Thank You very much to the publisher – Michael Joseph for the review copy.
ISBN13: 978-0241486269
Genre: Horror Thriller
Release date: 11 04 2024
Price*: Kindle £0.99 (GBP)/ Paperback £6.00 (GBP)
Kindle $13.99 (USD)/ Paperback $12.37 (USD)
Pages: ~ 416
My rating: I liked it
You can get this book here:
Amazon UK
Bookshop.org
What I learned from this book: About life in remote place.
Description of the book: WELCOME TO DEADHART. ALASKA. POPULATION 673. LIVING.
In a small Alaskan town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and the blood drained from his body. The brutality of the murder of chillingly echoes a killing from twenty-five years ago. Out-of-state detective Barbara Atkins is brought in to assist the sheriff, Jensen Tucker, who investigated the original case.
However, the inhabitants of Deadhart believe they know who is responsible: one of the nearby vampyr colony who live in an old mining settlement deep in the mountains. Barbara is under pressure to authorize a cull of the entire colony. But the evidence doesn’t stack up, people are lying, and the more Barbara and Tucker delve into Deadhart’s history, the darker the secrets they uncover. As the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, another teenager goes missing and body parts are found. Time is running out for Barbara and Tucker to find the truth.
How this book made me feel: I am a big C. J. Tudor fan and I really love her novels, but this one I think was the weakest so far. 😦
The protagonist in this novel is Barbara, a middle aged detective who was called to a tiny town to investigate murder. I found Barbara very realistic and relatable but she lacked intrigue and charisma and was very ordinary. I liked other characters in this novel more, they intrigued me. Because the town has a very tightly knit community, Barbara had plenty of difficulties while trying to solve the case, I liked her perseverance and dedication.
I enjoyed the plot, Barbara was the main character telling the story, but there were more perspectives added and I think they made the book more engrossing. The book is set in fantastical world where vampires live alongside humans freely and I enjoyed the setting and atmosphere of this novel. The whole case moved very slowly but I liked the discoveries along the way. The topics discussed in this book were friendships, small town thinking and connections, religious influence, life with unwelcome minorities and many more. The author is well known for her horror stories, but this one was more thriller than horror, and I did miss the creepiness that C.J. Tudor creates so well.
As I mentioned before, the setting and atmosphere were very well developed, I felt the chilliness and darkness that Barbara had to endure. The chapters are medium length, and the ending for me fell a little flat.
So, to conclude, for me it was not the best book by C.J. Tudor but I enjoyed the setting and the characters in this book. The plot needed more intrigue and pace and a dash more of creepiness. If you are looking for a book about vampires and small towns, this one is definitely for you. Do give it a go and I hope you will like it more than me.
Thank you for your time! ❤
About the author: C. J. Tudor’s 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, television presenter and copywriter.
She is now the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chalk Man, The Taking of Annie Thorne, The Other People, The Burning Girls and The Drift. All of her books are in development or optioned for TV, and The Burning Girls debuted on Paramount Plus in 2023. She is also the author of a short story collection, A Sliver of Darkness.
Facebook:@CJTudorOfficial / Twitter: @cjtudor / Instagram: @cjtudorauthor
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