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bookswithlydscl 's review for:
The Gathering
by C.J. Tudor
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5* rounded up
Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "The Gathering" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
The Gathering is one of my most anticipate reads of 2024 and it didn't disappoint. A murder mystery with a horror twist, this is what CJ Tudor does best!
We're introduced to Deadhart in this book, a rural Alaskan town with many many secrets and its very own Vampire Colony. Yes, in this society the Vampyr is real and has established colonies dotted around the US. With a colony comes suspicions, mistrust and hate and discrimination.
This is not fantasy horror, there's no sparkling or other silliness, vampires are part of society, they're a fact and they're convenient scapegoats for everything that may go wrong, especially in Deadhart where the community are desperate for an authorised cull following the death of a teenage boy which raises tensions and memories of a similar incident 25 years before.
Our lead investigator, Barbara Atkins is brought in as an outsider and as a specialist from the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department aka the Fang Doc she is hoping to seek out the truth, wherever that may lead to ensure that whatever actions are taken are done lawfully and without risk of coming back to literally bite her or the community in the future.
The story twists and turns with secrets revealed and several characters adding to the death count. We have a number of standout supporting cast including Tucker, the disgraced ex-Deputy, Rita the town mayor and the local preacher, Colleen. The action builds rapidly and the book generally whips by as Barbara has to move quickly, in a heated and hostile environment to solve the case before the town takes actions into its own hands and before the storm completely isolates them all.
There's not as much horror as I was hoping for initially but I liked the balance that was reached, and despite the vampire presence this is classic murder mystery thriller overall that is well paced, well plotted and leaves us with a very hopeful sequel to come in the future.
The Gathering is available from April 11th 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "The Gathering" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
The Gathering is one of my most anticipate reads of 2024 and it didn't disappoint. A murder mystery with a horror twist, this is what CJ Tudor does best!
We're introduced to Deadhart in this book, a rural Alaskan town with many many secrets and its very own Vampire Colony. Yes, in this society the Vampyr is real and has established colonies dotted around the US. With a colony comes suspicions, mistrust and hate and discrimination.
This is not fantasy horror, there's no sparkling or other silliness, vampires are part of society, they're a fact and they're convenient scapegoats for everything that may go wrong, especially in Deadhart where the community are desperate for an authorised cull following the death of a teenage boy which raises tensions and memories of a similar incident 25 years before.
Our lead investigator, Barbara Atkins is brought in as an outsider and as a specialist from the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department aka the Fang Doc she is hoping to seek out the truth, wherever that may lead to ensure that whatever actions are taken are done lawfully and without risk of coming back to literally bite her or the community in the future.
The story twists and turns with secrets revealed and several characters adding to the death count. We have a number of standout supporting cast including Tucker, the disgraced ex-Deputy, Rita the town mayor and the local preacher, Colleen. The action builds rapidly and the book generally whips by as Barbara has to move quickly, in a heated and hostile environment to solve the case before the town takes actions into its own hands and before the storm completely isolates them all.
There's not as much horror as I was hoping for initially but I liked the balance that was reached, and despite the vampire presence this is classic murder mystery thriller overall that is well paced, well plotted and leaves us with a very hopeful sequel to come in the future.
The Gathering is available from April 11th 2024