My Starry Rating: 4/5 Stars
Reason for Rating: Bone chilling atmosphere and a thrilling mystery
What I Learned: The vampire genre might be making a comeback
Publication Date: April 9, 2024 by Penguin Random House
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Vampires
SYNOPSIS:
A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.
Deadhart, Alaska. Population: 673. Living.
In a small Alaskan town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who’s responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods.
Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in to officially determine if this is a Colony killing – and authorize a cull. Old suspicions die hard in a down like Deadhart, but Barbara isn’t so sure. Determined to find the truth, she enlists the help of a former Deadhart sheriff, Jenson Tucker, whose investigation into the previous murder almost cost him his life. Since then, Tucker has become a recluse. But he knows the Colony better than anyone.
As the pair delve into the town’s history, they uncover secrets darker than they could have imagined. And then another body is found. While the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, a killer stalks Deadhart, and two disparate communities circle one another for blood. Time is running out for Atkins and Tucker to find the truth: Are they hunting a bloodthirsty monster . . . or a twisted psychopath? And which is more dangerous?
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REVIEW:
The Gathering by C.J. Tudor is a gripping horror mystery that’s True Detective: Night Country meets Midnight Mass. Set in an alternative world where vampires and humans co-exist, with vampires living a segregated life with laws protecting them, and humans being forced to accept their existence.
This story takes place in a remote Alaskan community where the murder of a teenager by an alleged vampire with connections to a murder from the past sends the town into panic, threatening human and vampire relations. In comes Detective Barbara Atkins, a vampire investigator who comes to the small Alaskan town and is forced to endure its freezing temperatures and equally icy reception she receives from the locals who believe she is on the vampires’ side. Her investigation uncovers startling truths and shocking secrets beneath the frosty exterior where justice, revenge, trauma, and evil collide with the past and present in bone chilling ways.
I really enjoyed this story and thought the alternative world was fascinating without it being fantastical. It is the most unique vampire story I have read and the cold Alaskan setting added a harsh, creepy, and desolate feeling to the story, which amplified the horror and thriller aspects. The pacing was excellent which was supported by an interesting investigation that became more and more complex as the story progressed. Every character was unique and well developed which made each of them suspicious. There were lots of characters but they each had a role to play in the story, showing and telling different dark sides of the community. By the end of the story, the reader may question who exactly the evil ones were…the humans or vampires? The monstrous side of humanity was explored as was the humanness of the vampires, but the author does not ask the reader to be sympathetic towards either one, but rather, to think about how we treat the “other” and how our own wounds and pain can keep us in a frozen state, neither alive nor dead, not unlike the wintry landscape of Alaska nor the vampires themselves. My only criticism is that the big reveal was a little anticlimactic and a minor character ended up stealing the show at the end of the story.
Overall I enjoyed The Gathering by C.J. Tudor for its unique take on the vampire genre, its biting atmosphere, and edge of your seat mystery.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.
She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover.
In the early nineties, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show on Channel 4 called Moviewatch. Although a terrible presenter, she got to interview acting legends such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robin Williams. She also annoyed Tim Robbins by asking a question about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely flattered when Robert Downey Junior showed her his chest.
While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
She’s been writing since she was a child but only knuckled down to it properly in her thirties. Her English teacher once told her that if she ‘did not become Prime Minister or a best-selling author’ he would be ‘very disappointed.’
The Chalk Man was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday. One afternoon they drew chalk figures all over the driveway. Later that night she opened the back door to be confronted by weird stick men everywhere. In the dark, they looked incredibly sinister. She called to her partner: ‘These chalk men look really creepy in the dark . . .’
She is never knowingly over-dressed. She has never owned a handbag and the last time she wore heels (twelve years ago) she broke a tooth.
She loves The Killers, Foo Fighters and Frank Turner. Her favourite venue is Rock City.
Her favourite films are Ghostbusters and The Lost Boys. Her favourite authors are Stephen King, Michael Marshall and Harlan Coben.
She is SO glad she was a teenager in the eighties.
She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.
Everyone calls her Caz.
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