Would C.J. Tudor's The Drift be as claustrophobic and unsettling if the world wasn't still dealing with Covid-19? I don't think so. Now readers are more familiar with a pandemic and its far-reaching consequences. The driving force behind this book is a disease that has blindsided the planet's population. How far would we go to safeguard our children and ourselves? How far would we go to combat the disease? How far would we go to find a cure?

In the world of The Drift, euphemisms have sprung up like mushrooms. In this world, lies are the grease that oil daily life. This world is stricken with an airborne virus that has many (even deadlier) variants, and survival has become a solitary business. Even though the world is reeling from one blow after another, people still want to believe that everything will return to normal. But there are realists amongst them. Realists who know that "normal" is in the past. Realists who know that you're either a good guy or a survivor... and dead good guys far outnumber the survivors.

The storytelling in The Drift is non-linear, and that may cause a bit of confusion from time to time, but that confusion blends well with the feelings of claustrophobia, paranoia, and doom. As I read the stories of Hannah, Meg, and Carter, I found myself wanting them to survive, and I found myself wanting to know not only what had happened but what was going to happen. 

The Drift is compelling and unsettling reading that drags you right into its frozen heart. Thinking about it now still makes me shiver.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)

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This story is centered around 3 main characters. Each chapter's title is of one of the characters and their story. Their stories are similar in that there is a snow storm going on and they are struggling to survive. There is Hannah who was riding in a coach one minute and waking up to dead bodies (some alive) and freezing cold the next. Then there is Meg who wakes up in a cable car with strangers and one murdered body. They are stuck high above the mountains with no idea who the killer is and how to escape. The last one is Carter who is staying, with others, in an remote ski chalet. It starts with the power flickering on top of the storm rolling in. When the faltering power gets worse and things become deadly, tensions become high and it is a fight for survival.

It is a crazy, wild ride that only gets crazier as it moves along. I loved the pacing and how every chapter ended with you wanting more. On top of that, these 3 stories come together and the way they do is maddening. It is a good maddening though. I enjoyed every bit and couldn't wait to see how it played out. That, sadly, is where it fell a bit short for me. The ending was satisfactory but not quite what I was wanting. That is just me though as I was hoping it would turn out a different way. Other than that, another fabulous C. J. Tudor read.

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This book is difficult to categorize, but I would say that it leans more towards horror than mystery or thriller, though there are elements of all 3. It begins as three separate locked room mysteries, which is initially confusing as there are a lot of characters. Once people start dying off the individual storylines are easier to follow, and how the three are related will surprise you.

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