Barbara Atkins, a Forensic Vampyr Anthropologist and Homicide Detective, has arrived in Alaska’s small town of Deadhart to investigate the death of a young boy. The boy was found murdered with his throat ripped out, but the lack of blood at the crime scene becomes suspicious.

In Alaska, the Vampyr’s have the same right as the humans, but they don’t attack unless provoked. The last Vamp attack in Deadhart was twenty-five years ago and the mystery was never solved.

While Detective Atkins investigates the boys murder, more people are being killed. Were they killed as a cover up or to expose what’s really going on in Deadhart?

I didn’t think I would like a book about Vampires, but the queen of thrill and horror, C.J. Tudor, did an excellent job of keeping me engaged with the eerie setting of this book. I don’t know if it was the Alaskan snowstorm, the fear rising from this book, or the fact that I finished it around 2am but I felt goosebumps prickle my skin. I was so focused on figuring out the characters and how vamps had been living alongside humans that I didn’t see any of the twists coming! I can’t stop thinking about the ending and how all the clues were there, but the pieces never clicked into place which made the book so much more gripping.

Barbara Atkins, detective and member of the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department, is sent to Deadhart, Alaska to investigate the gruesome murder of a teenage boy. The townspeople are certain he was killed by the colony that has recently returned to the outskirts of town as details of the boys wounds spread. This is the first murder in 25 years for the town and they're calling for a cull to happen. In order for that to happen, Barbara has to investigate and prove the death is vampyr related and determine which vampyr is the guilty party. During her investigation she has to deal with many mysterious characters, surroundings, and more deaths.

I have a soft spot for vampyr stories, they have always been some of my favourite and there's only a few times they are done right. This...this is one of those times. The setting, the surroundings, humans, vampyr...C.J. Tudor really hit the stake to the heart (bahdumtss). This story immediately pulled me in and kept me there needing to know what was going to happen next. There's so many twists and turns, you think you know, but you don't. Highly recommend this one!!!

Thank you so much for the ARC Copy of The Gathering. This book was a wild ride. I really enjoyed reading this one and was a very interesting and suspenseful read. I will say that I wish parts of the story would have been told sooner rather then the end. I felt that many parts could have been left out. The one part of this book that involved the person that was held captive in the basement really caught my attention and I really wanted more of that in this book. I was super intrigued by it and I had to know what was going to happen and who it could be. My mind was blanking on who it was. I Couldn't figure it out and we really did get no answers for it until the end.
The whole vampire story was really good though. All of the characters were interesting to read about which there were plenty!! CJ Today did a great job at writing such great details in this book.
Definitely curious to know if there will be a second book or not based of how it ended!
Overall great read. Could of been shorter though.

I have read and loved C.J. Tudor’s books before and I was extremely excited to read the newest! Alaskan small town, crime, vampyres and an alternative world norm. I couldn’t really ask for much more in a thriller but I was disappointed.
The pacing was not always consistent, the characters all felt flat and I didn’t care about any of them, the author tried to work in TOO many political views that felt over described and an ambiguous ending?

I did enjoy the atmosphere and the Vampyres and of course that’s what we got the least about. Maybe the ending was left open for a second installment. Overall I enjoyed the read but it wasn’t my favorite.

This one grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. While there are many stories out there that use monsters or ghouls as a metaphor for those in our society that are outcast or shunned, I don’t know that I’ve seen it used in such an effective and scary way before. The Gathering had everything I love in a great horror novel and combine some elements from my other favorite genre, the police procedural mystery.
If Michael Connelly wrote horror, I think he’d write something very similar to this. Absolutely loved it.

A truly unique story from Tudor!

Imagine a world where Vampyr's exist and are known, but definitely feared and even hated by many people. This isn't your True Blood type of vampyr, though.

Detective and vampyr anthropologist Barbara Atkins is sent to Deadhart, Alaska to investigate a murder to determine if it was a vampyr killing and if the colony of vampyrs in that town should be culled. The townspeople are pushing for a cull and are relentless in their determination. But, Barbara doesn't take this lightly and is dogged in her investigation to make sure that the real murderer is brought to justice.

The past and the present mix and develop a compelling story that really engaged me! Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

MORE BARBARA. I DEMAND MORE BARBARA.

I'm a fan of C.J. Tudor. The Chalk Man, The Drift, the Burning Girls, A Sliver of Darkness? YES. So when I got the ARC, I was psyched but apprehensive. I sometimes really love their books, but some I don't like as much. What would it be with this one? I liked it, and I am REALLY hoping they turn this into a series. They left it open for that, so fingers crossed.

First, we have Barbara Atkins, a vampyr specialist. (Yes, there are vampires in this book, but not like sparkly vampires, these are dead ass serious vampires, it is not sexy). Barbara is my favorite character in a book in a long time. She is 50 something, she is overweight, she is plain, and she is brilliant and hardworking and fantastic. This is not a romance novel and I love that. Sometimes, you just don't need that nonsense when there is important business to get to.

Barbara has been sent to Deadhart, Alaska, which has a population of under 900. It's cold af, and people are not friendly. There is a dead kid, and they want the vampires dead. The group of vampires is called a colony, and the inhabitants of the town want Barbara to authorize a cull, meaning all the vampires would be killed because one of them has basically gone feral. The vampires are allowed to live in society, though they cannot hold a job, and they drink animal blood and cannot kill people. If they kill people, per the law, they can be killed. It's an extremely shaky alliance between vampires and humans, and you can see the parallels between vampires and other marginalized communities in our current society - they're just trying to live as best they can on the fringes of society, knowing they are hated, and while some of them hate the humans for how they're forced to live, some of them want to be like the humans, and some do - they file down their teeth and pass as human.

Unfortunately for Barbara, people in the town are especially hostile because 25 years ago, a child was killed by a vampire, and a vampire was arrested but later let go by the former sheriff. The colony left. Then they came back to live in the abandoned mines, and people were mad, and then another child is killed, and now they're on the precipice of extreme violence. There are other characters in the town who become important - a teenage girl who works in the one restaurant in town and can't wait to get out; the old, bitter man who thinks all vampires should be killed; the former sheriff who is mysterious and lives off the grid; the mysterious preacher who blew into town with her equally mysterious assistant and started a church. You can really feel yourself in this town, with Barbara, freezing your ass off, both from the endless cold and the chilly reception she receives, but she keeps plodding along, determined to do what's right.

The only reason I gave it four out of five stars is because I felt the ending was too complicated and came too quickly. There had been some buildup to it, so it didn't come out of nowhere, but it was hard to keep everyone straight. This is a small town, but it leaps from character to character, so I'm not being sarcastic when I suggest annotating the book or keeping track of who does what and who is friends with who. If I had done that, I think I would have enjoyed the ending more, because when things are revealed, I wanted to gasp but instead I had to think "wait, what? who was that? what happened?" But overall, a great read. I loved hearing about the vampires, the stories of the the vampires in the older days was absolutely heartbreaking (I legitimately cried, it was so horrible to read - the depravity of humans is something you never get over), and Barbara is fantastic.

The Gathering by C. J. Tudor a horror book review by Jim Mcleod

It has been a long time since I last read a vampire. Very few have flown across my radar in recent years. And those that have all sounded like they were either retreading old ground or happy to remain stagnant in the graves, unwilling to push the boundaries of such an old and overused creature.

And I must admit that C.J. Tudor is an author I haven’t read before. We have favourably reviewed previous books from the author on GNoH from other review team members, but until now, I had never taken the plunge. This puts a lot of pressure on this book. A new author walking the graveyard spaces of one of my favourite monsters, does The Gathering by C.J. Tudor unlive up to my expectations?

Vampires, locals and an isolated town in the Alaskan wilderness might sound like 30 Days of Night. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth; that is where the similarities end. The Gathering by C.J. Tudor isn’t a gorefest novel where we witness the brutal slayings of humans by an unstoppable force of vampire monsters.

This may upset a few of you expecting a lazy rehash of a genre classic, but stay with me as I show that The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is a horror novel worthy of your attention.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is a powerful novel with much to say about serious issues. Told using a tight, grippy cinematic tone of writing, Tudor manages to squeeze every last drop of the sense of a never-ending, crushing sense of isolation out of the pages of this novel.

From the opening chapter, which sees Detective Barbara Atkins’s journey to the aptly named town of Deadhart, to the final paragraph of the novel, Tudor paints a vivid picture of the setting to such a point that your brain almost creates a movie of the novel in your head as you read it. The meticulous attention to detail in describing the setting creates a vivid picture in the reader’s mind, drawing them deeper into the story.

Narratively, this is a dark and gritty novel, reading much like a noir novel. Atkin’s journey of discovering the truth of the murder plays out like the best detective fiction. It’s hard not to compare The Gathering to the recent series of True Detective, as both feature strong yet flawed female protagonists going up against the reluctant local community members, uncovering brutal truths. And, of course, both are set in an isolated Arctic community; even if you weren’t the biggest fan of True Detective (like me), The Gathering is infinitely more rewarding and enjoyable. Tudor’s execution of the plot and the conclusion is a lot more satisfying. I found my mind wandering during True Detective, but The Gatherings completely gripped me, thoughtful and intelligent handling of the powerful these explored within the story.

As stated above, I am a huge fan of vampire novels, particularly those that dare to do something different with them; The Gathering takes the vampire genre by the throat and gives it a fabulous shake. I haven’t read such a fascinating take, filled with intelligent world-building and thoughtful twists on the tired tropes of vampires, since the heady days of Brian Lumley’s Necroscope series. Where The Necroscope books were massive flights of fantasy, The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is grounded firmly in “reality” for want of a better word. Gone are the weakness of garlic; they can walk in daylight, even though that one hurts me whenever it is used. Tudor is respectful to the tropes of old while at the same time ensuring The Gathering doesn’t feel like a hundred other books.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor, over and above the horror of the vampires, is a story about persecution, the small-town mentality and the lengths people will go to keep those they deem different down and out. It is a powerful and disturbing allegory to the world we live in right now, and Tudor handles this aspect of the novel extremely well; there is no heavy-handed tub-thumping on show here, but rather a thoughtful and well-constructed description of intolerance and fear.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is a major accomplishment. It works as both a gripping horror novel and an insightful look at the world today. More importantly, it gives the vampire story a real set of fangs, something that has been severely lacking in recent years. So grab your cape and take a massive bite into the neck of this exemplary book.

This book took my breath away. Tudor crafted a horrifyingly gory and equally as insightful and reflective story in The Gathering.
If you like novels that weave themes of discourse on discrimination, racism, etc., seamlessly into the plot, this is the one for you!
Discussion on vampyrism and otherness on similarities of segregation and hate-based violence, this novel had me feeling angry, sad, it made me laugh and learn, and it had its funny moments too.
The end of this books hints that there may be another story taking place with the surviving characters, and I will be rooting for that to come to publishing as soon as possible.
4.5/5 stars

The easiest 5-star rating I have given thus far in 2024. I adored every moment of reading this story. C.J. Tudor has explored new territory here. I can't wait for more. It's so good, and C.J., if you happen upon this review, this book was everything...

I basically fell in love with this book the very first time I set eyes on this eerie snow-covered cover. Added to that, the publisher created a fascinating Horror Mystery synopsis. They had my attention. It was giving me heavy [book:Bone White|32920015] ((one of my favorites ever)) vibes and I was all over it!

In this story, we follow Detective Barbara Atkins, an experienced specialist in vampyr killings. She gets sent to the very small and remote town of Deadhart, Alaska, to investigate the brutal murder of a teen boy. Deadhart has a Colony of vampyrs living on their periphery with which they have an unsettling history. This most recent murder is the literal match to the wick. The townspeople are fired up and calling for a cull.

Barbara is tasked with determining whether or not a vampyr was responsible for the brutal slaying of the teen, and if so, does that solitary act necessitate a cull. Needless to say, some of the townspeople don't warm to Barbara's presence. They're a small, tight-knit community and don't feel they need outsiders dictating how they handle their town and it's adjacent Colony.

As the Reader, you go along with Barbara as she inserts herself into this town and really digs into this specific case, as well as anything else that may help her make her determination in regards to this Colony. I was immediately intrigued with this set-up. I enjoyed how it's essentially our world, with one major difference, vampyrs are real and they live openly amongst humans. They may live in their own Colonies, but everyone knows they exist. It's an interesting set-up to imagine.

I think Tudor did a great job of developing this. We learn slowly the details of the relationship between humans and vampyrs, historically, so it doesn't weigh you down with major descriptors right off the bat. It's strictly a need to know basis and I liked that. I never felt like I needed more information. I had exactly what I needed to feel completely enraptured by this world.

I also loved the way the setting of Deadhart is portrayed. The atmosphere is so rich. It's dark, uninviting and feels dangerous. I was shivering and wasn't sure if it is from the cold coming off the pages, or the fear. Tudor created a real sense of dread; my love language.

We do get some other perspectives, so you aren't locked in with Barbara the whole time. The back and forth kept the story going at a nice clip and I felt each perspective added a lot to the build-up. One of my favorite aspects of this was Barbara's relationship with the local law enforcement, particularly a former deputy, Tucker. They made a great team. Their relationship felt very natural and I enjoyed their coworker energy.

As you get past the mid-point, the pace really kicks up. You can feel the tension rising in the whole town. You can just tell that everything is going to come to a head. I was nervous. You do start to care about some of the characters and the dangers were everywhere. I was so concerned for everyone that I cared about. I wanted everyone to make it out unscathed.

Overall, this was just so fun. It was well constructed and super gripping. I honestly hope this sets a new trend for vampire stories. It was unsettling realistic.

Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me a copy to read and review. I cannot wait to pick up a hard copy for my shelves!!!

I'm not a vampire (vampire in this book) fan, but I do like C.J. Tudor, and was happy to get my hands on this ARC, thanks to #netgalley. Especially the first half pulled me right in. Very atmospheric, I loved the setting in the small Alaskan town. The vampyr anthropologist Barbara Atkins is such a refreshing and likable main character. I didn't even care anymore who was responsible for the killings or why. Well written, just didn't like the end all that much.

THE GATHERING was a spooky and atmospheric thriller set in the Alaskan wilderness. I loved the characters and the ending of the novel but wasn’t crazy about the back and forth timelines and the length of the plot. Enjoyed the story but would rather it have been a touch shorter.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for the opportunity to read and review THE GATHERING.

A very big thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC!

In one of the most remote settings imaginable, the frigid Alaskan landscape is home to more than just a town of humans in CJ Tudor’s latest novel, The Gathering. In the town of Deadhart, humans share separate real estate with the Colony, a group of vampyrs who inhabit the previously abandoned mine settlement. However, this is not a harmonious existence following the death of a young boy appearing to be at the hands of a vampyr. Barbra Atkins is called in to investigate this crime and determine the best course of justice for the slain child. Deadhart proves to house corruption, secrets, and darkness as Barbra’s investigation unfolds, giving way to evil both human and vampyr alike.

CJ Tudor establishes one of the most creative societies that entails the existence of vampyrs comparable to the creative ingenuity we’ve seen in books such as Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge universe. In Tudor’s world, specific laws and agencies have been created to ensure the survival of both vampyrs and humans. This is best exemplified through Barbara’s profession as a detective with the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department which requires her to investigate any potential killings committed by a vampyr in order to bring them to justice. The catch? Should a Colony be found responsible as a whole, a cull can be called in which the entire Colony is eradicated. This increases the intensity of the cases Barbara investigates with numerous lives on the line and a multitude of humans seeking justice.

Perhaps the most creative endeavor in Tudor’s unique world-building is the prejudice against vampyrs that exists in the same way issues of race, sexuality, and political affiliation do in our very real world. While The Gathering functions as a small-town, gritty crime thriller, it also excels thanks to this heightened political nature. The hate, animosity, and hostility targeted towards vampyrs seem to have affected all aspects of Deadhart, forging an extremely volatile, unpredictable situation for Barbra to navigate. Learning of the ways in which this society functions on a macro level in addition to the micro level of Deadhart was markedly captivating, raising so many questions regarding a society such as this. The Gathering is a vast exercise in world-building with the potential for numerous stories to be told.

Setting and circumstances aside, Tudor gives us some very memorable characters, particularly in that of Barbara. She’s a middle-aged, intelligent, and tenacious woman who truly wants to find justice in the wake of an unthinkable crime despite the numerous opinions of the townsfolk. She’s someone who takes great pride in her work and refuses to take the easy immediate answer for the correct one, a trait we have all come to know and love in detectives. Especially in this small-town full of secrets and darkness, characters such as Barbara shine with their intelligence and wit. I honestly hope we get to see more of Barbra Atkins in the future, especially with how expansive this existence of humans and vampyrs has proven to be.

The Gathering delivers on many of the tropes readers have come to know and love such as unrelenting searches for the truth, seedy small towns with nefarious secrets, and characters who capture not only your attention but your heart as well. Oh yeah, and the remarkable creativity behind the existence of vampyrs in the modern world. CJ Tudor’s Barbara Atkins is a remarkable character who elevates this grisly “whodunnit” to a spectacle of intrigue. This is a break-neck paced novel leaving you guessing if anyone at all is indeed innocent, combining dark themes of crime procedurals with the supernatural. An unputdownable mystery, The Gathering must be on any crime or horror lover’s radar for this year.

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is my latest review book from Net Galley. Like my last book, The Gathering is a mystery but this time with a twist: this story has vampires!

In The Gathering, Barbara Atkins is a forensic specialist in vampire crimes (vampire CSI). She's called to Alaska to investigate a young boy's death. It looks like a vampire killed the kid. She's supposed to find out if thats so and if it is, her duty is to call for a cull: basically a massive killing of the nearby vampire colony. Barbara wants to make sure she knows all the facts before doing that though. She is definitely not ready for how deep this mystery goes...

Yes, thats all I'll tell you about the plot. I don't want to give away the mystery. I will say though that the solution surprised me. The Gathering keeps you guessing for most of the book. You don't really find out who did it until near the end of the book. It does make sense though. whew. Oh wow does it ever.

It should also be noted that the book isn't only told from Barbara's perspective. There are multiple people invovled in the story and we get to see what they are up to. The story never gets confusing though.

Each chapter is laid out well. Sometimes, something shocking will happen and you have to wait a beat to find out whats going to happen next because the story leaps to another perspective. This absolutely will keep you reading. You'll want to know what happens next!

The Gathering is a gripping and pretty intense story. There are some gruesome things in this book. The Gathering is mostly a mystery but its definitely also a horror story.

If you're looking for a mystery with vampires, look no further. The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is an excellent mystery and its world of vampires and humans co-existing is intriguing. I hope there's a sequel to this book. It definitely seems like there might be one...

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor releases on April 9th, 2024. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing an early digital copy of the book for this review.

The Gathering by C. J. Tudor is a so-so procedural set in Alaska where the investigation looks into a murder that may be a vampyre slaying. It is a mystery buried under a lecture.

In Deadhart, Alaska, a fifteen-year-old boy is found murdered. His throat was ripped open and his blood was drained. Residents blame the Colony nearby, a place where vampyres reside and want a cull of the vampyres. However, in 1983, the Vampyr Protection Act was enacted and declared them a protected species. An expert is called in, homicide detective Barbara Atkins, who has her PhD in forensic vampyr anthropology. She will investigate the murder and, if she determines a vampyre is responsible, she can authorize a cull. The residents are angry and want retribution.

Barbara Atkins is an interesting character and the ending makes it clear that a sequel should be expected.

This wasn't a favorite Tudor novel. First, as a British author, perhaps look a little bit closer into the culture, word usage, etc. in the USA. Then, yet again I need to caution an author to keep their personal political/social views on contemporary topics to themselves as it diminishes and dates the novel. Additionally any lecturing in a novel to your readers is also disconcerting. The polarization presented early on in the novel targeted specific religious and political groups was an off-putting distinction that made this an almost DNF. Making different groups you perhaps disagree with the antagonist and stand-in for fear, racism or discrimination between people was unnecessary. Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

This book was a very pleasant and likeable surprise read for me! I have read a number of books by this author and have enjoyed all of them. This is the first one I remember having vampyrs in it.

Dr. Barbara Atkins of the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department is sent by her boss to the village of Deadhart, Alaska to investigate the death of a 15-year-old boy who was found dead with his throat ripped out which was similar to another boy who died 25 years prior. There are a lot of characters in this book and all are very interesting and some are downright creepy. I was hooked from the start to the very end.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballentine for the ARC of this book that I found to be fascinating.

A murder mystery set in Alaska with vampyrs? Say less! I was SO EXCITED when I saw the synopsis for The Gathering and I am happy to report that it lived up to the hype!

The Gathering is a vampyr story unlike any you've read before. True, it is a story of vampyrs and humans. But it is really a story of unbridled hate and violence toward the other. The dangers of prejudices, mob mentality, vigilantes and religious fanaticism. It asks what is justice? Who is or what makes one a monster? And it's a timely story.
CJ Tudor is an excellent storyteller. Ordinarily, many of us praise the fast-paced book that steamrolls us. We hop onto a speeding, relentless train until it stops. And I think The Gathering is a different type of great. It is quieter, but no less enthralling. It is atmospheric and suspenseful. It's the experience of savoring each bite of a delectable feast, of methodically unwrapping a treasured gift. 

The Gathering is a murder mystery with paranormal and macabre elements, replete with secrets and twists. It's not for the faint of heart. But um, if it wasn't already clear, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Add The Gathering to your TBRs now! It will be out 4/9. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Buckle up and hunker down because you're not going to want to stop reading until you're finished. This book is EXCELLENT. I'm a huge fan of C.J. Tudor already, but this may be her best work yet. If you love thrillers, vampires, or horror novels this is right up your alley. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

"In towns like Deadhart, there are generally two kinds of people-- those who never leave and those who never come back."

C.J. Tudor returns with yet another chilly horror set in a icy, remote location. I came into this without reading the abstract or knowing the premise, just hoping for something similar to her last hit, The Drift . This definitely delivers, though with a completely different plot. Less gore, more investigative mystery, same amount of twists, turns, and comedic relief.

Overall, 4.75 stars out of 5 mainly for the (in my opinion, unnecessary) unresolved ending. Defunitely pick this one up if you're in the mood for an unpredictable horror mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review The Gathering by C.J. Tudor.

The world in the book has learned to live alongside vampires for centuries. Well, as long as the vampires stay in their place, called colonies. The setting for this novel is a small town in Alaska. A teen is murdered. The townies think the colony is responsible and they want blood. The colony's blood to be specific. This is called a cull. In order for this to happen a legal official, Barbara Atkins, must come and investigate the crime and determine if a cull is warranted and valid. Due to unfavorable weather the town is cut off and they are running out of time to prevent a possible unwarranted cull as well has find the true perpetrator.

Pros: Lots of action and plot twists. I have read a lot from this author and knew what to expect; good writing and telling a great story. I wasn't disappointed. The characters were all great. The setting added lots of atmosphere to the story.

Cons: My only con was I wanted more.

Without releasing any spoilers, I really hope to have more from this story in the future. Maybe a series with this particular character. The ending I didn't see coming. If interested in picking this one up it will be released on April 9th. Happy reading!