A small Alaskan town.
A missing boy.
A brutal murder.
A detective brought in from out of state to assist the former sheriff who investigated a similar murder twenty-five years ago
But are they hunting a twisted psychopath – or something even more terrifying?

‘The Gathering’ is a fascinating mix of small-town police procedural and speculative fiction thriller. It takes place in winter in Deadhart, a remote Alaskan town (population 873 -living) that is about to be cut off from the rest of the world by a fierce snowstorm. It’s told through the eyes of a lone outsider, Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyrs, whose job is to investigate a killing and determine if the local vampyr colony should be culled.

It’s a story about a murder and the fear that it breeds and the desire for violence that it conjures. It’s a mystery with roots that go back all the way to the lawless days when the town arose to serve the needs of miners. It’s a story of a vampire species who lived in the Alaskan hills long before the first white human arrived and who shared the fate of the indigenous peoples around them: genocide and confinement to reservations, with the added twist of becoming a Federally protected endangered species. It’s a story of unacknowledged atrocities, of dark secrets, of intergenerational guilt that has festered into fear-fueled hate and of long-delayed revenge. It’s a story of monsters, many of whom are human.

By the time I was a quarter of the way through ‘The Gathering‘, I was already thinking that it was going to be one of my favourite reads of the year. By the time I finished it, I knew that it was the best C. J. Tudor book that I’ve read so far (which is impressive given how much I enjoyed ‘The Burning Girls‘ and ‘The Taking Of Annie Thorne‘).

Everything about ‘The Gathering‘ works. It’s original without being gimmicky.

It’s soaked in an atmosphere of oppression and anticipated violence that comes partly from the unforgiving landscape and the threat of the oncoming storm and partly from a silent recognition of violent wrongs that need to be righted.

The mystery plot is twisty and filled with secrets going back to the town’s foundation.

The vampyrs are a wonderful creation. They are close enough to human in appearance for the small differences to be deeply disturbing, they have a deep insight into how humans behave, alone and in groups and have the scars to prove it. They are also fundamentally alien: a species with its own culture and its own cravings and fears. I loved how C. J. Tudor managed to build empathy for the vampyrs without hiding their otherness or the threat that they might pose. Having the vampyrs led by a centuries-old child added a chilling edge to the interactions.

Detective Barbara Atkins is a police officer committed to doing the right thing and not at all certain about what the right thing is. I liked that she wasn’t a kick-ass, weapons-wielding superhero, ready to take on the world. She was a middle-aged woman, not in the best shape for trekking through snow-filled forests. She was alone and often afraid but she was determined to get to the truth of what happened and do what she could to prevent more deaths.

The humans in Deadhart and the vampyrs in the colony are more than plot devices. They are well-drawn individuals whose views and fears and behaviours give depth to the situation Atkins is trying to navigate.

For most of the book, although I could feel the tension pulsing through the text, I had no idea where the story was going but I really wanted to find out. The ending, when it came, was close to perfect.

I admire that there’s more to this book than an enjoyable genre-crossing, trope-twisting thriller. There’s a lot in it about the nature of intergenerational guilt, about exclusion and about how burying the sins of the past can poison the present.

‘The Gathering’ is a great standalone novel. Even so, I’m hoping that there’ll be a sequel. I want to see more of Barbara Atkins and the world she lives in.

I recommend the audiobook version of ‘The Gathering‘. It’s performed by Lorelei King, one of my favourite narrators.