Blurb:

WELCOME TO DEADHART. ALASKA. POPULATION 673. LIVING.
In a small Alaskan town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and the blood drained from his body.
The brutality of the murder of chillingly echoes a killing from twenty-five years ago.
Out-of-state detective Barbara Atkins is brought in to assist the sheriff, Jensen Tucker, who investigated the original case.
However, the inhabitants of Deadhart believe they know who is responsible: one of the nearby vampyr colony who live in an old mining settlement deep in the mountains.
Barbara is under pressure to authorize a cull of the entire colony.
But the evidence doesn’t stack up, people are lying, and the more Barbara and Tucker delve into Deadhart’s history, the darker the secrets they uncover.
As the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, another teenager goes missing and body parts are found.
Time is running out for Barbara and Tucker to find the truth.
Are they hunting a cold-blooded murderer, or a bloodthirsty monster?
And which is more dangerous?

Review:

Now that I’ve read The Gathering, I’ve read every one of CJ Tudor’s novels. They’re all very different but I’ve enjoyed them all, including this one. CJ Tudor’s work is genre defying and The Gathering is a wonderful mix of horror, crime and supernatural. Her writing is really powerful and she creates such a dark and foreboding atmosphere that made me really want to know more. I love the way in which the author has taken some commonly known myths and stories about creatures such as vampires, and used them to create an exciting and intriguing narrative in a really inventive way.

There are some shorter chapters in between the main body of The Gathering, from the perspective of an anonymous narrator who has been incarcerated by someone known only as The Captor. I really enjoyed these chapters and I was keen to find the identities of these characters and how they connected to the main story.

The detective tasked with solving the mystery surrounding teenager, Marcus, is Barbara Atkins. Barbara was a character I warmed to really easily, and I admired her ability to remain open minded under increasing pressure from the local residents. I enjoyed her sense of humour and her determination to find the answers. However, it’s not just Barbara who is a relatable character. I also felt sympathy for Tucker and I hoped he would be able to put to rest his unresolved issues from his time in the police force. There are also several characters who make up the community and CJ Tudor portrays the mentality of a small town really well. The “them” and “us” divide between the vampyrs and the humans creates palpable tension and I found the dynamic between the residents of Deadheart fascinating. It definitely resonated with me in light of the political situation in the UK at the moment, despite The Gathering being published much earlier in the year.

There is a sense of underlying tension running all the way through The Gathering, but this increases tenfold as we reach the conclusion. I was kept totally on the edge of my seat and I loved all the twists and turns.

I can’t wait to see what CJ Tudor does next!

The Gathering is available from Amazon.