By Kaylie Seed
C.J. Tudor’s fourth novel The Other People was released in January of this year and it promises to not disappoint fans of her work. It’s both a thriller and mystery all rolled into one. Tudor, who is regarded as the “Stephen King of the UK”, has created yet another brilliant novel full of twists and turns with just a touch of the supernatural. Tudor’s story is told from three different perspectives: Gabe is a devoted father and not-so-great husband. He tirelessly searches the motorway for his daughter Izzy that he swears he saw in the back of a car three years ago. She hasn’t been seen since. Katie is a single mom who waitresses at a service station. She is roped into Gabe’s journey after she pokes too much into the unknown. But she soon learns she may know more than she thinks she does. Lastly, Fran and her daughter Alice are on the run. Afterall, Fran is the only person who knows what really happened to Gabe’s daughter on the last day he saw her. They are each connected to one another and as the story progresses more and more truths come forward that have a direct impact on what has happened to Izzy. This mystery takes the reader on an unpredictable and twisty ride.
The Other People challenges the unspoken belief that bad things are never meant to happen to us. Bad things are always meant to happen to “other” people, to people we don’t know, and to people we will never meet. But when bad, unjust things do happen - where can we turn to for help and guidance? When Gabe is searching for his daughter he comes across a community of people that are hidden in the deepest corners of the internet in the Dark Web. Gabe learns about this community and that they will fulfill requests of any nature if that person completes a favour in return. If they don’t complete the favour they will suffer dire consequences. As Gabe continues to search for Izzy, he wonders how this is connected to her disappearance and if he will ever see her again.
Tudor’s writing is impeccable and her prose is elegantly haunting. She has created a story that keeps the reader guessing and slowly peels back layers to show what truly happened on the night Gabe saw Izzy in the back of a random car. The Other People also holds many secrets that are pieced together to reveal a much larger picture in the end. Tudor came into the writing world violently and beautifully with breathtaking work; I cannot wait to see what she has to show the world next.