Welcome to Litsy!

So I got tricked into reading a zombie apocalypse book, but tbh the locked room mystery of it all softened the blow. Bit grim though.

This was bleak. I struggled a little because horror is not one of my favorite genres but this was interesting & well-written. Plus the frigid temps we've had this week added to the experience! It's 3 locked room mysteries in 1, tied together from the beginning by talk of the world wide virus and the Retreat. But slowly another thread takes shape that kept me quickly turning pages. It was good but I need to read something completely different now!

Started this one a few days ago and liking it so far. Getting a few pages in while I wait for Diablo 4 to update 😂

My last book of 2024 finished poolside on my last day of a fabulous Christmas holiday. Happy New Year, Littens!

The Drift by CJ Tudor was my favorite read from January. I remember reading the bulk of it while my family was on a ski trip which was a great backdrop for such a dark, snowy horror thriller. It was also my first book by this author, and it made me want to read more of her backlist. Fast-paced, snowy, bloody, and dark with three POV‘s that were seemingly not connected-until they were. Such fun, this one!

#12Booksof2024 @Andrew65

My second C.J. Tudor thriller, and I‘m sure it won‘t be my last. As I learned more about the three different sets of characters stranded in blizzards, I started to suspect one of the twists, but I still had no idea where the story was going. I love books where the tiniest description can come back into play. Had me using the search function on my Kindle several times.

Another one down for #10BeforeTheEnd

This book is bananas 🍌 I‘m loving how C.J. Tudor just drops me into these three different scenes of people who are clearly connected in some way, but in addition to navigating their where, I‘m also figuring out the state of the world thanks to some virus, that definitely sounds worse than Covid.

I feel Hannah‘s hair envy!

#10BeforeTheEnd is shaping up for me. I‘m going to read that Control Unleashed book if it kills me! I‘ve had it on my #TBR for so long.

My last three fiction books should be fast reads. I‘m putting my audiobook of Dungeon Crawler Carl aside while I listen to my library Libby hold for the Marvellers, one of my #SnowedIn choices. But I know I‘ll get back to Carl. Princess Donut will not be ignored!

For now, I‘m reading the tagged ebook🦠❄️🏔️

Oh my, this is a gripping thriller for a winter night. I read it in one sitting. The plot centres around 3 separate locked-room mysteries, with the tension persistantly ramped up. This occurs during a global pandemic.
Highly recommended. ❄️😱❄️

Could not get into this book. Had to give up , maybe another time.

Very well written and twisty. I did find it hard to get into, but the second half was pretty good.

Thanks to Scott's recent fantastic review of this book, I decided to grab it from my library! I read The Chalk Man by Tudor a few years ago and quite liked it, so I'm excited to try this one next! Just in time for the weekend, too! 😀💕📚 Thanks @vivastory !

I am slightly behind posting about recent reads here, but I feel that I would be remiss if I did not shout out this excellent book that I read last wk. Tudor in the afterword describes this as three locked room mysteries with horror elements. Throw in a pandemic for a good measure & you have the best contemporary thriller that I have read all-year. A ruthless page turner that is a perfect summertime book, despite the winter environment. Loved!

An overturned coach full of students.
A stranded cable car full of strangers.
An isolated chalet full of friends.
Outside, a snowstorm rages. Inside each group, a killer lurks.

TD - bleak pandemic but very readable thriller. 3 POVs that seemly don't connect. I figured out the big twists 3rd of way thru.

ATDT twisty crime drama. Was good but, not a patch on her debut novel

TLM - really enjoyed this and the time period it was set in. Look forward to the next book, however wary of how long books 2,3&4 are.

TDOW black humour crime novel set in a 'prison' town. Very quickly read this.

A good start to 2024 reading.

This was a ton of fun! Three different thrilling and horrifying POV‘s that came together in the end—but NOT AT ALL in the ways I suspected they might. So many twists. So claustrophobic and bloody. It‘s a post-apocalyptic virus story and very, very cold and snowy. It‘s exactly what I wanted to read and now I‘m wondering if CJ Tudor‘s other books are this good.

My next read is one I found when compiling a list of holiday or winter books without romance as a focal point. I tend to read a lot of seasonal romance and I just wanted to try something a bit different.

I‘m really loving the wintery, snowy books I‘m finding. Especially the horror and thriller ones. My favorites so far this season have been The Shuddering by A Ahlborn (rec‘d by @Reggie) and Snow by R Malfi. I also loved Lawhon‘s The Frozen River.

Action-packed and horrifying. Set for a TV adaptation and I can see why. Audiobook was well done, but I think print may have worked better for me. Fast-paced, lots of characters, different plot lines—a dark and crazy ride.

#two4tuesday @TheSpineView 💕
Thanks for the tags @The_Penniless_Author & @batsy 💕

1) Tagged - despite being bleak with a capital BLEAK, this was a great read

2) I'm looking forward to some festive mysteries!

This novel included three different plotlines so there was quite amount of characters. Somehow I found it quite easy to remember them.

This was more like a survival story than a thriller, but some parts were thrilling too.

I really loved the ending and a big twist there. I had no idea how everything was connected, that was awesome!

I truly enjoyed reading this and I can just hope every book to be this entertaining.

Wow. That was bleak.

This could easily have been a 5 star read, but I feel so empty inside now!

Tudor gives me Harlan-Coben-does-horror vibes, and boy does it make for a page turner. Short, twisty chapters, non-stop action, mystery galore... The Drift was incredible.

But grim.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks for the #two4tuesday tags @TheSpineView @julesG @The_Penniless_Author 💕

As a UK litten, everything I know about Thanksgiving is from Family Guy and American Dad, so I'm pretty sure any answer I give would be completely inappropriate 😅

So, have a nice, late Autumn picture from this evening instead 😊😁

Currently reading The Drift by C.J. Tudor.

#BookReport 45/23

I had a good reading week with a graphic novel and a memoir (both I don‘t often read) and two thrillers. My favorite was The Word is Murder.

This book has it all: it‘s a psychological thriller, a horror and a dystopian read. It was scary, the many twists, the winter setting and that horrible pandemic destroying humanity. The ending was a bit disappointing but I don‘t care too much, it was a super gripping read throughout

Not this books fault at all, but I am so sick of pandemic books. This one was on me because I just added it to my TBR because I really like this author.

I like the way this story unraveled and is told from 3 viewpoints. This pandemic is different and is called red eye. (Reminded me of doctor who).

This book is set during a snowstorm. And has a lot of death and violence in it.

It‘s about 3.5 stars as it got confusing with the plot and characters. I did enjoy the deceptive characters all trying to survive a clearly impossible scenario. I was not prepared for the gory apocalyptic story. It was all anticlimactic for me given the deadly virus to which they had all been exposed.

“We don‘t realize, any of us, how much our existence depends upon hope and purpose, the promise of a new day. Take that away and we‘re just automatons, going through the motions until we wind down and die.”

My first time reading this author. Fast paced. Interesting topic which I felt didn‘t develop as well as I hoped. As a virologist I‘m saying so so as I was hoping for more science and less action and gore. Still a good read. Maybe not a beach read though. Save for a winter night.

This one was a pretty unusual listen for me. I‘m not much of a horror fan, but I have to say this was gripping from the get-go. I really liked the multiple points of view, and I had absolutely no idea how they were going to connect. I thought it was very interesting how they all eventually merged. It is definitely a bleak, not at all hopeful take on a pandemic/post outbreak kind of world. But I would say if I could stomach it, others can!

I wouldn‘t call myself much of a horror reader…except for when there‘s a new C.J. Tudor book to devour. I‘m about 100 pages into this, have no idea what‘s really going on or where it‘s going, but I am 100000% along for the ride. #thedrift #cjtudor

I have to give this book a big thumbs up for my not having a clue how these 3 groups of people were going to come together for a meaningful story. And then when it was made clear, still giving the reader sufficient word count to fully flush out the story. This is a not too distant gruesome future fiction with a pandemic setting. And stop. I type no more less I give anything away! ↓

I was up until 6:00 this morning listening to this. It is the most depressing, despairing, and probably the goriest book I have ever read. It reminds me why I avoid Post Apocalyptic books. On the other hand, it reminds me of just how brilliant CJ Tudor is! My God! She is a rare breed. She is well-versed in beautiful characterization and creating strong plot lines. Always highly original. Can‘t wait for the TV show! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

👌Ok, I dug this apocalyptic thriller. It‘s not a book I‘m going to remember forever nor was it one I couldn‘t put down, but it was enjoyable with solid writing and interesting characters…and that‘s good enough for me!

A highly atmospheric read. The style did lend itself to some confusion, which some may find frustrating. A dark blend of mystery, thriller, & horror. It's an interesting mix & an attention-grabbing read. Though not necessarily scary, there is a good amount of gore. The writing is fairly visceral. An interesting read with a lot of tense situations. The myriad of characters can become a bit confusing, but it is overall fast-paced & gripping.

Check out my #bookreview at LaceyDoesLit.com! @penguinrandomhouse #books

Last Saturday, to celebrate the first day of Los Angeles sunshine in weeks, I treated Nola to Salt&Straw Ice Cream. Currently listening to “The Drift” by CJ Tudor. I guess I went into reading this one blind because I had no idea it‘s about a zombie apocalypse. I usually avoid these types of books. So glad I didn‘t! Oh, check out the ice cream I got for myself: Off Limits Zombie Cereal w/Coconut and Pandan. A perfect pairing with this book.😅

I often read apocalyptic/dystopian books but avoided those with zombie like creatures. I started this book and a TV series “The Last of Us” not knowing there were creatures 🧟‍♂️. I actually enjoyed them.

Book 52📚 4.8⭐️

Oooo this one was SO good. MPOVs, tension you could cut with a knife and spooky infected humans? How could you go wrong!

A MUST read for the winter szn!🌨️❄️

I am such a big fan of C.J. Tudor. Her books chill me to the bone, and this one is no exception. There are 3 narratives that seem at once to be connected and not. The links become clearer the further you read, but they also become more and more horrific. This is about a world wide, all encompassing pandemic, so be forewarned. This author is a must read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 LOVE the narration! Not my favorite of CJT‘s books but a good one! Snow storm. 3 stories wrapped into one. Horror & twists. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Which one to start?!

Opinions?

The weather is saying Drift❄️😂 @Reggie You agree?

#BookSpin ✔️
#DoubleSpin ✔️
#NonFiction2023 ✔️ (Thank you, @BookwormAHN 🙂)
#SeriesLove2023 ✔️
Murder during a reunion at a ski lodge in a snowstorm ✔️ and ✔️

Good month The Measure and The Drift were my favs. #FebruaryRecap

The virus was clever.
Blood, fluids, air. It constantly found new ways to travel.
The Elon f—king Musk of infection.
Reading this during a snowstorm in a pandemic probably influenced how I felt about this. Others will enjoy it. Just not me right now. 🫣

I‘ve enjoyed the authors previous books so I read this without hesitation. It focuses on characters and their circumstances after a virus outbreak in a post apocalyptic world. Some definite similarities to the COVID outbreak we all experienced but still an enjoyable read.

I didn‘t realize this was a dystopian pandemic book…if I had I wouldn‘t have even started it. I have no desire to read about Covid times or anything similar. I almost DNF‘d a few times, but I stuck it out. I shouldn‘t have bothered 👎🏻

I am not one for action movies until I‘m with friends and they put one on and on the inside I‘m pouting because it‘s not horror until the movie starts and then I‘m like- this was really good. Same thing here. 3 different situations all linked together set against the backdrop of a post apocalyptic pandemic. You‘re not getting feelings and flowers here, you‘re getting blood and guts and propulsion to read on. Pick!

😶
Holy bajesus, what did I just read?!?!?
You follow three main characters in different settings through the disaster of a snow storm, a deadly virus, group conflict and so much more.
You know these three characters and stories are connected but holy wow....did not see that coming!
I rarely read novels a second time though, but I will be with this one.