Member Reviews
Kathleen C, Reviewer
CJ Tudor. What can I say???? Easily in my top three favorite authors!! So imagine how happy I was to read this. I have said this before and I will say it again. Her writing has a casualness and effortlessness that immediately makes me want to find a comfy, quiet spot to settle in and read start to finish without a pause. I instantly feel at home with the characters and am always pulled right into the story. And boy was this story a twisty one. Through the entire read I was questioning who all the characters really were. Who was lying? Who was manipulating? Who didn't have a clue? Who was telling the truth? It's all there for you to figure out as you work your way through this really great story. Very much a mystery, part thriller and part supernatural it's a definite page turner and, in my opinion, a third win for this author. If you have loved this author's previous books, I'm pretty sure you will love this one also. If you haven't read this author yet, this would be a really great place to start. |
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC! CJ Tudor is a thriller genius. There is always a twist of the supernatural included, and I love it. This was a super quick, super good read. I couldn’t read it fast enough. It’s hard for me to describe without giving it all away, but what a concept. Justice failed you and your loved one, so you take it into your own hands with the help of Other People. The tangled mess this becomes is enthralling. I highly recommend this read. |
Imagine the police tell you that your wife and daughter were murdered, but you’re certain you saw your daughter being sped away in a vehicle shortly after her supposed death. Now imagine that no one believes you, so you spend the next three years driving the highways in search of the car you saw that day. That’s the beginning of C.J. Tudor’s latest thriller/horror combo, and it quickly fills you with empathy for Gabe, the main character. This book has several magnificently realized characters for readers to root for, root against, and fear. There’s the strange wandering man known, by some, as the Samaritan. A woman and child constantly on the run (but from what?). A child with narcolepsy whose storyline is too intriguing to spoil in even the slightest way. A secret that arrives via a business card, and way too many other thrilling elements to get into here. I stayed up for hours reading this book because I couldn’t put it down. I joked on Twitter about The Other People being better than sex, but the truth is that it wasn’t really a joke. Finding a book this compelling is very rare, which makes anything that’s not rare pale in comparison (at least during the reading process, anyway — now that I’m done, sex has regained its place on my list of priorities, lol). There are many twists and turns along the way. Some were easy to guess, while others were heart-wrenching gut punches. I love Tudor’s writing voice, along with her insertion of otherworldly/unexplainable things into a story that could have otherwise been a more straightforward thriller. Horror and thrillers fans are going to want to pick this one up when it comes out. I expect to see it on many ‘Best Of’ lists by the end of 2020. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion. |
5 brilliant stars for this phenomenal book. Gabe is stuck in traffic on his way home to his family when an old car with a little girl sticking her face to the window passes him by. Gabe is in complete shock because he is sure the little girl is his daughter Izzy. It’s a moment that he will never forget, a night that completely shatter his world. Three years later Gabe is still searching endlessly to find his daughter and will stop and nothing until he has answers. Fran and her young daughter Alice are on the run from people who are willing to kill. To keep her secrets in the past, Fran will stop at nothing to protect Alice, even if that means hiding the truth from Gabe. Katie, a mother of two works night shifts as a waitress where she regularly serves the somber Gabe. Little does she know she is more connected in the mystery that surrounds Gabe and his presumed dead daughter. The Other People blew me away. With twists I never saw coming, compelling characters and a story that kept me on the edge of my seat, this is a book that is not one to be missed. Even though this book doesn’t come out until Jan 2020, it’s my favorite thriller I read this year. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC |
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. |
My thanks to Random House, Ballantine books, and the Author C.J. Tudor. I loved everything about this book. When I first read this author a few years ago, I didn't care for her book at all. I have it 2 stars, but kept her in my radar. I had the feeling that once she stopped being an obvious fan of a well known author, that maybe she would write something good? Second book came out, it was a generous 3 stars. Still, I had to stick around. Sometimes it's worth waiting for a new author to emerge. I'm happy as a pig 🐖 rolling in mud! Ms. Tudor pulled this story off! 50% in and a few things started coming together. This book was a heartbreaker. Also, a nailbiter. This story didn't remind me of anyone else's writing, and if this is pure Tudor? Then sign me up! This is just one of those books that I believe should be read with no spoilers. A bit supernatural, but a definite thriller. Good stuff.😉 |
I absolutely loved C.J. Tudor's debut "The Chalk Man", though was much less enchanted with her sophomore outing, "The Hiding Place". This third offering falls somewhere in between in my estimation, garnering a four star rating. My first thought was that I detected no homage to Stephen King books in this storyline which had at first delighted me in "The Chalk Man" but made me cynical in "The Hiding Place". I used to read every Stephen King book that came on the market back in the 70s and 80s but slacked off over the decades since then, so maybe I've missed something, but this storyline bears no resemblance to anything I remember reading from Stephen King. C.J. Tudor's writing style to me is perfection, as it flows so easily and naturally, so I'm always in a happy place as far as that goes. This story settles upon the character of Gabe whose wife Jenny and young daughter Izzy were murdered a few years ago. However, the evening this occurred he was stuck in traffic behind an ugly gold vehicle with a lot of garish stickers. To Gabe's astonishment and horror, he saw his frightened daughter peeking out the back window, her mouth forming the words, "Daddy!" Because he never identified the bodies himself (his father-in-law Harry did so and they were cremated), he holds to the promise that Izzy is still alive and is relentless in his pursuit of her whereabouts. He travels at night in a VW camper van, drinking coffee at various rest stops and following endless leads. He's a thin, dark shadow of his former self. If only he could find that car he was chasing on that fateful night. There are some interesting supporting characters like Fran. She's constantly on the run with her young charge, Alice. Alice suffers from narcolepsy and can suddenly fall asleep at any moment. She also has a particular problem with mirrors in bathrooms. It seems that a young girl is trying to communicate with her and each attempt results in broken glass and a pebble left behind. Alice saves all the pebbles in her little rucksack which grates on Fran's ears with its eerie clickety-click cadence. Katie is a night shift waitress at one of the rest stops Gabe frequents. She has two young children that her sister Lou watches while she's working. All these characters become intertwined as the story unfolds and some of them have secrets. There is a vague supernatural element simmering in the background with emotional high stakes due to the child separation/death situation. I figured out some of the mystery early on but much of it was a slow burn until the end. I still think "The Chalk Man" was Tudor's best outing so far, but this was a compelling page-turner with a lot of angst. |
When you receive an email asking if you would be interested in previewing C.J. Tudor’s upcoming book it’s hard not to reply YES gimme now!! But I refrained and said yes please I can’t wait and then began refreshing. Luckily the reply was quickly and I put aside what I was reading to start- she’s that good. Her latest is not so much a horror novel as it is a thriller but it will suck you in from the very beginning. Gabe knows he needs to do better as a father. He misses too many of his daughters special events and lately cannot even honor his wife’s ultimatum of one night a week being home to have dinner as a family and tuck their daughter Izzy in to bed. Today it is especially frustrating because he had left on time but as luck would have it ran into traffic and his calls go to voicemail with his phone dying. He suddenly is sure that his daughter Izzy was in the car in front of him and though he tries he is unable to catch up. To soothe his nerves he stops at the the next exit and calls home only to have a stranger pick up the phone to learn that both his wife and daughter have been murdered. We also follow a woman on the run with her daughter. The daughter had strange episodes and can fall asleep unexpectedly waking up with pebbles in her hand. There is a waitress in one of the truck stop diners that Gabe stops at during his constant traveling back and forth along the same roads looking for the car no one else believes exists. How these characters are connected will keep you reading long past your bedtime. This is C.J. Tudors’ third book and her best yet. Thank you to #netgalley and #ballantinebooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This one is due for release on March 30,2020. |
I read “The Other People” by CJ Tudor in a day. It was that hard to put down. The plot centers around seeming separate story lines: Gabe, a father looking for his abducted daughter, Katie, a single mom working at a diner, and Fran, a woman on the run with her young child. This is a psychological thriller and how their stories interconnect will keep you on the edge of your seat. The only criticism I have is that some of the plot twists were implausible, but overall, an exciting thriller |
sydnee b, Reviewer
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I was pretty confused through half of this book but good thing I love this author's writing style because there was no way I was going to stop! There are 3 different points of view which added to the confusion, and it flipped from past to present, but of course everything gets wrapped up nicely at the end. Other than the supernatural element, which I thought was completely unnecessary, it was an entertaining read. |
Told from three points of view, this is a multi-layered plot that will have you flipping the pages to find out what happens next. Gabe’s wife, Jenny, and their young daughter, Izzy, were murdered in their home three years ago but Gabe is convinced that Izzy is still alive after he sees her in the back of a car. Despite no one believing him, and a father-in-law who identified the bodies of his wife and daughter, he has devoted his life to searching for her. The second POV is a woman and her daughter who are on the run from an unnamed threat. And finally, we have the waitress who often waits on Gabe at the restaurant where she works. All three characters are dealing with grief and loss. Their stories will come together and intersect in surprising ways. I won’t ruin the fun for readers by giving away any more of the plot. It's best discovered on your own. Readers who enjoy complicated plots, a fair bit of coincidence, and who don’t have a problem with suspending disbelief will find much to enjoy. Be aware there are some supernatural elements, but it was a minor element. C.J. Tudor writes very well and the different plot lines came together quite nicely. |
Now, THAT is how you write a good suspense novel - CJ Tudor is awesome! This is her best book yet, she masterfully manuevers between points of view and keeps us guessing the whole way to the finish, while making you really care about each character. I felt as if I actually was Katie, the waitress and I felt Gabe's pain and turmoil and determination so much it hurt. - And I won't say anything more about it, but I LOVE the ending!! |
CJ Tudor is at it again with another twisted thriller! This author can spin a sentence like no other - I had so many passages highlighted, just because I enjoyed the wording. The story is unlike one I’ve read before - definitely unique in concept - however, I was left with several unanswered questions. Perhaps this is my fault for liking my thrillers tied up neatly at the end, but this open ended-ness makes me want to sit down with the author and a cup of coffee and chat about this book. Definitely an interesting read - I recommend! ARC provided by publisher. |
Beep, whirr Clickety, clack Definitely not your run of the mill thriller by any stretch. The Chalk Man was one of my favorites in 2018 and I was thrilled to get my hands on this early release! My attention was captured from the very first chapter. Page-turner alert! The Prologue gave me all the spookish vibes and intrigue that carries throughout the book - All the way to the very end. The creepy factor is center stage, but there is also an emotional story of a family that suffers loss, a father that won't let go, and dare I say.... The Other People. Just follow the footpath, don't trust anybody, pay attention and be careful what you wish for! I can't say more. I don't want to give anything away. Flippin Fantastic page turning fun with just a slight breeze of the other side. Don't ask, not telling. Highly Recommend. |
C. J. Tudor has done it again with another creepy and twisty mystery! Tudor quickly became one of my all time favorites after reading The Chalk Man and validated that through her sophomore novel The Hiding Place. The Other People is another mystery with otherworldly aspects and spookiness. With multiple points of view and jumping between the past and present, Tudor unveils the mystery with the perfect pace. There were a lot of characters interwoven in this story and their possible connections kept me guessing. Tudor is a go to/auto buy/auto read author for me! |
The title fits!!!!! It was perfectly dark and creepy...a bit wild... with great characterizations and storytelling. “The Other People”, claim to offer justice to those who have lost loved ones. They have many talents. Many many talents!!!! “People say hate and bitterness will destroy you. They’re wrong. It’s hope. Hope will devour you from the inside like a parasite”. “Love and forgiveness might keep you warm, but hatred would power your rocket all the way to the moon”. Until....it burns itself out! The unfolding of events...harrowing and endlessly hopeful—is subtly brilliant with a transportive spell of a pitch-perfect-narrative voice. “The Other People”, exposed an ethical dilemma...and an opportunity for empathy, that left a lasting impression on me....with a freaking cool ending. |
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. 5 Star/Wow rating. C.J. Tudor just keeps getting better and better. The storyline was excellent as were the characters. While there are many characters they are easy to remember. You know how sometimes you need a map to remember who is who? Not in this case. They all start fitting and coming together like a puzzle. For the first half of the book, I was ending every chapter with a sharp intake of breath and an "oh." This is a great crime/mystery/thriller dusted with a hint of supernatural. Set aside some time to read this uninterrupted or the book won't be the only place with a few dead bodies. You will not want to stop reading. |
This was my first CJ Tudor book, I really enjoyed it!! I have The Chalk Man on my bookshelf, but after reading this one, I’m definitely moving it up my TBR list. The Other People is a gripping thriller full of suspense and questions. I found myself quickly turning the pages because I had to know what really happened to Gabe's family and who were The Other People? The story was fascinating and the ending wrapped it up fairly well. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it for anyone who likes suspenseful quick reads. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for my honest review. |
This book was absolutely amazing. It was everything I hoped for coming from this author, as I have read every book does author has written. I will continue to read every book this author right. I do not give away too much in my previous as I do not want spoilers but I highly recommend this book. |
CJ Tudor has fast become one of my favorite authors. This is her third book after The Chalk Man and The Hiding Place and it may be her best. A man is desperately searching for his family who disappeared years ago. He gets involved with a support group who may not be what they seem. This storyline is actually chilling. At one point the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Like her other two books, this one is very well plotted with gripping dialog and a twist you will never see coming. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review. |








