Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Drift

The Drift
The Drift
Author: C. J. Tudor
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Horror
Book Type: Hardcover
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2307 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


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)