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C. J. Tudor

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The Gathering: A Novel Kindle Edition

by C. J. Tudor (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 485 ratings

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“Vampires are back, and C.J. Tudor’s The Gathering comes to join the fun . . . The story’s fast pace and numerous twists keep you hooked, and Tudor’s witty dialogue beautifully punctuates the narrative’s constant action.”—The New York Times Book Review

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.

In a small Alaska 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 town 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 almost 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 each other 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?

Print length

338 pages
Language

English
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Ballantine Books
Publication date

April 9, 2024
File size

3713 KB
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From the Publisher

John Marrs says, Tudor slays with this brilliantly imaginative take on the vampire genre.

Louise Swanson says, So menacing and claustrophobic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“C. J. Tudor is getting better and bolder with every novel, and the bar was pretty high to start with. The Gathering is an incredibly exciting novel, tightly plotted and brilliant tense, with an atmosphere you could eat with a spoon.”—Stuart Turton

“C. J. Tudor is a genius. The Gathering kept me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. . . . A tour de force!”—Ava Glass

“My first vampire book but it definitely won’t be my last! Really enjoyed The Gathering, a chilling and claustrophobic story set in the snowy wilderness of Alaska.”—B. A. Paris

“Vampires, or ‘vampyrs,’ roam the earth—and provoke heated political debate—in this wildly imaginative supernatural thriller from Tudor . . . This frostbitten procedural is a bloody good time.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

C. J. Tudor is the author of The Drift, A Sliver of Darkness, The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voice-over artist, and dog walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn’t miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much. She lives in England with her partner and daughter.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

It would be wrong to say that life had passed Beau Grainger by.

Beau Grainger had ambled along steadily, without excitement or drama (for the most part), but also without bitterness or rancor. He had always lived in the small Alaskan town where he had been born and saw no reason to move elsewhere. Most places became familiar after a time, like most people.

He had loved two women and married one of them. They had raised three children and seen them make their way in the world. A fourth they had buried before the infant could take his first breath. Funny how that was the child Beau wondered about the most. We always hanker after what we can’t have. Human nature.

Beau had lost his wife, Patricia, to dementia ten years ago and she had been dead almost three years now. By the time she passed, Beau had finished mourning the woman he loved and buried a stranger.

Now, in his seventy-ninth year, Beau had a few good friends and few regrets. And that is really the best a man can hope for as he starts the final lap of life. That, and a swift and painless death. Beau was content. Or as content as anyone truly can be. But even a man like Beau, not given to introspection or sentimentality, had days when he thought too much.

Today was one of those days.

His joints ached, which they did sometimes in bad weather. His coffee tasted bitter, and not even a shot of whiskey helped. TV held no interest and books failed to distract him. He couldn’t settle.

Beau wandered around his living room. Small and snug, with worn leather armchairs and a large, open fire. Above it hung Beau’s trophies.

Beau was a hunting man. He loved nature, but he also loved the thrill of the kill. To be a good hunter took patience. And Beau had plenty of that. Watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. To truly know another beast is to look into its eyes as it dies.

Beau moved closer to the heads. Three of them, mounted on solid wooden stands made for him by Cal Bagshaw (dead almost a year now from throat cancer).

Beau stared into their glassy eyes, ran a finger over their pale, dry skin and around their sharp white teeth.

“Bite me,” Beau whispered, and chuckled. But a whisper of cool ice still drifted across his neck.

Okay, Beau-boy. But remember, the first cut is the deepest.

Beau backed away, and then told himself not to be such an old fool. He turned to the window. Black clouds bristled on the horizon. The white snow undulated like a vast frozen sea. A storm was coming, something foul on the air. Beau had smelt that smell and felt that chill before.

They were back.

It was about to begin again.

2

The cab driver was a talker.

Great.

Barbara guessed he didn’t get a lot of business this time of year, so he was hungry for company. He lived alone. Probably always had. His heavy beard and food-stained shirt, plus the odor of BO, suggested long-term “don’t give a shit.” Not that she was suggesting a man needed a woman to take care of him. No, sir. But everyone needed someone to make an effort for. Without that, you got used to your own stench pretty quickly. She should know.

The driver’s name was Alan, according to his license. “Call me Al,” he had grinned. “You know, like the song.”

Barbara had nodded and smiled. “Yeah.”

She hated that song. She wasn’t so hot on the silver cross and rosary beads dangling from “Call Me Al’s’ rearview mirror either. But to each their own.

For the next few miles, she batted away the endless questions: First time here? Yes. Sightseeing? Yes. A lie, but it led to him giving her a rundown of the best tourist attractions in the area, which was pretty short yet somehow still kept him occupied for the next thirty miles or so.

The scenery swished by in a breathtaking gust of ice and snow. And it was breathtaking stuff, Barbara supposed. If you liked snow, forests, mountains, more snow, more forests, more mountains. Pretty. Sure. But get lost out there and you’d be a frozen corpse within minutes. Not so pretty.

She fought back a yawn. An early flight from New York to Anchorage, a nerve-shredding air taxi to Talkeetna and now an hour-and-a-half drive along the snowy AK-3 highway to her destination. Man, why had she agreed to this?

“You’re our best forensic detective,” Decker had told her.

“What about Edwards?”

“Family commitments, which you don’t have.”

“So I draw the short straw because I’m single and childless.”

Decker had leaned forward, stubby hands splayed on his desk. He was a short, stocky man with a Friar Tuck ring of black hair around a bald pate and a face that looked like he was permanently in the middle of a minor cardiac event. He’d been Barbara’s boss for over ten years, and she still wasn’t sure he knew her first name.

“You want me to pay you a compliment, Atkins? Tell you you’re better than Edwards? Our foremost expert in the field.”

“That would be nice, sir.”

Decker had glared at her. “Your flight is booked. Don’t forget your garlic.”

He turned back to his computer, indicating that their conversation was over.

Barbara stood. “Great, sir—should I cook them some dinner?”

“Good that you know your place.”

She had smiled. “Sir . . . with all due respect, you’re a real asshole sometimes.”

And then she had walked out without looking back. On reflection, her sunny, easy-going nature might also be why she was being shipped out to Alaska.

“So.” Al was staring at her in the rearview mirror. “We don’t get so many tourists stopping in Deadhart. I mean, we get a few of them Goth types; they all like to take a picture of the name, you know? But most don’t stay long. Most head on back to Talkeetna. You plan on doing that?”

He had her sussed, Barbara thought. Never underestimate a cab driver, even out here. They saw all of humanity in the back of their cars. They knew how to read people.

“Maybe,” she said. “I’ll play it by ear.”

Al nodded, cleared his throat. “I just thought . . . you might be heading that way because of the boy.”

Barbara felt herself tense. The local police department had been instructed to keep news of the death quiet for the first forty-eight hours, until she arrived to make an assessment. It didn’t do to stir up trouble too soon.

“What boy?” Barbara asked carefully.

Her eyes met Al’s in the mirror. The silver cross danced and dangled.

“The one that got killed,” he said.

Okay. So word had already got out, and if Al was chatting to his customers about it, that leak was pretty much a flood. Barbara just needed to know how far it had spread. Could she sandbag it? She debated. Best to be up front. Or at least appear to be.

“You got me.” She sighed. “I’m here about the boy. What have you heard?”

She gave Al a little half-smile. He had been smart. Outwitted her. Now, she was giving him a chance to show how much more he knew.

“Look.” He lowered his voice a little, even though it was only the two of them in the cab. “I know you want to keep it quiet. I’m not a gossip, okay?”

“And I thank you for that, sir.”

“I only mentioned it because my sister, Carol, she lives in Deadhart, see.”

“I see.”

“And she told me about the boy—and that some specialist detective was flying in.”

“Right.”

“You’re obviously from out of town, I don’t take many folks to Deadhart and, no offense, but you look like law.”

Did she? Barbara knew she was no beauty queen. Short with a barrel waist, thick legs and a nose that could sniff out a good steak from fifty paces. Solid. That was how people often described her. Good old solid Barbara. And getting solider by the day since she turned fifty. Age might bring wisdom, but it also brought indigestion and elasticated pants.

“Well, yessir. Well spotted. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention it to anyone else.”

“Oh, absolutely. You think you’ll be here long?”

They were climbing now. To her right, steep hills bristling with dark spruce and spindly birch. To her left, the ground dropped further and further away. She could see the glint of water in the distance. The Susitna River. Barbara swallowed. She didn’t like heights. Or water.

“Well, I guess it depends on what I find,” she said.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CBJNHW5F
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books (April 9, 2024)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 9, 2024
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3713 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0593356594

Best Sellers Rank: #20,363 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #75 in Vampire Suspense
- #95 in Horror Suspense
- #704 in Psychological Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 485 ratings

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C. J. Tudor

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C. J. Tudor lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author.

Her first novel, The Chalk Man, was a Sunday Times bestseller and sold in thirty-nine territories.

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Alix

A riveting supernatural detective novel

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024

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4.5 stars

This was such a great read. The Gathering is a supernatural detective novel that features vampyrs. The remote Alaskan town provides a perfect backdrop, creating a palpable tension between humans and vampyrs. The plot is intricately woven, with multiple timelines and moving pieces, yet it's incredibly satisfying.

This book evokes True Detective vibes with its dark narrative and compelling characters. Each character is richly developed, especially our protagonist detective, Barbara, whose determination to uncover the truth contrasts with the townspeople's focus on eradicating vampyrs, regardless of guilt. I also liked seeing the perspective of the vampyrs as well.

And that ending! None of the revelations were predictable; every twist kept me surprised. The conclusion hints at another mystery, which I eagerly anticipate. I hope this becomes a series, especially since one storyline remains unresolved, leaving room for further exploration in the next installment.

While it's a slow-burn, which may not appeal to everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed this blend of supernatural elements and detective work. If you’re looking for a smart and complex novel, look no further.

One person found this helpful

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Susan E Dix

Vampyrs

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

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Oh my dear god. This is such a bizarre novel. C. J. Tudor has written another scary as hell thriller and I love it. Vampyrs live among us. They live in Colonies and all is definitely not well. A horrible history exists between them and humans and it is an uneasy coexistence, to say the least. Does the end of this book hint at a sequel? I dearly hope so. Barbara Atkins is a force to be reckoned with.

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Alin Worley

Creepy and worth the wait

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024

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Creepy and surprising in its constant and recurring cliffhangers.

Her character development is second too none!!

Frequently distracted by her de rigueur but boring characterizations of Christians. Noticed the same distractions in Elly Griffin.

Otherwise fabulous.

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024

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Police investigating and vampires collide! A original for sure, not quite like the old fashioned vampire stories. I love all of her books. There are twists and turns that will keep you guessing. I wasn’t even close to guessing correctly.

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Jenny | Aqueenofcrime

Not my favorite

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024

C.J. Tudor's newest novel, The Gathering, is set in an alternate reality where vampyrs exist, have rights, and follow rules. In the isolated town of Deadhart, Alaska, a teenage boy has been found with his throat ripped out and all his blood drained from his body.

The residents of the town believe that a vampyr from the nearby Colony is responsible. Forensic Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist, is sent to investigate and see if a cull (killing of all the vampyrs) should be authorized. With a snowstorm moving in, Barbara is cut off from outside help and must figure out who the killer is before it's too late.

C.J. Tudor is one of my favorite authors. I don't think I even read the synopsis before I requested this book. But I have to be honest, this doesn't feel like a C.J. Tudor book. It's not a thriller or a horror novel. There's no element of foreboding or feeling creeping dread. There's no gruesome imagery. No one goes through a terrifying ordeal. It's basically a police procedural about a detective investigating a murder, which just happens to involve vampyrs. Most of the book is spent discussing the relationships of the town's residents and how much they all hate the vampyrs and want them gone, one way or another.

I've read all of Tudor's books and this is my least favorite. The characters all felt flat, even though the story was well written and back story for them was provided. I never felt engaged or compelled to read it. The world-building didn't feel consistent.

I know a lot of others have liked this one, so maybe it's just me. Nevertheless, I still love C.J. Tudor and will continue to read and buy whatever she writes.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, C.J. Tudor, and Netgalley for an advance digital copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and given voluntarily.

2½ stars rounded up to 3 stars

Recommended for fans of:
Thrillers, Police Procedural, Mysteries, Paranormal, Horror, Detective, General Fiction, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural

3 people found this helpful

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hopeless4romance

thrilling vampire mystery

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2024

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This fast paced thriller had so many twists and turns that it had me on the edge of my seat as Barbara tries to solve the murder that points to vampyr colony. I love the eye catching cover, atmospheric setting and creepy mystery.

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2024

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Wow what a great story. I enjoyed every second of it. I found Barbara so likable and funny. Many parts I couldn’t help but think about the movie Lost Boys. Anticipating a sequel.

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Abbie-Lee

My Favourite By Author!

Reviewed in Canada on April 13, 2024

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I love the author’s books but this one I devoured! I absolutely loved it…the story, characters, setting andcan’t wait for her next release or more stories with Detective Atkins!

Mrs M.R.Davidson

Wow

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2024

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I read this book quickly, I really wanted to know what happened. The characters were intense and the humour very dry, and I was invested in who the killer was.
I have read 2 or 3 books by this author and I hope this will have a sequel.

One person found this helpful

Lewis Froese

entertaining vampyr mystery

Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2024

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I enjoyed the characters, writing style, pace and plot. So much of the description and details of the remote Alaskan town rang true. However, I found that there were a fair number of North American English vs. British English quirks that were distracting for me. They were minor and many readers will not care.

R ELLIOTT

as good as it gets

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

An excellent book with many hooks and twists.

The ending seems to mean a sequel, a first if it’s true for CJ.

The switch of who’s good and who’s bad made for some very interesting topics.

Throughly recommend to all.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

😲

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

I have a habit of reading books by certain authors without reading the synopsis, C.J Tudor is one of them so initially I didn't know this was a book about vampires but wow. I didn't want this book to end.

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