2.5/5 100% of this book was neighbors complaining about each other, hence the "Those People" title, and all I can say is that it really stressed me out. Not an enjoyable read at all. Still, not a poorly written book, just a book full of unlikable people who complain the whole time. On the upside, it did make me appreciate my own neighbors, who definitely aren't as bad as anyone in this book.

Those People are nuts! LOL

The cast of characters are all pretty unlikeable but the neighbors Darren and Jodie take the cake! So much so that within moments of their arrival to the neighbor, the neighborhood wants them gone.

This started as a really quick read but around 50% slowed down considerably and just was not as interesting. This is actually the point where it SHOULD have gotten even better.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book for my honest review.

The beginning of this book had me HOOKED, a really interesting suburban story about several neighbors dealing with a new couple moving in down the road. The new couple is causing serious disturbance throughout the neighborhood with their loud metal music blasting every night, their used car business taking up valuable street parking, and the eyesores created by their home renovations, which do not exactly look to be up to code. It seemed to be only a matter of time before someone got hurt, but when an innocent person ends up dead in an accident on the new home's property, everyone in the neighborhood finds themselves looking guilty.
I loved the alternating perspectives between each of the neighbors and the alternating timelines between after the accident, through police interviews, and before the accident, through first-person narratives. It really showed the neighborhood dynamics well and exposed the issues outsiders often don't see between neighbors and family members. I was intrigued by the mystery, but it became a little convoluted because of how many characters were followed and how many of them realistically could have been involved in the accident. (I suppose it makes for a good mystery to have multiple likely suspects, but literally everyone had both a motive and an opportunity here which then had the inverse effect, making no one stand out as guilty).
The reveals in this thriller/mystery seemed underwhelming to me. This could have been due to the fact that there were multiple, which again is usually a good thing in thrillers, but in this case left me feeling like I needed more closure. Again, because multiple characters seemed guilty, it didn't feel like I was getting the full story. Maybe a reread of this one would help some of the details and intricacies of the mystery fall into place, but I probably won't be picking it back up for a while.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with this eARC in return for an honest review!

Lowland Way is a very nice community. The neighbors seems to get along well. On Sundays the street is blocked off to traffic and parked cars are moved so that children can safely play in the street. Everything is wonderful until the new neighbors move into the house at the end of the block. The construction and loud music at all hours starts and drives the neighbors crazy. Everyone has a reason to dislike the new neighbors. Then one day a tragic accident happens and as the neighbors are questioned everyone seems to have secrets. Was it an accident or did someone cause the accident on purpose?

This is the second book by the author, Louise Candlish. I have enjoyed both of her books and look forward to reading her next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Mystery & Thrillers
Expected Release Date: June 11, 2019

This was a well written, dark and twisty story, filled with interesting characters, sub plots and a really unpredictable ending. It had me guessing right up to the end. Highly recommended! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. I’ll be looking for more from this author!

Another great book by Louise Candlish! I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Another gem from Louise Candlish. Like Clare Mackintosh and Ruth Ware, Candlish should be a first purchase for adult collections where domestic suspense is popular.

When a rude working class couple moves into an inherited house on a nice neighborhood and stir up all kids of trouble, the neighbors are sent into a tailspin until they decide to take matters into their own hands.

With a cast of characters that may remind you of Big Little Lies, most just a inch shy of likable, this story took a turn I wasn’t quite expecting. While I did guess one of the mysteries, the rest of the story propelled me forward and I still really enjoyed it.

So this is why there are Home Owner Associations! It's great to live in a neighborhood of like minded people, but what happens when the new neighbor isn't of the same mindset and can't be convinced to join the law and order of the tight knit group? Gossip. Chaos. Sabotage......Murder? This book has not one, but two mysterious deaths, and a whole slew of suspects revealed one by one in a cleverly intricate puzzle of who-done-it. While the ending is abrupt, I'm sure most people can speculate. Would you rather live next to the neighbors you already know, with all of their foibles, or with new ones you don't?

The quintessential perfect neighborhood, and all the perfect people living in it. Or that was the case until the newest neighbors moved in. Their upgrades, an eyesore. They use their entire yard and the street around it as a car yard. They blast music at all hours. This is just not what they do here. Then there is a death. The killer, you discover, and motive will shock you. No one is above suspension in the eyes of the detectives. You watch this close knit community begin to point at each other to accuse and place blame. How far will they go to protect their little Eden? Are they pointing fingers in guilt, or to cover up their own misdeeds? Every single character you meet, has a reason for being there. That blew my mind in the end. This seems like the ideal neighborhood, from Hell.

I can't imagine living around people that are so close and gossip about each other behind their backs. Ugh - it sounds like a nightmare! It only got worse when Darren Boothe moves in, starts renovating his house, and doesn't abide by the neighborhood's "rules".

This book alternates between several different points of view of each of the neighbors, and each chapter in the first half has parts of the police interviews. We don't find out exactly what happened until about halfway through.

Unfortunately, I found the characters in-relatable and annoying, and it was hard to really connect with the story and people with it jumping around so much between points-of-view and time periods. I can't imagine a neighborhood that hates someone so much that they want to hurt them. They all have kids, but they don't seem to have any compassion for the new neighbors. By the time I got to the end of the book, I didn't really care who did the deed because everyone on the street wanted it to happen and no one felt any guilt about it.

Those People is a book about a wonderful little maintained neighborhood filled with wonderful busy bodied neighbors who get along well until the new unruly neighbors move in. I understand their issues with them. They definitely have some understandable concerns. I've read stories like this before but none so similar to what I've actually watched on television before, I felt like I was reading a script from a true life murder show. This book had to many characters and the vast majority were unlikable. I believe my favorite character was Sam and he was a crying infant who never seemed to get enough sleep. I wished I would of saved myself sometime and watched something similar on television, at least that way I could of turned it off. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I think everyone can relate to having terrible neighbors and having them cause problems.

Unfortunately for me, this book just dragged on and on. By 75% I had a hard time continuing to read it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

You have to hate these neighbors. When Darren inherits a house in a calm cul-de-sac with friendly neighbors, playful children, and a suburban idyllic atmosphere what comes next is chaos.

It almost seems that everything Darren is doing is designed to infuriate the neighbors. What ensues is unbearably loud music, audacious remodeling, a used car/repair business, and obnoxious behavior. The homeowners association is called to no avail. When an accident kills a woman visiting one of the neighbors, police question everyone on the block and suspicions and tensions begin to mount but the police do nothing. Soon it seems everyone has something to hide and while they all want the new neighbor gone they also become suspicious of everything everyone else is hiding. Selling and moving become less of an option as housing prices tumble due to the condition of the neighborhood. Everyone is frustrated, pushed to their limit, and want the problem to go away no matter the cost.

Several of the neighbors are considering taking action to get rid of these obnoxious neighbors, but will anyone actually have the guts to do it? Therein lies the mystery…and the unexpected ending.

Thank you, NetGalley, for offering me a free advance copy of this novel for my honest review.

This book was an entertaining thrill ride regarding an unwanted neighbor and scheming neighbors trying to get the unwanted obnoxious one out of his house. There were many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. Kept me guessing until the end. I didn’t find the characters too likable regardless of what ‘side’ they were on. Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I would recommend to those who enjoy a thrilling bumpy ride!

This is one of the best domestic thrillers I have read in a LONG time. I devoured this book from page one all the way to the end! What a thrilling ride! I highly recommend it!!

** Full review to come closer to release.

A Netgalley ARC Book - Darren Booth and his wife Jodie inherit the corner duplex home and start to renovate and start up a used car business disturbing the neighbors with noise and loud music all day and night. A scaffolding falls and kills a women and each neighbor is interviewed by the police. After each interview you start to wonder if that person had something to do with the scaffolding falling After all the plotting to get rid of Darren and Jodie, Darren dies and interviewing everyone happens again. There is a twist and a surprise ending.

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > Those People

Those People by Louise Candlish
Those People
by Louise Candlish (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Mar 26, 2019 · edit
really liked it

The new neighbors from Hell! Suddenly the beautiful and harmonious neighborhood of Lowland Way is cataclysmically altered. Darren and Jodie move into the vacant house on the corner. Music blares all night, along with seemingly unending and unsightly self home renovations ensue. Darren is actually running an auto repair and used car sales at his home ... along with parking cars not only on his property but even in front of the neighbors houses. A rickety scaffolding structure is thrown up by Darren , that actually hangs over into his neighbors property. It collapses crushing an expecting pregnant relative of the neighbor across the street. In spite of multiple neighbor complaints ... neither the police or town council will do anything about this intolerable situation. Tempers and tension flare. ..... pitting husband against wife and neighbor against each other. Home values plummet to ridiculously low levels making it impossible to sell. Darren and Jodie at their best are rude, insulting, antagonistic and impossible to deal with. The so called police investigation seems to assert that Darren and Jodie are the victims. After the horrific death of pregnant Amy, the neighbors start to plot and scheme to obtain some sort of revenge.
The narrative supplies an unrelenting ratcheting up of tension and the mounting strife and plotting lead to violence and mayhem and further investigation of the neighbors. Intermittently black humor mercifully intervenes. Multiple twists and turns lead to an unexpected but satisfying denouement. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an Uncorrected ARC of this gem in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever been a group where everyone is of similar likes and dislikes and then someone new joins? Lowland Way is a neighborhood made up of people with the same mind sets who mostly get along, except a few disagreements that are extremely minor. Then the empty house at the end of the street is sold.. Because of their lifestyle, those people continually clash with the rest of the neighbors. Animosity is the word of the day. Those people certainly do not belong. and someone needs to do something about it. A real page-turner.

Have you ever heard the saying that you should shop the neighborhood, not the house? Well, for the residents of Lowland Way, this couldn’t be more true. Although the neighborhood was a great place until HE moved in— Darren Booth, along with his girlfriend Jodie. They immediately begin renovating the place, leaving piles of trash and rubble all over the yard. They run a used car business right from their property, parking cars up and down the street. They blare music through all hours of the night. Frustrations are high among the residents, who have complained to Booth about his behavior, which only seemed to worsen the situation. One day soon after, there is a death, leaving the police to put together the pieces of what actually happened. They discover that the nieghborhood is not as perfect as once thought and everybody has a secret to hide.

Although interesting, this book started a little slow for me. Each chapter is told by the point-of-view of one of the residents of Lowland Way as they explain their disdain for Booth. I could feel the frustration of the circumstances— living in a dream house situated in the middle of a neighborhood where home values are increasing— until the new guy moves in and refuses to play by the rules. There was no perfect remedy to the situation as long as Booth continued to be uncooperative. Even if some residents would decide to sell their property and move on, they’d have to agree to settle for less to accommodate the eyesore that is now their neighbor. It’s a lose-lose situation either way!

Things definitely picked up for me at about the halfway point and from then on I was completely engrossed. Once the plot thickens and secrets are revealed, I found myself completely invested. I really don’t want to give too much more away, but the ending held an unexpected surprise.