The Drift by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Drift is a Post-Apocalyptic Thriller from beloved author, C.J. Tudor. This story is full of action, twists and turns.
Unfortunately, even though I generally love Tudor’s work, this one fell flat for me personally. It hurts me to say, but I actually feel like my 3-star rating is a bit generous.
The reason this hurts so much is because I’ve read A Sliver of Darkness, which was a fantastic collection BTW, where in the Author’s Note, Tudor discusses this most recent release and what it meant to her.
It’s a bit of a passion project, if you will, a little outside of her normal lane. I would never want to poo-poo on anyone’s creativity, so it hurts that this one didn’t hit with me more.
Alas, I have to be honest about my experience, because otherwise, what are we all doing here?
This story essentially follows characters in three different survival scenarios. We have a group of young people, fleeing a private school in the midst of a blizzard, whose coach violently hits a snow drift, trapping them in the vehicle in extremely hazardous conditions.
Also in hazardous conditions is the group of characters trapped in a gondola lift after a power loss. And finally, we follow a group of individuals who live in a large mountaintop estate known as The Retreat, as the estate’s defenses begin to fail due to inclement weather and power issues.
Interestingly, the people in the coach and the people in the gondola were all trying to get to The Retreat. It’s unclear exactly what this Retreat is, but it’s definitely viewed as a safe haven against a dangerous world.
In the beginning, I was intrigued. The characters, though not likable, were compelling enough to keep me happily flipping the pages. Unfortunately, it got to a point where I was forcing myself to pick it up.
I just wanted to finish it. I ended up becoming so bored with the whole thing. I did not care at all what happened to anybody. I just wanted it to be over.
I know that sounds harsh, and I can’t even pinpoint what in particular that it was that didn’t work for me, it just didn’t.
It’s not the writing. Tudor is a fantastic writer and I think she did a great job of creatively revealing what was actually going on in this story. However, with this being said, by the time we got to some big reveals, I couldn’t care less.
I absolutely understand that I am in the minority opinion on this one. I’ve read the reviews. I get it. I just wish I could have loved it as much as everyone else.
With all of this being said, the fact that this one didn’t quite knock my socks off, in no way changes my opinion on C.J. Tudor as a writer and creator of thrilling, compelling and worth-while stories.
I will absolutely continue to pick up every single thing she writes. Also, just because this didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. If you’re intrigued by the synopsis, you should give it a go.
Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it so much and look forward to seeing what Tudor comes up with next!