The Gathering
Ratings13
Average rating3.8
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?
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A thriller-esque and horror-ish mystery set in Alaska where Detective Atkins of the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department is sent to investigate the murder of a teenage boy — and the human town is demanding an authorized cull of the neighboring vampires. This is exactly like our world, except in 1983 a US law was passed making vampires a protected species.
I thought this was a fantastic murder mystery story. I liked the detective, deputy and vampires (and how all the characters were written even if I despised them), the premise and the world building around the vampire-human history were really fascinating, and there's actually some themes on hate, discrimination, oppression and the depravity of humanity that I found interesting too. I had some minor issues and on the petty side it is evident Tudor is not from Alaska and didn't seem like she did much Alaska research outside of the fact that Denali and reindeer exist. This was my first Tudor and I only picked this up for the Alaska setting so I was disappointed, grump. But I would read more, including a sequel to this one.
I would highly recommend for mystery folks. If you're looking for horror, I would say this is not it, for me it has more disturbing elements than eliciting fear. There is reference to trafficking, torture and child abuse. If you avoid blood, you might want to avoid this book.
