C. J. Tudor was wonderful in The Chalk Man, so it is no surprise that he delivered such a great thriller in The Other People. This is a must-read for fans of his other book and for fans of thrillers period.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of The Other People.

This story grabbed me from the beginning and kept me guessing how everything was going to tie together. I would definitely recommend this book.

I loved The Chalk Man, so when I saw CJ Tudor had a new book on the way, I was delighted to receive an eARC from Netgalley and Ballantine for review consideration.

Let me start by saying, I loved this book. A man's life is thrown into turmoil when he learns his wife and daughter have been found dead. However, he's convinced his daughter is still alive, and dedicates his time to roaming the highway in search of the car he saw driving away with her. When a fellow road traveler helps him find the car, Gabe falls down a rabbit hole of deceit, murder, and en elaborate dark web network known as The Other People.

Chills, right?

What I appreciate about Tudor's story-telling is her ability to create depth in her characters through flashback and conflict. We're not given the pieces up front, but rather experience them along the way to finding answers. Because of this, The Other People worked really well for me. Gabe's sordid past. His unsweetened reflection on his relationship with his wife. Tudor's characters jump off the page. Gritty, real, and often unlikable, it's hard not to relate to them. Feel for them. Root for them. Grief is palpable, and the mourning process is presented as more of a roller coaster than a linear process of healing.

Similar to The Chain, the anonymous group of people take justice into their own hands; no different than the reader, they are normal people who suffer through unspeakable personal tragedies and aren't satisfied with society's definition of "closure." This, perhaps, is what makes The Other People work more than any other factor: the understanding that this could be anyone. From the florist on the corner to the old woman sitting on the park bench, the stakes are high, and danger is everywhere.

The daughter's paranormal subplot was also interesting, further proving that Tudor is masterful in her execution, regardless of subject.

On a personal note, I also appreciate the subtle nods to Stephen King. As a fellow Constant Reader, it's hard not to get excited with the Easter eggs (19, 217, etc.) and I always look forward to finding them.

Heart-wrenching, explosive, and immersive, you need to discover The Other People.

Enjoyed this book greatly! A fan of C. J. Tudor & this one didn't disappoint. Loves the suspense, twists and turns.
Kept me guessing & up # night.
Very well written!!

What a terrific ride. The Other People is a captivating mystery that draws you in right from the beginning and weaves together various stories until it all makes sense at the end. I also enjoyed the supernatural nuances that did not distract from the credibility of the story line. I look forward to reading the author's next novel.

This book starts with Gabe in a traffic jam on his way home. He suddenly sees his daughter in the car right in front him. This begins his years long search to find her. He arrives at home to find his wife and daughter have been murdered, but he knows his daughter has been taken. He drives up and down highways looking for the car that took her. Along the way he meets an intriguing stranger and learns suspicious details about his wife's family and about "The Other People." A group of people on the dark web who promise any request in return for a favor.

We meet Fran who has Gabe's daughter and is on the run. The book also has a child in a coma and some weird supernatural events. A blending of characters and events slowly reveals the truth. The characters and their fears seem realistic. The subject matter was intriguing. This book was gripping and intense. A parents fear, a child's uncertain position. Violence and mystery. It was a fast paced enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley and the Publishers for the Advanced Reading Copy. I will recommend this book to others as a unique suspense tale.

Deliciously dark and creepy. Imagine driving along a highway, day in and day out,while sleep deprived, constantly searching for your daughter whom everyone else thinks is dead. This is how the MC lives his life because he is certain that he saw his daughter go by in a stranger's car not long before he is informed of her death. But soon things get more complicated when he discovers that he is not the only one involved in a twisted game of murder and high stakes. A well plotted thriller. It kept me reading deep into the night.

So Creepy!


I love it when I get the opportunity to simply rave about a book.

The Other People by C.J. Tudor was just so suspenseful and creepy. This father’s search for his little girl will resonate with any parent out there. I wanted so badly for everything to be okay!

The author keeps the reader guessing throughout and each chapter amps up the danger and the mystery.

The reason behind everything was so very sad, yet so wonderfully happened.

I just loved this read and can’t wait for the author’s next offering.

*ARC provided via Net Galley

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ecopy. A dark and twisty book! Gabe's daughter is taken right in front of him and he can't catch them. Then he receives a call from a detective stating his wife and daughter were killed in a robbery. Yet he knows that he had just seen his daughter alive in the van. His father in law says it's them in the morgue but he just can't believe it. No one believes him and he waits to see that van that took his daughter a few years before. A twist that you will not see coming.

I had heard nothing but good things about Tudor's previous book The Chalk Man so I was thrilled to get an ARC of this one and it did not disappoint. This one was told from the perspectives of three people who's connection come together later in the story.

There was a little paranormal thrown in but I found it to be pretty minor and it didn't throw off the feel of the book like some other's i've read (cough, cough Behind Her Eyes). I found the story to be intriguing, fast-paced, and a twisty thriller. I dare say it felt a bit Harlan Coben-ish (which is high praise as he is one of my favorite go to thriller authors).

*Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance copy. #TheOtherPeople #NetGalley

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Other People by C.J. Tudor.

This is a twisty turny story of a man who, shortly after hearing that his wife and daughter have been killed, sees his little girl in the back of someone else's car. So who can blame him when for years after their "death" he spends all of his waking hours driving up and down the town's highway searching for his missing girl. Despite what anyone says, he knows that she isn't dead. But after going down the rabbit hole of the dark web, he learns that there might be a group of people responsible for what happened to his family. And they go by the name of The Other People.

I think Tudor hit a home run with this one, I've read his other work, but I really enjoyed this one. It has a lot of different elements, and even dabbles in supernatural, but it all just seems to work. It's full of intrigue and takes you in directions you never expect to go. It's fresh and fun.

Wow, fast becoming one of my favorite authors. This book was fantastic and unputdownable. This book redefined the “twist”.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A great thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I’d recommend this to those who enjoyed “The Chain” recently. The layered stories of who is involved with the Other People keeps evolving throughout this book and keeps the reader guessing. Highly recommended!

Gabe’s 5 year old daughter Izzy was murdered 3 years ago, but Gabe is convinced that he saw her being driven away and that she is still alive. He has been searching for her with the help of a mysterious man known as the Samaritan. Their search leads them to the Other People. The book wasn’t suspenseful but the plot held my interest and I liked the slow revelation of the links between characters and events. Even at the end new twists were appearing. However, there was a continuing theme involving pebbles and the ocean that I found to be a pointless tease with no payoff. Frankly, it felt like it belonged in another book. I’m in the minority in disliking the author’s fondness for supernatural nonsense. I didn’t like it in “The Hiding Place” either, nevertheless I will continue to read this author’s books because the good features are very good indeed.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Gabe lost his family in a tragic home invasion, or so he was lead to believe. Gabe never gave up hope because he saw is daughter in a car on the freeway returning home. A desperate pursuit leads a multi layered thriller that peals the onion layered told by several points of view. A terrific third novel by C.J. Highly recommended.

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

She sleeps, a pale girl in a white room . . .

Three years ago, Gabe saw his daughter taken. In the back of a rusty old car, covered in bumper stickers. He was driving behind the car. He watched her disappear. But no one believes him. Most people believe that his daughter, and wife, are dead. For a while, people believed that Gabe was responsible.

Three years later and Gabe cannot give up hope. Even though he has given up everything else. His home, his job, his old life. He spends his days and nights travelling up and down the motorway, sleeping in his camper van in service stations, searching for the car that took her. Searching for his daughter.

Katie spends a lot of her life in service stations, working as a waitress. She often sees Gabriel, or ‘the thin man’ as she has nicknamed him. She knows his story. She feels for him, because Katie understands what it’s like to lose a loved one. Nine years ago, her father was murdered. It broke her family apart. She hasn’t seen her oldest sister since the day of the funeral; the day she did something terrible.

Fran and her daughter, Alice, put in a lot of miles on the motorway. Not searching. But running. Trying to keep one step ahead of the people that want to hurt them. Because Fran knows the truth. She knows what really happened to Gabe’s daughter. She knows who is responsible. And she knows that if they ever find them, they’re dead.

Review

Thanks to the publisher and author for providing an advance reading copy of The Other People in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

The Other People continues the trend of making Tudor a household name. Relentlessly creepy, bone-chilling, and altogether gripping, this is one novel that’ll have you turning the pages late into the darkest of nights. This is C.J.’s best novel to date and she is only just getting started. Pre-order this book immediately.

It is blatantly obvious that I am a fan of Tudor’s. I loved her debut novel, The Chalk Man, that went on to win the ITW Thriller Award and Strand Magazine’s Award for Best Debut Novel, not to mention her amazing follow-up novel, The Hiding Place/The Taking of Annie Thorne. She is a wonderful suspense writer who has been likened to Stephen King (even called Britain’s Female Stephen King by the Daily Mail) and it shows through her consistency in writing gripping, thrilling novels that will haunt your dreams for days.

I continue to come back to this sentiment as I finish her novels: what really makes them are her characters. Every single one is flawed; not one is perfect, especially on the inside where it counts. Motivations for their actions are slowly brought to light as the novels progress, giving you a reason to flip to the next page. And the next one. And the next one… You catch my drift. Her settings are always bleak, which adds to the creepiness factor and makes for such intriguing world-building. Her descriptions are always on point, allowing readers to vividly picture all of the details surrounding the characters.

I make it a point in my reviews to never reveal spoilers, or really much information about the novel at all. Books are meant to be explored and secrets revealed by you. All I can say is that, even when you think you have it all figured out and you can open the door to let the light in, Tudor spins you 180° and pushes you back into the darkness.

A perfect mix of Adrian McKinty’s The Chain and Alex North’s The Whisper Man, The Other People is sure to be THE, if not one of the, Top Thrillers of 2020 and is destined for a Netflix Original Series.

(4.5)I'll keep this as unspoilery as possible, so let me start by briefly mentioning my one gripe with the story: if that supernatural element had been explained or perhaps ventured into a tad I would have been fully satisfied. That aside, this was one hell of a great thriller. I missread every situation, and that ENDING. I'll leave it there, as the way this whole thing unfolds is just *chief's kiss*.

C.J. Tudor has become one of my favorite authors. She really manages to give me the creeps when reading her stories. Just so you all don't think that's an insult, I believe that is her point so it's all good fun!

In this one, Gabe is driving home when he sees a car in front of him with a lot of bumper stickers on it. It sure is standing out because of all the stickers and because Gabe is stuck in traffic, he is compelled to stare at it. All of a sudden, he sees his daughter pop in front of the back window of this car! What is going on? Why would his daughter be in a strange vehicle and not home where she should be at that time of day? He immediately starts honking his horn and flashing his lights. The car takes off and Gabe gives chase, losing the car. He pulls over in a panic to call home only to find more heartbreak is happening at his house. What ensues after is a years long quest to find out what happened to his daughter. Gabe is not buying what he is told by police or family.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Fran and Alice. Alice has disturbing visions that lead her to lapse into a unconscious state. Fran and Alice are on the run but we don't know why yet.

We are also introduced to Katie and her sister, Lou. Lou is barely scraping by and Katie questions her life decisions. However, Katie relies on Lou to help with childcare. Katie meets Gabe in the diner where she works and while we don't know why or how all these people and their stories are going to intersect, it's a fun time reading and heading to the place where we find out.

I really wanted to see how all of the characters would intersect and what the deal was with Alice's "spells". Of course I also wanted to know what was going on with Gabe's daughter.

C.J. Tudor takes you on a wild, twisty, ride as usual with a splash of other worldly goodness. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. Releases January 2020.

A solid 4.5 star thriller!

I loved the concept of this novel and how brilliantly it was executed. I flew through this read as the seemingly unconnected pieces of the storyline slowly started to come together until everything clicked into place and it all made sense! My one gripe is that I wish the supernatural element had been explored/explained a little bit more, especially regarding the character of the Samaritan. But overall, Tudor did an amazing job creating characters to root for and a gripping storyline.

I will definitely be reading whatever CJ Tudor writes next!

t’s the Chalk Man that did it, such a great debut, made me an instant fan of the author. So much so that requesting her new book off the Netgalley was an inevitability. A pleasant kind of inevitability. And I’m thrilled to report Tudor doesn’t disappoint, there’s the same dynamic quality to this book, the same kind of glued to the pages, can’t wait for what’s next sort of thing. This book grabs your attention and doesn’t let go until the very end. In fact, choosing not to fight it, this ended up being a one sitting read for me. Something normally quite challenging for a 400 page book, but this one sped by madly, timed it took from 10 15 am to 2 29 pm, all in. And thoroughly entertaining for that entire time. And just when I was thinking…well, this is really good, but you kind of know what’s going on mostly, it threw an awesome curveball of a plot twist at about 90 or 91% that upped the entire production value considerably. Not merely a properly thrilling thriller, but the one with the actual whoa level of a surprise ending. Good, great. It’s been a minute since I’ve read a thriller, usually these sorts of thing are one of the main basics of my literary diet, but lately I’ve been indulging in the more…horrific realms of readers’ delights, and this was a genuinely awesome return to form. All the things I like about the genre, done well. A dark psychological tale with great characters and intricate plotting. Just how dark? Dark enough to utilize the dark web as a major plot driver for this very modern sort of Strangers on the Train scenario. Revenge is never far from the mind of the wronged and helpless, but it’s ever so tricky…unless, of course, it is done by other people. Right? Well, read and find out. This is essentially a revenge thriller, a story of a grief crippled family man whose family is brutally taken away from him, who finds himself unable to let go or move on three years and many miles later. In fact, Gabe spends most of his time driving and looking for his daughter, hoping against all odds for, desperate, until he finds out a thread to follow in his dark labyrinth of despair, a thread that’ll lead him to the unimaginable truths and terrifying discoveries. Yeah, I know, that’s fairly generic, but then again, this is a sort of story where you really have to pay attention at what you divulge, the sort of story reader really ought to just plunge into, it’s that good. Tons of fun to read. So glad to know the author is maintaining the awesome quality level she’s set for herself with her debut. No slacking off here, not at all. In fact, wherein Chalk Man seemed derivative to some reviewers, this one ought to up the originality game considerably. I’m not sure I loved the supernatural angle on this one or even thought it was necessary. It seems like the only potentially contentious thing about an otherwise great read and will probably be very much a matter of personal preference. I don’t normally mind the inclusion of the supernatural and I don’t think of myself as a genre purist per se, but this seemed so complete as a mystery thriller, it just didn’t seem to need any otherworldly enhancements. Again, user mileage may and most likely will vary with this. But otherwise…thriller fans, this is the one. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.