Audiobook Review: THE OTHER PEOPLE by C.J. Tudor

Title: THE OTHER PEOPLE

Author: C.J. Tudor
Read: February 2020

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟

"People say hate and bitterness will destroy you. They’re wrong. It’s hope. Hope will devour you from the inside like a parasite."

Book Description:

Three years ago, Gabe's family disappeared. Most people think they died. Some of them blame Gabe. Hardly anyone believes the truth--that Gabe saw his daughter the day she and his wife disappeared, smiling at him from the back of a rusty old car speeding down the highway. So even though it's been three years since that day, Gabe cannot give up hope. Even though he has given up everything else. His home, his job, his old life. He spends his days travelling up and down the highway and sleeping in service stations, searching for the car that took her.

It's hard for most people to understand. But Gabe has found some who do in an online group set up by people who have also lost loved ones--who have suffered like him. They call themselves "The Other People." Because isn't that what everyone thinks: bad stuff only happens to "other people."

When the car that Gabe saw driving away that night is found in a lake with a body inside, Gabe is suddenly under suspicion--and in danger. In desperation, he turns to The Other People for help. Because they are good people. 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.

What attracted me to this book:

I can rarely resist the temptation of a mystery with a ghostly element, especially when it comes as highly recommended as this book.

My musings:

I am going to be a big party pooper here, because this book has probably been my biggest disappointment this year so far! I loooved THE CHALK MAN, really didn’t care much for ANNIE THORNE, and this one was a huge flop for me. I am coming to the conclusion that the author’s writing style might just not be a good fit for me.

Firstly, it was all so farfetched! Yes, I am terrible at suspending disbelief, but honestly, this was taking it too far! I don’t mind a good supernatural element, but one scene here actually made me laugh because it rolled out in my mind like some low budget supernatural horror flick. It was so out of context and so silly that I was wondering if it was meant as a satire or if I had missed something.

Ok, let’s back track a bit and start with some positive for the first layer of my shit sandwich. As the opening scene unfolded with Gabe driving on a congested highway and spotting his daughter in a stranger’s car, my heart duly plummeted. What a powerful image! Terrifying! I thought I was in for a treat. Tudor went on to set a dark scene, but I was soon finding that instead of feeling menacing and suspenseful it got depressing. Gabe really wasn’t the most engaging character, the relationships between the characters were unconvincing and I found that none of the other cast members particularly interested me.

As the story delved deeper into the premise of “the other people”, I found myself losing interest. Yeah, yeah, the dark web, we’ve all heard about it, it’s dark and sinister and criminals trawl it, but it just didn’t work for me. There were so many inconsistencies in the plot that I lost track of them all, and the regular little quips about the meaning of life thrown into the story at regular intervals started to grate. I was like a grumpy bear woken early from hibernation and not liking what I saw. I read words like “engaging”, “captivating”, “brilliant” in other readers’ reviews and I just don’t see it. The only clickety-clack I got was from my eye rolls as yet another totally implausible plot point or horror-movie cliché made its appearance.

In summary, I thought the idea was there but the execution didn’t work for me. I hated each and every character, the supernatural elements were thrown in randomly and without context (or purpose) and I was getting a migraine form all the eye rolling. Even though I listened dutifully to my audio book until the very end, I still feel none the wiser of all the hows and whys and how the loose threads could ever connect in a meaningful way. I missed the suspense and the menacing darkness of other thrillers and just felt sad and depressed as the lacklustre plot unfolded. I can normally see why other readers love a book that flopped for me, but I am struggling to understand how one could excuse so many plot holes without stumbling at least once.

Since you are meant to finish a shit sandwich with another positive layer, I will say that my audio version redeemed itself by offering some short stories at the end which I did enjoy much more than the book. 

Summary:

Sorry, folks – I hope that the many fans of the book will eventually learn to forgive me. I think I will stay clear of this type of story for a while ...