The Drift @cjtudor #ballantinebooks (@randomhouse)@JanBelisle @absltmom #favoriteauthor #thetwinsareback

Jan’s review

A survival thriller set during a snowstorm? Yes, please! Never mind that it’s a dystopian future during a pandemic, because the virus is not the focus of the story. We are talking about survival.

Three POV/ storylines that will eventually merge:
1. Hannah, a med student and daughter of the world’s leading virologist, is trapped with her fellow passengers when their bus crashes during a heavy snow storm.
2. Meg, a former policewoman, and her group are stranded in a cable car when the power fails, which leaves them dangling 1000 ft in the air during a raging snowstorm.
3. Carter and his group are living the good life in a ski chalet with all the amenities. But the snowstorm rages outside, supplies are dwindling, and the generator dies.

All 3 groups are fighting for their lives from the elements and the virus, but perhaps the greatest threat to their lives comes from within. How long did it take for society to break down? TEN YEARS. Who is a good guy and who is a bad guy? Is everyone who they say they are? I was kept on my toes, never knowing who to trust. There are evil forces at play, of the human variety. After all, The devil was an angel once

CJ Tudor excels at creating stories that ooze atmosphere. Thrillers set during snowstorms is one of my favorite tropes, and this one delivered. I felt the cold and the terror of being trapped and in danger on all sides (especially in that cable car *shudder*).

There are a lot of characters to keep straight, which is perhaps the book’s greatest weakness. But I just kept reading, trusting that it would all come together. And it did.

Everyone here has secrets that are eventually revealed, and there are surprises in store that I didn’t see coming. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and I flew through the majority of the book in one day. I enjoyed all three storylines and appreciated how they came together in the well-executed ending, which offered a glimmer of hope for the future.

I prefer strong female characters, and I especially appreciated that the author made her two female heroines whip-smart, determined, and accomplished. The author’s sly humor is also on display, bringing much needed relief from the tension.

This is another winner from CJ Tudor! She has a talent for writing distinct and unique books. No two are remotely similar to one another and all are memorable. When many books I read are forgotten the moment the last page is turned, her plots are ones I never forget.

Marialyce’s review

This lady can sure write scare. In fact, it might be her middle name!

This lady can sure write scare. In fact, it might be her middle name!

This book provided more than a scary story, it also provided so many ways in which to discuss the events and the outcome of the story. Definitely a wonderful story of survival and the ways in which we challenge Mother Nature who will “always find a way.”

What better topic to write about if you are in the scare business than a deadly pandemic? However, it should be noted that the virus is not the “star” of this tale. C.J. Tudor took the background of a deadly virus, and wrote a story that started out with a bus crash that had Hannah, and others escaping from a boarding school. While some died, the ones remaining had their assorted secrets and needed a way out of the overturned bus. Of course, with a huge snowstorm raging outside and a deadly virus raging inside the bus, death seemed to be their certain fate.

The book switches to other characters teetering in a broken cable car including Meg, a former police person. Hanging high up in the air while the storm ragged, (for this reader, that would have been the end of me!), they didn’t a clue as to how or the why they arrived there. They know they are headed to a place called “The Retreat” but the “why” is everything. It’s murky and then a dead body is found which is a precursor to many more bodies piling up.

In a ski chalet others survive and are perhaps the hope for humanity. They too, are headed for a rude awakening as the vaccine they make is running short and the doctor in charge has supposedly hidden himself in one of the containment pods. Dr Carter has been the head of the virus fighting team and as in current times, we eventually find him to be full of himself, conceited, and only concerned about his hero self, and of course conquering the virus. (as if)

While this story mimics some of what we have all gone through, it is the author’s way of showing us that no one is infallible, that we often are a kill or be killed species, and that perhaps we have lost our way in fear and grab onto hope even if it is a false one.

This was a hard hitting, gritty story that held fine elements of frightening tactics that this author delivers in each of her books. As you read, you will feel many similarities between the now and the maybe the future. I so enjoyed the references, shaded of course, that C.J. gave to the current “savior” (or at least in his mind) doctor in charge of it all.

Suffice to say, I continue to greatly enjoy C.J.’s books. They definitely put the fright in all who read her stories.
Thanks, once again, to C.J. Tudor, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this harrowing story. Keep ’em coming, C.J.

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