books! In The Gathering we are served up a colony of Vampyrs (yes, I did look up the etymology of this particular spelling), murder, and hostilities in a small Alaskan town aptly named Deadhart (population 673).

A teen has been killed, apparently by a Vampyr, but Detective Barbara Atkins, Doctor of Forensic Vampyr Anthropology, is not convinced. It is her job to determine if this death is grounds to authorize a culling of the recently returned Vampyr colony. The town is largely in favor of this, and Barbara’s insistence on a thorough investigation is making more enemies than friends in this insular community. The town of Deadhart serves up a cast of expected, but still memorable, characters including a gruff and reclusive ex-Sheriff, a charismatic female preacher, bigoted townsfolk, and impassioned teens.

Aside from being deliciously creepy and mysterious, I felt there was an underlying message about racism, exclusion, prejudices, and the condemnation of an entire group for the transgression of one, or a few. The citizens of Deadhart – a name chosen I suspect to reflect both the Vampyrs and the townspeople themselves – are closed minded and very set in their waves. This dovetails so well, in my opinion, with the cold that was so pervasive throughout the novel. The Alaskan town was cold and dark, the woods were snowy, and a walk in freezer features in the story.

Buy this one now, and save it to read on a cold winter night when the snow is pelting against your window. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this early peak!

3.75 Stars, rounded to 4.
This book is clearly written by my girl, CJ Tudor. It very much reads like her first 4 books in my opinion. While the subject matter is pretty different from her other works, it still had the CJ Tudor feel that I love. I also loved that it takes place in Alaska. I absolutely love that setting. I really love that she dives into characters and their backgrounds, which are always very intriguing and I usually love that there are so many characters that you can't easily guess who is the culprit. However, in this book, I felt there were too many characters to keep track of. It was not difficult but it was a little bit overwhelming. But having so many characters means CJ Tudor can weave a very intricate and complex resolution/ending, which she was able to do again. I did not love this as much as I loved her first 4 books but I do think it was well done. I will continue to pick up CJ Tudor in the future. I feel like she is trying new things and while most of it is not hitting the mark for me, I still find them enjoyable.