Yet again another fantastic book by C.L.Taylor love this author's work always has me on the edge of my seat would highly recommend this without a books .

As an avid reader of CL Taylor I can confirm that Strangers certainly lives up to expectations!

The book trips along at a great pace, written from three central characters perspectives chronologically. It kept me guessing throughout, and whilst there wasn’t a major twist for me, it reached a very satisfying conclusion. It didn’t quite pip The Lie as my over all favourite of hers - if you’ve not read it, do!

Another great read from CL Taylor. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When NetGalley approved my request for 'Strangers', I abandoned my tbr and started reading it. Since C.L. Taylors 'Sleep' was my favourite book of 2019, I was eagerly waiting for her next release. That being said, this book didn't disappoint, it was absolute fun to read this intelligent psychological thriller.

The story is told from the perspective of three people who are facing different challenges in their personal lives. They vaguely know each other but one day their lives unexpectedly collide under mysterious and violent circumstances. What follows next is a thrilling ride where these strangers must stick together to survive.

I really liked the main characters of this book and their individual stories, the book covers various themes including bullying, abuse violence, grief and loss. One could relate to these characters and their behaviour/actions in different situations. Grabbed my attention from the prologue until the very last page. I couldn't figure out what possible event would have connected these people. And those final pages of the book were mind-blowing, definitely didn't see that coming!
Highly recommend this fast-paced and entertaining thriller. Overall 4.5 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for giving me the opportunity me to read the ARC of this highly anticipated book.

This is by far the best book I've read by C.L
Taylor. In a nutshell, it is seemingly three separate stories. Alice is a lonely divorcee who might finally be having some luck in the love department. Gareth is a shopping center security guard who lives at home with his mom, who has dementia. Ursula is a down on her luck package courier who shoplifts to deal with a past trauma. All of their stories will culminate in a murder.

I have to admit that I was nervous going into this because while I enjoyed the previous books I read by Taylor, I always ended up feeling underwhelmed. This book kept me hooked the whole time, and I really cared about the characters and was curious as to how they would intersect. I would highly recommend.

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book started slowly but picked up into a page turner, until the final chapter which gave a fitting end. Engaging read. 4.5 stars

Big fan of this author, always exciting to have another book of hers. Strangers i a good thriller. The three POV characters have interesting stories and I love how they weave together. Gripping and full of intrigue. Not my favourite by this author, but still another great novel!

Actual rating: 3.5 (rounded down)

Many thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Strangers, we’re introduced to three characters: Alice, Ursula, and Gareth. They all live and/or work in Bristol. Three characters, three different POVs, three separate stories (for the most part). The thing is, and while I found each of the characters individual storylines intriguing in their own ways (Ursula’s was by and far my favorite, while the other two were just ‘okay’), I still couldn’t find any reason for them being so disparate from one another. All three of them cross paths a few times, but it’s only fleeting and seemingly inconsequential. From the opening chapter, though, we know they do all end up together in a messy situation, but I wished there was more interaction between them, or that they had all connected sooner in the story (and not 75% in). What this book wound up being as a whole, for me, was three unconnected and mildly suspenseful short stories all happening in the same English town, that culminate in a decent payoff at the end.

It could’ve been more cohesive... more sinister, but it was still pretty fun. I skimmed a few paragraphs here and there, because the bulk of some chapters were, in my opinion, essentially filler. I don’t typically do that, but I found myself wanting to get to the ends of the chapters (which usually end in small cliffhangers), or get back to Ursula’s POV.

All the while we’re following Alice and Ursula and Gareth’s stories, in the background it’s being reported through tweets and radio that men have been disappearing. We’re told it’s potentially the work of some ‘Harbourside murderer’. I won’t spoil anything, though. It was just hiding there, off to the side of the main plot.

All in all, I appreciated the slow burn as the connections rolled. It was a nice touch, but again, I wish that they were made closer to the middle of the book. The ending, although really nice, felt a little rushed and too neat— but then THAT bit happened and totally surprised me. I thought it was clever and a great conclusion overall. A slightly better than average suspense/mystery novel.

I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author.

This was a great book- it was set at a perfect pace where it drew you in to each of the characters for the first part of the book, and through an action packed climax towards the end. It centers on 3 characters, Alice, Ursula, and Gareth, and the chapters alternate between them. The reader doesn't know if or how the characters are connected. None of these 3 characters is perfect but they felt very human and I was drawn into their dilemmas. I did get frustrated with Alice from time to time, as she seemed awfully needy and naive for someone her age, but there was an endearing quality about her even when I did sometimes want to throttle her.

The author did a great job of getting the reader to know the characters to the point where you were fully invested when it all comes to a head later. I thought the climactic scene was really gripping and well done. The end of the book tied everything together nicely and I left feeling satisfied.

Overall, this was a unique and interesting story and I'd strongly recommend it for those who like psychological thrillers, mysteries, and action thrillers. I look forward to reading more of Taylor's books. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Three different stories - all different. Yet, the reader waits for them to converge...

Alice; Divorced. Lonely. Living with her 20 year old daughter. She begins internet dating. This is how Michael and Simon enter Alice's life and turn it around...

Ursula; At 6'3' she is taller than most. She is also a serial thief. Alone, she rents a room from Edward. The landlord we all would like to forget...

Gareth; Lives with his elderly mum who has dementia. He has a thin hope that after 20 years of disappearance, his father will return home. Now Liam, at work, is trying to extort money from him

Three lives that the reader knows will somehow intertwine.. it is just a matter of time...

Great characterization by a great author.

Many Thanks to AVON Books, UK and NetGalley for a fine read!

Cleverly woven story that centers around three individuals Ursula, Gareth and Alice. They are strangers to one another. All three are facing tough challenges in their lives, varying issues and problems to contend with.

Ursula is a delivery driver, she is grieving the loss of her partner, struggling to cope and face what happened that frightful day she has become addicted to stealing from her friends, flatmates and the local shopping mall. Gareth a security guard at the same mall, he is having issues at work, he also cares for his mother whose health is ailing from advanced dementia. Alice manages a clothing store in the center and has her own personal struggles to deal with.

There is a common theme around loneliness explored in this book and we see sliding door moments with each character if they took a different route in dealing with their issues or problems what the outcome may have been.

I loved how the characters all have the common connection of the shopping mall, there are instances through the book where they cross paths without even knowing it like ships in the night.
All three ultimately collide, leading up to a series of events where they will need to work together to ensure they all get out alive.

There are few sub stories in here I would have liked to explore even more, we got a little taste but I wanted more of Paul’s story in particular. My favorite character was Ursula by far she was so interesting. If you love thrillers like me this book is next level – Chilling, tense, fast paced it has it all.

..... Remember to check under your bed before you go to Sleep!

C.L. Taylor has done it again. There are a handful of authors out there on my list who will never fail to disappoint you with their quality of writing and even bettering their last book when you thought it wasn't possible. She is one of those authors. This book is incredibly absorbing and the characters, most of them, are very compelling! This was such a good read, very original and very well written.

I received a free copy of 'Strangers' by C.L. Taylor from Avon via Netgalley in return for a honest review.
'Strangers' is typical of the type of twisty, thriller which we have come to expect from Taylor.

There are three central characters -
Alice, a manager in a fashion boutique in the shopping centre Meads
Gareth, a security guard at the same shopping centre
And
Ursula, a delivery driver, who likes to shoplift from Meads.
Three people with reasonably simply links between them but when we initially meet them, they are standing over a corpse and agreeing to tell the police, that "it was self-defense". - and so we begin.... a journey of constant twists and turns. Where we are never entirely sure just who we are trust.

Kept me guessing until the end! I really wondered how all the threads were going to come together but they did successfully. At times creepy, others quite sad, it was another great page-turner from CL Taylor.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Gripping, intricate, and relentlessly surprising!

Alice, Ursula, and Gareth. They're vaguely familiar with each other from the Meads shopping centre in Bristol, but for all intents and purposes they're strangers.

Until one fateful night when their lives collide in violence.

Strangers opened to the three aforementioned people standing over a body. It then rewound one week, covering the seven days leading up to ‘the incident’, with each day alternating between Alice, Ursula, and Gareth. I can honestly say I had no idea where this one was going, all the theories I came up with were full of holes, and I was absolutely stumped over what connected these three strangers. Their lives appeared pretty much completely separate… until they weren't. And that final chapter – wowser!

Each story arc was engrossing and fascinating, with multiple twists, red herrings, and shocks in store. Some secrets generated sympathy, others were bizarre in nature, and the rest were very dangerous indeed. The novel was fast-paced, exciting, and non-taxing. Themes of loneliness, grief, loss and displacement were prominent throughout – It wasn't solely a thriller. I loved the idea of a psychologically suspenseful novel centered around a shopping mall – a place we not only frequent regularly, but one in which most of us feel safe and comfortable, surrounded by people. But, for these characters the Meads turned from a home away from home to a threatening place.

CL Taylor knocked this one out of the park. Nail-biting and subtlety clever, while still managing to tug at my heartstrings. I've only read one other of her books, The Fear, and as much as I enjoyed it, Strangers is my clear-cut favourite. I buddy read this one with Paulette and we both found it unputdownable.

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Avon Books UK, and CL Taylor for the e-ARC.

Publication Date: 2nd April, 2020.

A really quirky, enjoyable thriller which found me downloading it to my phone in order to pick it back up again during breaks.
Highly engaging and an easy read, it's also identifiable, with very likable characters (or at least those we can empathise with)
I didn't suss the killer but then I somehow didn't want to try.
The twists throughout were also subtle and plenty.
Would make a great holiday read.

Flew through this book in a couple of days! Completely gripping & surprising.

I enjoyed how the characters were all very, very subtly linked throughout the book, until the very end and then we saw their worlds colliding.

I didn’t see the end coming at all, it really surprised me!

This is a stonking read, a real roller coaster with great characters and plenty of twists and turns. I read this very quickly, it pulls you in from the beginning.

I really enjoyed this book from CL Taylor. Yet again I was not disappointed by this author. The book follows a chance meeting between Alice and Simon after a disastrous blind date. As Alice and Simon start to get closer she starts to worry that someone is after her and Simons behaviour is not helping. Throw in a security guard caring for his mum with dementia and a shoplifter and you have an exciting thriller of a story. I could not put this down.

Absolutely a 5 star book for me!
I've read & enjoyed other books by C.L.Taylor, but this one is definitely the best one yet. After I finished I turned to my husband immediately to say how brilliant it was, and I carried on thinking about it for some time afterwards.

There are lots of characters through the story, but they are all very different, and all with their own, clear story lines. I really liked the different people, and I was kept guessing throughout as to what was happening, and where the story was going to go. The suspense was great, rising and falling in different places, and not being able to figure it out was a definite plus point.

I also liked that the characters are quite complicated, not entirely perfect, and that the different storylines meant there could well be multiple baddies, and multiple situations going on, that may or may not be interlinked.

I don't really want to say anything more as I'd hate to spoil it. Fabulous characters. A definite page turner, and a great book to be reading over Christmas when staying up late to read just a little bit more is not a problem!

AUTHOR – C.L Taylor
PUBLISHER – Harper Collins UK
PAGES – 400
SUBJECTS – #thriller #suspense #mystery

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life…. Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards …. And Alice is being stalked….

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it; they have to stick together, otherwise one of them will die.

Three strangers. Two secrets. One terrifying evening.

Wow … this is one hell of a book!!! It is jam packed with a rollercoaster of emotions and you will not be able to get off.

The story follows three main characters along their separate daily lives when something freaky happens to all of them… and you find you can not put the book down because you need to know what happens next each of the characters stories.

Each of the characters were all extremely likeable from the offset but my favourite was Ursula. There was just something about her that made her stand out from the rest, and the more I read her story the more I felt sorry for her.

The further and further you read the weirder and weirder each of their stories get … and just when you think you know what’s happening you find out your wrong … until BAM … they are all in the same place at the same time and you just know shit is going to go down….

The story keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to very near the end … then a turn of events happen that you did not see coming (well maybe some might but I definitely did not) and then I find I am welling up and the story has turned to so very sad I thought I was going to start sobbing my heart out.

The ending of the story was by far the best for me, I absolutely LOVE the way cally can have me on the edge of my seat to beating tears within a matter of a few sentences. This book was pretty amazing and definitely one of my top reads.

1. At certain times of the book, we see the response to events on social media in the form of twitter posts. What do you think this adds to the novel? Do you like it?

I really enjoyed reading the twitter posts, it’s definitely something you see a lot of when certain events happen and I thought they broke up the chapters well.

2. Strangers focuses on three main characters – Alice, Ursula and Gareth. Who did you feel most connected to and why?

I felt most connected to Ursula, she was in a pretty rough patch in her life and nothing was going well for her at all. I felt sorry for her, for her past and all the crap she was going through when all she wanted to do was get on with her life and help people who needed it. I’ve never really gone through that much all at once but she just shouted out more to me than the rest.

3. Towards the start of the book, Alice has an unpleasant date with Michael. Do you think she handles this interaction in the best way? How did the scene make you feel?

Absolutely … being in a similar situation myself once I did exactly the same. I think things like that is always a knee jerk reaction you can’t really plan for it. The scene made me feel really sorry for Alice, finally starting to date and this happens .. it’s enough to put you off for life.

4. Whereas many crime books focus on the idea that a crime is al aye committed by someone you know, this novel focuses on the notion that strangers are the one to watch out for. Do you agree with this? Which idea is most frightening to you – the idea of being hurt by a stranger, or by someone close you?

Wow … this is a hard one … I’d rather not be hurt but I’d probably go with a stranger, you never know when they will strike but someone close to you, you can usually see it coming.

5. What did you think of the way things ended for Joan? Are you glad her story ended where it did?

No, I was heartbroken … I honestly thought Joan was going to come home safe and sound.

6. How important do you think the shopping centre setting is as a pivotal place in the novel? Why do you think the author picked a shopping centre for the key scene.

I think it was fairly important and it was chosen as it is a place where we all cross paths daily and not exactly a place where you will expect something bad is going to happen, so she could place them all there and still keep the mystery of what was about to unfold.

7. Ed behaves badly in this book – but how far does what happened in the past go towards excusing what he does?

It doesn’t excuse what he did at all. The guy was just creepy. That was my first impression. He lost his job, because of a prank .. we’ve all lost jobs over something stupid. Move on. You don’t try and kill someone because of it

8. The central theme of the book is loneliness. How successfully do you think the author explores this theme?

Very successful I would say. I could feel it within the words especially with Gareth and Ursula.

9. Do you think Ursula was right to get involved in Nikki’s situation? Why do you think she responded the way she did?

Yes I think she was right to get involved. She seen a red flag and she did what she thought was best. If she had not have got involved who knows what might have happened.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a big fan of thrillers. You definitely won’t be disappointed.