Spot four goes to a horror novel involving an isolated Alaskan town, several murders, and neighboring vampires. It is The Gathering by C. J. Tudor.

What is it about? In a world where humans and vampyrs live side by side detective Barbara Atkins is called to a small, isolated Alaskan town after a boy is found dead with his throat ripped out. But this isn’t your standard murder investigation. Barbara is part of a special unit that deals exclusively with vampyrs and potential crimes they might commit. In a town like Deadhart, Alaska, the locals immediately believe the vampyrs are involved but Barbara isn’t as convinced. As she begins to investigate the town’s dark past, she discovers that some monsters are humans.

Why did I love it? The idea of humans and vampyrs living side by side in the modern world is cool topic to explore and the amount of thought C.J. Tudor put into creating this world was extremely interesting and detailed. Of course, reading between the lines one can reason that Tudor borrowed heavily from the experiences of underrepresented minorities but the author still does this in a clear and fascinating way. The entire story is flushed out well and I couldn’t find a weak point in any of it. I felt connected to Barbara as a character and while there was plenty of horror to go around it wasn’t disturbing horror, which I appreciated. Like Dead of Winter, The Gathering is a fantastic read to grab during the snowy months.