C.J. Tudor | THE OTHER PEOPLE

Plot (via Goodreads):

Driving home one night, stuck behind a rusty old car, Gabe sees a little girl's face appear in the rear window. She mouths one word: 'Daddy.' It's his five-year-old daughter, Izzy.

He never sees her again.

Three years later, Gabe spends his days and nights travelling up and down the motorway, searching for the car that took his daughter, refusing to give up hope, even though most people believe that Izzy is dead.

Fran and her daughter, Alice, also put in a lot of miles on the motorway. Not searching. But running. Trying to keep one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them. Because Fran knows the truth. She knows what really happened to Gabe's daughter.

Then, the car that Gabe saw driving away that night is found, in a lake, with a body inside and Gabe is forced to confront events, not just from the night his daughter disappeared, but from far deeper in his past.

His search leads him to a group called The Other People.

If you have lost a loved one, The Other People want to help. Because they know what loss is like. They know what pain is like. They know what death is like.

There's just one problem . . . they want other people to know it too.

Review:

The Other People was such an intricate and tightly woven story. I can definitely see where Tudor's writing has grown between her other two novels and this one. You can still tell it is a C.J. Tudor novel because of the wonderful blend of the plot, the supernatural element that is not too overdone, and the complex characters in a world where not all is as it seems. I will say, this one was not my favorite Tudor novel, although I did find it the most creepy. I felt like with the plot twists and the supernatural element, when they were combined I found some of the twists to be a little overdone and had to re-read other parts as the combination left me confused at times.

Overall, I did enjoy this story a lot for the first 50% and felt that it was heading in a good direction, but then kind of felt let down as it took too long for things to come together and I found myself fighting the urge to skim some of the pages. While I did read this in one sitting, I guess I was just hoping that one of the different directions that this one would have went in would've been not including any supernatural elements at all as I felt that the story would've been more enjoyable going in this direction.

This was definitely a story that I enjoyed mostly due to the characters and the eeriness of the plot combined with Tudor's writing. I will always scoop up anything she writes because I think she's such a talented author with a knack for a creepy and unsettling prose and intricate plots. I enjoyed this one, but felt like it could have been better, but in the same sense I am glad I got to enjoy this for what it was and would still feel like I would've been missing out had I not read it. Either way, I will definitely be looking forward to the next story by C.J. Tudor.

Special thanks to Ballantine Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 3/5