The Other People by C.J. Tudor #audiobookreview #TheOtherPeople @cjtudor @PenguinUKBooks

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.

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Hi and welcome to my review of The Other People! What a book, you guys, what a book! I got it from Audible and I wasn’t planning on reviewing it, but I mean, how can I not?! This book is the whole reason why I started a book blog: I loved it so much I absolutely have to shout about it or I’ll explode! I finished listening to it literally 5 minutes ago and here I am trying to put into words what this book has done to me.

First of all, this is not my first C.J. Tudor, I’ve been a fan since The Chalk Man. However, in my humble opinion, with The Other People she’s stepped it up a notch, delivering a solid five-star read that checked all my boxes effortlessly. In the week I was listening to The Other People, I was also reading three books and a short story collection and none of them called to me like The Other People did. To me, that’s always an excellent way to inadvertently test the books you’re reading, and how much they mean to you, and The Other People passed with flying colours. Ms Tudor not only made me look forward to an ironing session (while I hate ironing), she made me pick up a number of little chores afterwards, and when I’d almost reached the finale and found nothing more to do, I actually just flopped down on the sofa and continued listening, which is absolutely 100% unprecedented!

This is also one of those books that are even better because of their narrators, lifted to an even higher level. Richard Armitage does the bulk of the narration, he is an absolute pleasure to listen to, and even though he doesn’t really tweak his voice all that much, it’s always clear who is speaking. A small part of the story is narrated by Ellie Kendrick, the part of the girl who sleeps, and it’s quite simply done to perfection! Her voice takes on this eerie quality that literally had me covered in goose bumps.

The Other People is both psychological thriller and crime thriller with paranormal and slightly horroresque influences and it is executed flawlessly. I’m a complete sucker for thrillers with a hint of the paranormal, so it comes as no surprise that I loved this one so much, but I was surprised at how much I came to care for the characters, and how much some parts of the story gave me all the feels. (Did I cry? No, but I did have a lump the size of a bloody pineapple in my throat at one point.)

What makes The Other People truly stand out among a plethora of thrillers, is its cleverness and deviousness. I did spot one link rather early on, and I thought myself very clever, but there were dozens of other links I’d completely missed, hidden depths and connections, and oh for the love of God, just go and read it already, will you!

The Other People will be a tough act to follow, but I have full confidence in C.J. Tudor and I can’t wait to read whatever her brilliant (but terrifying!) mind comes up with next! Highly recommended!