I first noticed this author when I read ‘The Chalk Man’ which I loved but ever since then I have had mixed feelings when reading her books. I either love them or they fail to grab me, unfortunately this was the latter. I think the problem is more me than the author, I am not mad on horror stories. This one is more of an horror than other books.

A group of teenagers are involved in a crash while travelling to ‘The Retreat’ in a bus and some other adults are trapped in a cable car. At the same time the world is being threatened by a deadly virus which there seems to be no cure. Are all these situations linked? The one thing we do know is that all these people are in extreme danger.

I can fully understand how other readers loved this book but it was not for me.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read the other reviews of this book and they are very mixed. But I absolutely adored this book. Three threads woven together with such menace and foreboding. Made me shiver!

This was such a gripping read that I just couldn't put down. It was so original and interesting as well as being chilling. The book itself dioesn't give a lot of detail to the reader so I spent a lot of this book not really going on - and I LOVED that aspect, it really added to the haunting and dark atmosphere of the book.
Due to the recent pandemis parts in this book were also really relatable and that made it an even better read

This is a real horror story, with 3 tales being told and the author switches between each in alternating chapters; There are a group who have crashed in a bus on the way to a place called ‘The Retreat'. Then there's a group in a cable car that has also run adrift and then there are a group at the Retreat. All are in imminent danger, due to some global phenomenon that is immune to any vaccine. Sound familiar? For me, this was one of the issues with the book. Perhaps it's because we continue to fight a pandemic that appears to be mutating and to be reading about how horrific it could get was difficult to say the least! Then there are the complicated characters, but, because we switch from one group to the next, I struggled to remember who was who and to be honest, in the end, I stopped caring. It's also very descriptive, a true horror story, so, do not read whilst eating!

Don't get me wrong, there are elements of the author's magic within and I was so keen to enjoy this book as I'm such a fan of the author that I persevered. However, although there are complex plots within plots and characters that maintain interest; overall, I did struggle to finish it. So, for me, a decent read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph Penguin Random House for the opportunity to preview.

From start to finish The Drift had me hooked. In spite of reading this on the hottest two days of the year, my blood ran cold.
In the beginning we are given three unusual scenarios. A group of teens in a crashed bus. A group of adults trapped in a cable car. A group in a place known only as The Retreat. We know this is a world in which a deadly virus has taken hold; a virus for which there seems to be no cure. What we don’t know is how these scenarios link, or exactly what is happening.
The lack of detail should be off-putting, but Tudor carries us through with barely time to pause for breath.
I want to say more, but not knowing exactly how these stories link made such a difference to my reading of the book. I was thrown more than once as I pieced together who was who and the links between their stories. Plotting to die for…and a sign that we’ll never know just how far we’re prepared to go when it counts.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication.

How on earth does C J Tudor’s mind come up with something as amazing as this. I
Can’t say to much as I don’t want to give it away but it all fits together like a 1000 piece jigsaw just perfectly with no missing pieces.
Thank you to Netgalley & C J Tudor for an advanced copy of this book.

Three stories, three sets of characters, a lot of snow and much danger!

This was certainly a fast ride, with lots of action, all with the undercurrent of a nasty virus. Think Captain Trips meets Covid 19 and you are more or less in the right ballpark!

I enjoyed this a lot, but, as a real fan of CJT, I do prefer her more gothic horror stories to this dystopian offering. Yes, it’s a thriller and yes, also a horror of sorts, but there was a little too much daring do for me, I like my monsters under the bed!

A really good read, thank you NetGalley.

Unfortunately not my favourite of Tudor’s books. I felt the synopsis was misleading. It’s not your typical thriller. This one has more of a dystopian feel to it. I couldn’t really tell where the story was set. Is it Europe? UK? America? Felt a bit all over the place. Three different strands of narrative with a locked room mystery feel but the pace of an action movie, that does come together at the end to be fair. Sadly the execution and characterisation wasn’t compelling and engaging for me. Still a decent read and I’ll definitely check out Tudor’s future books.

Let me preface this review by saying how much I love CJ Tudor and I will continue to support. But dear lord I couldn’t get through this one 😩 Every author is allowed a bummer I suppose. Some books work, some don’t. I appreciate Tudor’s attempt to do something different. Maybe some will like this. However it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters and it switched between three POVs rather quickly. This felt more dystopian and horror sci-fi rather than psychological suspense/horror that Tudor normally writes. When we learn about the virus I just lost it. For me with the pandemic anything virus related that is taking people down with an end of the world feel doesn’t do it for me. I’m not in that headspace. Also this was very cinematic at times and the pace was too action-driven for my taste. Not for me.

Not my cup of tea. Couldn't get in to it at all. Took ages to realise it was travelling back and forward to different times. Just didn't enjoy it.

VERY clever. This one got me, I never saw it coming!

Chilling and genuinely unnerving this is a closed in, freezy mystery with horror elements and absolutely magnificent plotting.

I say no more. Wouldn't want to spoil or dilute the craziness.

The Drift will be 2023's first hit I reckon. Loved it.

I've finished reading The Drift by @cjtudorauthor and I rate it 5 stars 🌟

Three groups of people,

An overturned coach full of students.

A stranded cable car full of strangers.

An isolated chalet full of friends.

As The Snowstorm gets worse tensions are getting hight, when their fight for survival reaches boiling point cracks start to show and a killer starts to kill people off one by one but who out of these groups of people is the killer and can anyone survive this carnage!


Omg i loved this book so much, it's cleverly written plotted and executed with fantastic characters and the setting was brilliant, I found it interesting that it was Three groups of people and as I was reading I was wondering if these people are connected,

This book is so intense and gripping then I was hit with a big twist that blew me away I didn't see it coming, that's when everything started to connect together. It was just a thrilling story that had me hooked to the very end it was nonstop drama from start to finish, I loved The ending I thought it was very good I would strongly recommend you read this book.

A great locked room mystery with a fresh and unique twist. As unsettling as CJ’s other books and a plot that has you on the edge of your seat. Trying to figure out how the different plots go together was really fun.

Three settings, three groups of people, snow storms and many other dangers.
The tension does not let up in any of these stories.
It'd fast paced, with quite a few surprises.
If you get the chance to pause for breath, surely like me, you'll be wondering how these three stories fit together.
A frightening tale, that's all to believable in parts.
It's definitely my favourite book by this author.
I need a lie down to recover from it all now.

There are three different groups trapped in the snow: a crashed coach, a cable car, and a lodge. Among them is a killer. Will any of them escape? Is there anywhere safe to run to?

Without spoilers it's difficult to say much about this snow thriller except that it soon gives way to a complex and chilling dystopia.

I enjoyed piecing parts of the story together and it's always interesting for a novel to morph into something you weren't expecting. The blurb was rather misleading at times though.

However, some of the plot verged into unrealistic action movie territory which wasn't necessary and detracted from what was otherwise a really creepy plot.

I also particularly disliked some of the lodge characters and struggled to map Carter's character with what we learn about his origins.

An action packed dystopian read which would make a great movie.

An overturned coach, a cable car stuck, a 'retreat' keeping out the dreaded whistler's. The storm is raging, infection is everywhere, and no rescue is coming. Will any of them survive?

CJ Tudor has done it again - another fantastic story that leaves you chilled to the bone.

A gripping locked room thriller that had me on the edge of my seat, nervous to continue but unable to stop. Tudor's books are always a treat, and I am so grateful I could read this one early. Absolutely brilliant!

Well to say I didn't know what I was getting into would be an understatement. Full disclosure, this didn't do it for me as much as the authors precious works did but this is just a whole new vibe! I think in light of covid then this takes on a whole new level of relateability but yeah, it wad wild!! Its definitely action packed and full of twists and turns that you don't see coming. It absolutely keeps you engaged and focused to try and find out where the overlap is and how it all connects and when that is finally revealed, there's still a million unanswered questions until the end where its like.... omg!! Ah!!!I see now!!its a very clever thriller which sees you in this virus overrun reality and its actually not too dissimilar to today's world. Ot poses a lot of really fascinating questions about pandemics and survival etc. I really enjoyed it and couldn't sop until I'd gotten right to the end. Very very high quality thriller writing but just in a more dystopian or future reality

What a thrilling read! THE DRIFT is a no holds barred, action packed, frightening, gruesome, brutal and utterly compelling read.

From the first chapter I knew I had something special. But I was not prepared for how much this book dominated my life. I couldn’t put it down, I could stop thinking about it and I couldn’t wait to pick it up and read more! I was hurtling towards the ending and forgetting to breathe and at the same time trying to slow down and not let it be over.

CJ Tudor has recently written a book of short stories called A SLIVER OF DARKNESS and having read that, this book is a like a penultimate ending, a full story, the finished masterpiece that all the others were hinting towards.

Set in, what I presume is a not to distant future / or alternate reality. This story plays close to home, pre pandemic, it’s what could’ve been - or is it what will be? That alone makes this book so terrifying. Having survived a pandemic, you as a reader, can’t help immediately feel the terror and fear that Tudor’s characters are living amongst.

CJ is on top form with this book. I feel that her skills as a storyteller have become more and more incredible each year. And she has/is finely honing her own personal stamp as a crime fiction writer. Her words are dark and brutal, and yet they delight in the insightful and ugly. Her style is horror and supernatural mixed seamlessly with psychological crime fiction. She creates characters that aren’t likeable, aren’t perfect, are not heroes and are unreliable - and yet I’m always rooting for them and completely obsessed with them.

What can I say other than what has already been said? I never regurgitate the back cover and I hate spoilers. So all I’ll say is, this is the book to watch out for! If you haven’t heard of it yet - you will do very soon because everyone will be reading it. And if you don’t read this book, spoiler alert… you’ll be the only one!

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I lost an entire nights sleep to this book as I literally couldn’t put the book down.

The Chalk Man is for me still her best ever book, but….. The Drift almost knocks it off it’s pedestal!
Three groups of people, locked inside three different locations but with one thing in-common, The Retreat.
As they all fight to stay alive a heavy snow storm threatens to kill them.
Told from the view points of a member of each group.
Hannah, a young medical student and her group find themselves the only survivors of a fatal bus crash. Trapped inside with the dead and the dying as the bus begins to be buried under the snow, with no way of calling for help.
Meg wakes up trapped inside a cable car that has broken down close, but not close enough to the top of a mountain with five other people, that is, if you count the dead man! With no means of contacting anyone, no food and water, all their lives hang, quite literally, in the balance.
Carter and his group are already at The Retreat and have been for several years but now with the ferocity of the storm the power has been cut and the backup generator in its last legs, unless they can fix it their world is about to turn black and whatever security they did have will die with the warmth and the light.
Nothing is ever fully black and white and as everyone struggles and fights to stay alive their lives are about to burst into Technicolor!
Full of twists and turns aplenty especially as it seems everyone has their own secrets and everyone is hiding something!
Blood and guts galore, what’s not to love 🖤

I normally love C.J. Tudors books but The Drift doesn’t seem as good. The characters are really unlikeable and the story seems all over the place. It’s a great idea for a book but didn’t grab me like her previous novels have.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.