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The Other People
A group of strangers gathered at a mysterious country house are in a race against time to stop a serial killer in this twisty, high-concept thriller that combines Agatha Christie with Shutter Island.
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
And then there was one.
Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who—or what—lurks in the cellar?
Forget what you think you know.
Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust The Other People?
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
And then there was one.
Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who—or what—lurks in the cellar?
Forget what you think you know.
Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust The Other People?
Hardcover
First published March 25, 2025
235 people are currently reading
14777 people want to read
About the author
C.B. Everett
5 books42 followersC.B. Everett is the pen name for author Martyn Waites. He trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and worked as an actor for many years before becoming a writer. His novels include the critically acclaimed Joe Donovan series, The Old Religion, and The White Room. In 2013, he was chosen to write Angel of Death, the official sequel to Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, and in 2014 won the Grand Prix Roman Etranger for Born Under Punches. He has been nominated for every major British and French crime fiction award and has also enjoyed international commercial success with eight novels written under the name Tania Carver.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
December 3, 2024
Hmm, okay. Well, positive things first, I suppose. I did like the ending a lot. Not exactly the way it was written here and with these characters, but the twist was excellent. If the rest of the book had been more enjoyable, the twist probably would have blown me away. It reminds me a lot of the ending of an outstanding novel (and movie) that I won't mention the name of here because it'd almost certainly spoil things, but it was awesome and I never saw it coming. (Edit: it has been pointed out to me by another review that the publisher's blurb mentions the novel/film by name, but whatever. I'm still not going to say it just because it feels wrong.)
And, yeah, I'm pretty sure I've now exhausted my list of positives. Which I feel kind of bad about, really, because the ending kind of explains away almost everything I disliked about this book. Unfortunately, it can't go back and make the first 95% of the story more enjoyable after the fact, so I'm not exactly sure what to do about that. Oh, well.
So where to start? I hated the characters. Every. Last. One. They're all two-dimensional and awful people, and they all have the same “voice” and sound exactly alike. And sweet baby kittens on a cracker, WTF was going on with that relationship between Ramona and ol' What's-Her-Name with the baby? These people went from strangers to “I'm in love with you so let me throw my baby down unsupervised on the floor of a murder house so we can bang instead of looking for the woman who's about to die” in about twelve seconds flat.
Speaking of the missing woman, did anyone even care that she was going to die?!? Everyone was bickering and banging and having food and tea and wandering around aimlessly, and the fact that someone's life was at stake was but a distant concern. I mean, I get it, they didn't exactly ask for the responsibility of finding her, but still.
And oh my gosh, the melodrama. I checked the blurb for this book, like, five times to make sure I didn't miss the word “satirical” somewhere because it was so over the top. Everyone in this book needed some Xanax and serious therapy … and jail time, in some cases.
Again, I get that the twist kind of makes all of the above … irrelevant? More understandable? Explainable? It certainly made me look at events in a new light, but it doesn't change how much I disliked reading it up until that point.
So, yeah. If you like books with excellent twists, uh, I guess you could read this one? But maybe just go read the book-that-must-not-be-named from the blurb instead because it's much, much better.
2.15 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is March 25, 2025.
And, yeah, I'm pretty sure I've now exhausted my list of positives. Which I feel kind of bad about, really, because the ending kind of explains away almost everything I disliked about this book. Unfortunately, it can't go back and make the first 95% of the story more enjoyable after the fact, so I'm not exactly sure what to do about that. Oh, well.
So where to start? I hated the characters. Every. Last. One. They're all two-dimensional and awful people, and they all have the same “voice” and sound exactly alike. And sweet baby kittens on a cracker, WTF was going on with that relationship between Ramona and ol' What's-Her-Name with the baby? These people went from strangers to “I'm in love with you so let me throw my baby down unsupervised on the floor of a murder house so we can bang instead of looking for the woman who's about to die” in about twelve seconds flat.
Speaking of the missing woman, did anyone even care that she was going to die?!? Everyone was bickering and banging and having food and tea and wandering around aimlessly, and the fact that someone's life was at stake was but a distant concern. I mean, I get it, they didn't exactly ask for the responsibility of finding her, but still.
And oh my gosh, the melodrama. I checked the blurb for this book, like, five times to make sure I didn't miss the word “satirical” somewhere because it was so over the top. Everyone in this book needed some Xanax and serious therapy … and jail time, in some cases.
Again, I get that the twist kind of makes all of the above … irrelevant? More understandable? Explainable? It certainly made me look at events in a new light, but it doesn't change how much I disliked reading it up until that point.
So, yeah. If you like books with excellent twists, uh, I guess you could read this one? But maybe just go read the book-that-must-not-be-named from the blurb instead because it's much, much better.
2.15 stars, rounded down.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is March 25, 2025.
March 24, 2025
That was tedious and pointless. Story has been done before in much better ways.
This book caught my attention--a group of strangers all wake up in a mansion with no idea of how they got there. They are tasked with solving the case of a missing woman in twelve hours and are locked in. People start dying and strange things begin to occur.
First off, there are way too many characters to keep straight. Some of them are distinguishable from the others, but some are just filler. And when the characters themselves cannot remember each other's names, how on earth is the reader supposed to do so?
I couldn't wrap my brain around how these characters, locked in a house with no way out and no way to communicate, were supposed to puzzle out where the missing woman was and be able to save her. All they did was wander around the house being suspicious of each other. There was so much detail but nothing relating to the central mystery.
And don't get me started on the "I'm so in love with you let me set my baby to the side so we can have sex" sequence. What the actual heck?
Like I said before, when we get to the end and discover what is really going on, I got a sense of been there done that and it's been done so much better in other books. Not that I like this trope AT ALL, so I'm grading down because of that. The publisher's blurb is a huge spoiler for what is coming so I guess don't read that if you want to give this book a try.
Stories like this are generally best played out on a screen rather than in a book.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
This book caught my attention--a group of strangers all wake up in a mansion with no idea of how they got there. They are tasked with solving the case of a missing woman in twelve hours and are locked in. People start dying and strange things begin to occur.
First off, there are way too many characters to keep straight. Some of them are distinguishable from the others, but some are just filler. And when the characters themselves cannot remember each other's names, how on earth is the reader supposed to do so?
I couldn't wrap my brain around how these characters, locked in a house with no way out and no way to communicate, were supposed to puzzle out where the missing woman was and be able to save her. All they did was wander around the house being suspicious of each other. There was so much detail but nothing relating to the central mystery.
And don't get me started on the "I'm so in love with you let me set my baby to the side so we can have sex" sequence. What the actual heck?
Like I said before, when we get to the end and discover what is really going on, I got a sense of been there done that and it's been done so much better in other books. Not that I like this trope AT ALL, so I'm grading down because of that. The publisher's blurb is a huge spoiler for what is coming so I guess don't read that if you want to give this book a try.
Stories like this are generally best played out on a screen rather than in a book.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
April 24, 2025
What on earth did I just read? From the start of The Other People I was thoroughly intrigued with the locked room mystery/thriller that exuded a And Then There Were None feel. From there, though, it took a left turn. Taking the Grand Dame’s kinder and gentler inspiration, the plot within this complex tale became much more graphic, intense, and horror-adjacent with each additional page. That’s not to say that I didn’t gobble up every word, but it was a far cry from an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel. You see, the bulk of the book felt somewhat underwhelming until the first jaw-dropping reveal had me almost clapping out loud as my opinion turned right around.
Told from the first-person perspective of nearly all of the personas involved, initially it was a tad bit confusing until I figured out who was who amid this large cast of characters. Thankfully, though, each of them had distinct identities, which ran the gamut from almost root-for-able to truly evil. Alongside a claustrophobic setting and delicious gothic vibe, there was much to love in this original premise. It wasn’t, however, until I reached the last one hundred pages that I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. After all, I was utterly gobsmacked as it all went in a whole other thoroughly unguessable direction, which I felt was simply sublime.
All said and done, despite a slow moving first two-thirds and a very over-the-top plot that leaned towards slasher at times, I was utterly blown away by this riveting, unputdownable novel. I do have to say, though, that the twist to end all twists is likely to be rather divisive. You’re either going to love it or hate it by the time it rolls around. Clearly, I was on the love-it side of the equation, but it hugely diverged from what I was expecting in this well-crafted tale. Packed with red herrings, subtle clues, and even a potential supernatural narrator that broke the fourth wall, there was a definite edge to this shocking read that ultimately made me a fan. Rating of 4 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
And then there was one.
Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who—or what—lurks in the cellar?
Forget what you think you know.
Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust The Other People?
Thank you to C.B. Everett, Atria Books, and NetGalley for my complimentary digital and physicals copies. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025
Content warning: gun and knife violence, suicide, misogyny, kidnapping, violence, mention of: pedophilia
Told from the first-person perspective of nearly all of the personas involved, initially it was a tad bit confusing until I figured out who was who amid this large cast of characters. Thankfully, though, each of them had distinct identities, which ran the gamut from almost root-for-able to truly evil. Alongside a claustrophobic setting and delicious gothic vibe, there was much to love in this original premise. It wasn’t, however, until I reached the last one hundred pages that I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. After all, I was utterly gobsmacked as it all went in a whole other thoroughly unguessable direction, which I felt was simply sublime.
All said and done, despite a slow moving first two-thirds and a very over-the-top plot that leaned towards slasher at times, I was utterly blown away by this riveting, unputdownable novel. I do have to say, though, that the twist to end all twists is likely to be rather divisive. You’re either going to love it or hate it by the time it rolls around. Clearly, I was on the love-it side of the equation, but it hugely diverged from what I was expecting in this well-crafted tale. Packed with red herrings, subtle clues, and even a potential supernatural narrator that broke the fourth wall, there was a definite edge to this shocking read that ultimately made me a fan. Rating of 4 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
And then there was one.
Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who—or what—lurks in the cellar?
Forget what you think you know.
Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust The Other People?
Thank you to C.B. Everett, Atria Books, and NetGalley for my complimentary digital and physicals copies. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025
Content warning: gun and knife violence, suicide, misogyny, kidnapping, violence, mention of: pedophilia
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2025
I pretty early guessed the twist although it was a bit hard to believe at times. I have read some reviews that didn’t like the characters and found it all strange, and I agree with that, but with the twist it made sense that not all were well-developed. I still think there were too many of them, and the whole plot was stretched to its limit when it came to believability. What I liked most was the POV of the beast. Such an interesting and fun character, I could have listened to him talk forever.
June 14, 2025
From the Publisher's Synopsis:
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
Trust me when I say, I need no more impetus to pick up a book than lines like this in a synopsis. This is the exact set-up I love for a Mystery-Thriller. No matter how times I read them, they never get old for me.
I have fun seeing how each author brings their own style and ideas to this classic set-up, and this one is definitely unique. No one can deny it that.
In The Other People, we have 10-strangers waking up and finding themselves in a locked country house. They have no recollection of how they got there, and yet they have personal items with them, and each of their rooms seems to have been designed with their individuality in mind.
They're tasked with solving the disappearance of a young woman, who none of them know. They must rescue her before time runs out. And I mean that literally. There's a timer ticking down every moment.
Adding stress to the already stressful circumstances is the fact that a killer is stalking the house as well, and no one is safe from their dark designs. As the bodies start dropping, pressures rise and everyone is driven to wits end.
While The Other People had a very promising start for me, my enjoyment level ended up being all over the place over the course of the story.
It had a great set-up and I loved the full cast of unlikable characters. They were all so different, what had brought them all together? I also thoroughly-enjoyed the meta-feel of it. It was delivering me a trope-filled Locked Room Murder Mystery, and it knew it.
It felt like we were celebrating that fact together.
Unfortunately, it did start to lose me toward the end. I still feel like it was a good book, it just wasn't consistent enough for me to give it a higher rating. Frankly, I'm sad about it considering the strong start.
It did have one very unconventional perspective that I really appreciated though; the omniscient nature of it was refreshing and I thought it added to the overall intrigue.
I don't know. I would still recommend this, for someone looking for a classic-feeling Locked Room Murder Mystery with a Psychological Thriller twist.
Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I liked the risks the author took with this, and I would definitely be interested in reading more from them.
Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time…
Trust me when I say, I need no more impetus to pick up a book than lines like this in a synopsis. This is the exact set-up I love for a Mystery-Thriller. No matter how times I read them, they never get old for me.
I have fun seeing how each author brings their own style and ideas to this classic set-up, and this one is definitely unique. No one can deny it that.
In The Other People, we have 10-strangers waking up and finding themselves in a locked country house. They have no recollection of how they got there, and yet they have personal items with them, and each of their rooms seems to have been designed with their individuality in mind.
They're tasked with solving the disappearance of a young woman, who none of them know. They must rescue her before time runs out. And I mean that literally. There's a timer ticking down every moment.
Adding stress to the already stressful circumstances is the fact that a killer is stalking the house as well, and no one is safe from their dark designs. As the bodies start dropping, pressures rise and everyone is driven to wits end.
While The Other People had a very promising start for me, my enjoyment level ended up being all over the place over the course of the story.
It had a great set-up and I loved the full cast of unlikable characters. They were all so different, what had brought them all together? I also thoroughly-enjoyed the meta-feel of it. It was delivering me a trope-filled Locked Room Murder Mystery, and it knew it.
It felt like we were celebrating that fact together.
Unfortunately, it did start to lose me toward the end. I still feel like it was a good book, it just wasn't consistent enough for me to give it a higher rating. Frankly, I'm sad about it considering the strong start.
It did have one very unconventional perspective that I really appreciated though; the omniscient nature of it was refreshing and I thought it added to the overall intrigue.
I don't know. I would still recommend this, for someone looking for a classic-feeling Locked Room Murder Mystery with a Psychological Thriller twist.
Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I liked the risks the author took with this, and I would definitely be interested in reading more from them.
February 23, 2025
The Other People, written by C.B. Everett, had all the right ingredients to make for a spectacular read: locked room mystery, ten strangers invited to an island, one by one they die... any Agatha Christie fan would love it. And it delivered on so many levels. I couldn't put the book down for most of the time. As we got down to the final few suspects, things unraveled a little for me. We began to see signs of intentional information being left out which was both crucial to discovering the killer and couldn't be told until the very end without giving the plot away. So, it felt a bit distracting... But, the plot device, once it's fully unveiled, actually has a lot of merit and brought out the mystery fan in me. There were a few dangling threads in the end, meaning... either a red herring / clue was left open-ended or purpose behind some of the plot was murky. As a whole, it totally delivered on suspense and I could see how it would play out as a movie... so kudos to the author!
February 3, 2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Mystery Thriller
The synopsis of the book really intrigued me, so I decided to request an ARC from NetGalley. A few of my friends on Goodreads had read the book and didn’t enjoy it, so I had low expectations starting it. Fortunately, the story worked for me! Honestly, not many mystery thrillers get my upvote these days.
The story in The Other People blends Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” with the movie “Saw.” Ten strangers awake in an old house, unaware of how they ended up there. Each of them has a device attached to their wrist! Their only chance to escape is to solve the mystery of a missing girl or risk being killed one by one by a murderer.
This book takes time to get used to. I think the main reason is that there are many characters, and the story is told from multiple perspectives in the first narration style. So, the reader will need some time to get used to them. You need to be patient at first. If you are, then I think this book will work for you because as you progress, you will become more familiar with the characters.
The good news is that the author has given the characters unique voices, which will make it easier to distinguish them from each other. The story moves quickly, so after each chapter, you want to know what will happen next. If you enjoy entertaining page-turners, you will like this one.
This is a psychological thriller, so be prepared for a strong ending that holds up. Just don’t read too much about the synopsis to avoid spoiling the story for yourself. Obviously, the characters who survive longer will have better character development than those who are killed earlier. In all cases, the author has provided the characters with their own backstories, which helps shape their personalities.
If you are looking for something entertaining with a fast pace and a solid ending, I recommend The Other People. I enjoyed it a lot.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.
Genre: Mystery Thriller
The synopsis of the book really intrigued me, so I decided to request an ARC from NetGalley. A few of my friends on Goodreads had read the book and didn’t enjoy it, so I had low expectations starting it. Fortunately, the story worked for me! Honestly, not many mystery thrillers get my upvote these days.
The story in The Other People blends Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” with the movie “Saw.” Ten strangers awake in an old house, unaware of how they ended up there. Each of them has a device attached to their wrist! Their only chance to escape is to solve the mystery of a missing girl or risk being killed one by one by a murderer.
This book takes time to get used to. I think the main reason is that there are many characters, and the story is told from multiple perspectives in the first narration style. So, the reader will need some time to get used to them. You need to be patient at first. If you are, then I think this book will work for you because as you progress, you will become more familiar with the characters.
The good news is that the author has given the characters unique voices, which will make it easier to distinguish them from each other. The story moves quickly, so after each chapter, you want to know what will happen next. If you enjoy entertaining page-turners, you will like this one.
This is a psychological thriller, so be prepared for a strong ending that holds up. Just don’t read too much about the synopsis to avoid spoiling the story for yourself. Obviously, the characters who survive longer will have better character development than those who are killed earlier. In all cases, the author has provided the characters with their own backstories, which helps shape their personalities.
If you are looking for something entertaining with a fast pace and a solid ending, I recommend The Other People. I enjoyed it a lot.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.
December 5, 2024
ARC for review. To be published March 25, 2025.
2.5 rounded to 3, but….
Ten strangers in a country house.
Yay! I love these sorts of books, knowing, of course, that there will never be another AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, and all others are pretenders to the throne, I’m still willing to see what authors do with the trope.
Here, naturally, a killer if offing them one by one. In order to escape they have to find a missing young woman. Why were they chosen and who is killing them?
There is also an interesting third person omniscient narrator throughout.
So, this takes a turn I did not expect. Not sure how much I loved it, but it was definitely different. I can’t really give any more away than that. A 2.5, rounded to a three, I guess. But I really want to go with that 2.5.
2.5 rounded to 3, but….
Ten strangers in a country house.
Yay! I love these sorts of books, knowing, of course, that there will never be another AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, and all others are pretenders to the throne, I’m still willing to see what authors do with the trope.
Here, naturally, a killer if offing them one by one. In order to escape they have to find a missing young woman. Why were they chosen and who is killing them?
There is also an interesting third person omniscient narrator throughout.
So, this takes a turn I did not expect. Not sure how much I loved it, but it was definitely different. I can’t really give any more away than that. A 2.5, rounded to a three, I guess. But I really want to go with that 2.5.
April 1, 2025
Sadly, despite this promising my favorite trope of all time, this book did not work for me on any level. Poorly written, derivative, and distasteful
January 21, 2025
Rating: ⭐⭐
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
I really wanted to love The Other People. I’m a huge fan of locked-room mysteries, and the promise of a big twist at the end had me hooked. And while I did appreciate the twist (it was the kind I would normally love), it simply couldn’t make up for the first 95% of the book.
The story begins with such high stakes—“Find this girl, or you all die”—but it quickly fizzles out. Despite the dire circumstances, the characters barely seemed to try to solve the mystery, which made the plot feel sluggish. Then there’s the structure of the book: every time something happened, the outside narrator would step in to recap the events and tell the reader what they should be thinking or questioning. This disrupted the flow of the story and became frustrating to read. The narrator’s personality was also insufferable (though the reason for this is explained in the twist). Unfortunately, that explanation didn’t retroactively make the experience enjoyable.
SPOILER WARNING (I make a comparison that WILL spoil the ending for you.)
END SPOILER
There were also some noticeable issues with the writing. At one point, the author used the exact same wording to describe two different characters’ reactions in separate instances, which felt repetitive and clunky. Additionally, the characters’ inner monologues all sounded the same. Without the chapter headers, I would’ve struggled to tell whose perspective I was reading.
That said, there were moments I enjoyed. The visuals in some scenes were vivid, and the character deaths were dramatic in a good way. These were the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing read.
Overall, I’m giving The Other People 2 stars. While the twist was clever and the book had some strong visuals, the repetitive writing, unengaging plot, and insufferable narration made this one a letdown for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
I really wanted to love The Other People. I’m a huge fan of locked-room mysteries, and the promise of a big twist at the end had me hooked. And while I did appreciate the twist (it was the kind I would normally love), it simply couldn’t make up for the first 95% of the book.
The story begins with such high stakes—“Find this girl, or you all die”—but it quickly fizzles out. Despite the dire circumstances, the characters barely seemed to try to solve the mystery, which made the plot feel sluggish. Then there’s the structure of the book: every time something happened, the outside narrator would step in to recap the events and tell the reader what they should be thinking or questioning. This disrupted the flow of the story and became frustrating to read. The narrator’s personality was also insufferable (though the reason for this is explained in the twist). Unfortunately, that explanation didn’t retroactively make the experience enjoyable.
SPOILER WARNING (I make a comparison that WILL spoil the ending for you.)
END SPOILER
There were also some noticeable issues with the writing. At one point, the author used the exact same wording to describe two different characters’ reactions in separate instances, which felt repetitive and clunky. Additionally, the characters’ inner monologues all sounded the same. Without the chapter headers, I would’ve struggled to tell whose perspective I was reading.
That said, there were moments I enjoyed. The visuals in some scenes were vivid, and the character deaths were dramatic in a good way. These were the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing read.
Overall, I’m giving The Other People 2 stars. While the twist was clever and the book had some strong visuals, the repetitive writing, unengaging plot, and insufferable narration made this one a letdown for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
November 27, 2024
Oooooof this was a let down. The concept sounded right up my alley as I LOVE locked room mysteries and stories with that trope are usually a guaranteed good time for me. This one, however, was... different.
The plot and pacing felt off to me. After the inciting incident kicks off, the characters sort of move on and forget about it, wandering around through countless chapters that make you feel like you're losing a sense of time. I believe this was intentional, but it made for a strange and frustrating reading experience.
The story really hinges on the twist/reveal that you get in the final 10% of the story. That reveal will either make it or break it for you, and for me, I did not love the direction this story decided to take.
Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.
Featured in this reading vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr00D...
The plot and pacing felt off to me. After the inciting incident kicks off, the characters sort of move on and forget about it, wandering around through countless chapters that make you feel like you're losing a sense of time. I believe this was intentional, but it made for a strange and frustrating reading experience.
The story really hinges on the twist/reveal that you get in the final 10% of the story. That reveal will either make it or break it for you, and for me, I did not love the direction this story decided to take.
Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.
Featured in this reading vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr00D...
February 21, 2025
I wanted to love this one more than I did. I was expecting a locked door murder mystery, and although that's basically what it is, it was mostly just people behaving badly. It was hard to differentiate between the characters and the then the decisions that they made while murders were happening just didn't make it feel plausible. I definitely wouldn't act that way in a situation like this. There is a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting and yeah, it was good and made things a bit more believable but overall, for most of it, it just fell flat for me!!
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
March 25, 2025
Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the pre-release copy of The Other People. Below is my honest review.
I very much enjoyed this locked room weird-as-heck mystery, as it definitely takes inspiration from Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None - and anyone who follows my reviews know I'm a huge Christie fan.
The characters were decently fleshed out, and the setting was sufficiently intriguing.
But - and that's a huge but - I was worried as the book went along that it would end up stealing bits and pieces from the ending of a movie I loved when it came out back in 2003, Identity. Unfortunately, it wasn't just bits and pieces that ended up in the climax and denouement, but an extremely similar story - to the point that I'm left wondering if there's even the slightest chance it wasn't pulled straight from that movie.
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Review to come upon release.
I really enjoyed this one up until the reveal. The whole time I was hoping it would not be a ripoff of the 2003 movie Identity, but alas, it was. Can’t believe that snuck past editors to get published…. Pretty sure Michael Cooney wouldn’t be happy the movie he wrote’s twist ending was taken.
I very much enjoyed this locked room weird-as-heck mystery, as it definitely takes inspiration from Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None - and anyone who follows my reviews know I'm a huge Christie fan.
The characters were decently fleshed out, and the setting was sufficiently intriguing.
But - and that's a huge but - I was worried as the book went along that it would end up stealing bits and pieces from the ending of a movie I loved when it came out back in 2003, Identity. Unfortunately, it wasn't just bits and pieces that ended up in the climax and denouement, but an extremely similar story - to the point that I'm left wondering if there's even the slightest chance it wasn't pulled straight from that movie.
---
Review to come upon release.
I really enjoyed this one up until the reveal. The whole time I was hoping it would not be a ripoff of the 2003 movie Identity, but alas, it was. Can’t believe that snuck past editors to get published…. Pretty sure Michael Cooney wouldn’t be happy the movie he wrote’s twist ending was taken.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2024
I'm very torn. While I was entertained for hours with 'The Other People', the feeling I'm left with isn't exactly positive.
This book is much darker than the cover suggests. (Recommend checking tw's, really.) All around polarizing, with a make or break ending that wasn't what I wanted and rarely enjoy. I can appreciate it for being different from my usual thriller, at least. I particularly liked the earlier 'beast' chapters but felt the women were written ....oddly.
This book is much darker than the cover suggests. (Recommend checking tw's, really.) All around polarizing, with a make or break ending that wasn't what I wanted and rarely enjoy. I can appreciate it for being different from my usual thriller, at least. I particularly liked the earlier 'beast' chapters but felt the women were written ....oddly.
March 28, 2025
Where am I?
What is going on?
Everyone has been waking up in a room that they had no idea how they got there or why their phones were gone and why they had some wrist band on that they can't take off.
Then the doors unlock and they assemble in the dining room still not knowing how they got there or where they were before they ended up in this house.
Weird things happen with things being locked including their dinner plate covers which once revealed show that each person has a plate of food that is one of their favorite foods.
What is going on and what happens?
How will they get out?
What does the person who did this want?
Find out in this evasive, chilling, locked room thriller/horror with unlikeable characters.
Cleverly done, but a little too out there for me. 3/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
What is going on?
Everyone has been waking up in a room that they had no idea how they got there or why their phones were gone and why they had some wrist band on that they can't take off.
Then the doors unlock and they assemble in the dining room still not knowing how they got there or where they were before they ended up in this house.
Weird things happen with things being locked including their dinner plate covers which once revealed show that each person has a plate of food that is one of their favorite foods.
What is going on and what happens?
How will they get out?
What does the person who did this want?
Find out in this evasive, chilling, locked room thriller/horror with unlikeable characters.
Cleverly done, but a little too out there for me. 3/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
May 29, 2025
This plot has been used too many times. Please don’t compare this to Agatha Christie. She would vomit. I almost stopped reading a few times. I can’t explain why I continued. That’s not like me. The first time I almost quit was right at the beginning when the Beast in the Cellar described each of the characters in unnecessary detail. Then a woman suddenly runs into the house to explain the situation to the characters - and noone even asks who the hell are you and how did you get into this supposedly locked down house? The chapter from the point of view of the pedophile also turned me off. And then there was the instalove interlude. Someone is trying to murder us. Let’s have sex. Really? The twist at the end of the book didn’t redeem it. 2.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
February 27, 2025
Thank you Atria books for an early copy of this book!
Publishes March 25th and it follows a group of 10 strangers who all wake up in a locked house with no recollection of how they got there. They’re told that they need to solve a disappearance of a young woman.
I loved the idea of this book. I love when a group of people seemly unconnected all are brought together and it’s like a puzzle trying to figure out how all the pieces click into place.
That being said, this book showed its hand way too quickly for me. There is a specific aspect to this book that reminded me of something I’ve seen before that immediately gave away the ending for me.
I really can’t critique this book without saying what this thing is, because it’s also a major aspect of the plot and I don’t want to spoil it.. so I’ll just say I thought this book had all the potential of being great, but the execution just did not work for me. I think that people who don’t pick up on the thing I did that spoiled the ending will enjoy this more than I did.
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2mpsKfT/
Publishes March 25th and it follows a group of 10 strangers who all wake up in a locked house with no recollection of how they got there. They’re told that they need to solve a disappearance of a young woman.
I loved the idea of this book. I love when a group of people seemly unconnected all are brought together and it’s like a puzzle trying to figure out how all the pieces click into place.
That being said, this book showed its hand way too quickly for me. There is a specific aspect to this book that reminded me of something I’ve seen before that immediately gave away the ending for me.
I really can’t critique this book without saying what this thing is, because it’s also a major aspect of the plot and I don’t want to spoil it.. so I’ll just say I thought this book had all the potential of being great, but the execution just did not work for me. I think that people who don’t pick up on the thing I did that spoiled the ending will enjoy this more than I did.
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2mpsKfT/
January 10, 2026
thrillers, my beloved genre. this is another fave that will have a special place in my heart.
very painfully written by a man ™ (you know, very annoying, trying too hard to be funny, thinks he’s being a feminist but isn’t, invents an entire character that explains plot points and jokes to you in case you didn’t get it). in addition this book also has a plot twist that has been so overdone in fiction that i can guarantee if you go to a bookstore and pick ten random thrillers right now about seven of those will have the same one.
very painfully written by a man ™ (you know, very annoying, trying too hard to be funny, thinks he’s being a feminist but isn’t, invents an entire character that explains plot points and jokes to you in case you didn’t get it). in addition this book also has a plot twist that has been so overdone in fiction that i can guarantee if you go to a bookstore and pick ten random thrillers right now about seven of those will have the same one.
January 27, 2025
Absolutely love love loved this book! I read the physical ARC. The story pulled me in from the start and kept me hooked the entire time. The mystery of why were these characters brought to this house and who brought them kept me turning the pages. All the antics between characters was highly entertaining and I especially loved how the author used chapters that talked to us. They nailed it on thoughts a reader would be having. So fun!
The element of suspense was perfectly weaved throughout the book and was always looming there in the background. It made for a suspenseful and fun read!
The element of suspense was perfectly weaved throughout the book and was always looming there in the background. It made for a suspenseful and fun read!
April 13, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
Alright, alright... I know the big ending is a cheap cop out and can be a disappointing end for most people. I, for some reason, absolutely loved the execution of this. I was enjoying the story, my only complaint was the random and a bit unnecessary hook up, but nonetheless, it makes sense with the ending, I suppose. I just would have preferred not having that eye roll episode in there. 🫠
Alright, alright... I know the big ending is a cheap cop out and can be a disappointing end for most people. I, for some reason, absolutely loved the execution of this. I was enjoying the story, my only complaint was the random and a bit unnecessary hook up, but nonetheless, it makes sense with the ending, I suppose. I just would have preferred not having that eye roll episode in there. 🫠
December 29, 2024
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.
The Other People is a dark, twisty, and in parts gruesome locked room thriller that I couldn't put down and read in two sittings.
Ten people (9 adults and one toddler) all awaken in a huge mansion surrounded by things from their homes. They all go down to a dining area and meet and of course suspicions, confusion, and hysteria arise. Why are they there? How did they get there? Do they have anything in common? When they're informed a girl has been abducted and they've to find her before her oxygen runs out in 12 hours and then they all start dying one by one, everyone becomes a suspect and nobody is safe. I honestly didn't expect the twist at the end of this book and did have various theories as I read through but didn't even come close to what was revealed. If you love movies/shows like Shutter Island, Split, The Haunting of Hill House: you'll really enjoy this book! The characters were all pretty unreliable and flawed which added to the suspense as the book unfolded, and I, for one, thought it was well crafted and carried out. This would make a great thriller/horror movie!
The Other People is a dark, twisty, and in parts gruesome locked room thriller that I couldn't put down and read in two sittings.
Ten people (9 adults and one toddler) all awaken in a huge mansion surrounded by things from their homes. They all go down to a dining area and meet and of course suspicions, confusion, and hysteria arise. Why are they there? How did they get there? Do they have anything in common? When they're informed a girl has been abducted and they've to find her before her oxygen runs out in 12 hours and then they all start dying one by one, everyone becomes a suspect and nobody is safe. I honestly didn't expect the twist at the end of this book and did have various theories as I read through but didn't even come close to what was revealed. If you love movies/shows like Shutter Island, Split, The Haunting of Hill House: you'll really enjoy this book! The characters were all pretty unreliable and flawed which added to the suspense as the book unfolded, and I, for one, thought it was well crafted and carried out. This would make a great thriller/horror movie!
March 26, 2025
Thank you so much Atria Books for the gifted copy & Simon Audio for the audiobook via Libro.fm! The narration by Heather Long & Kaffe Keating was both eerie and awesome!
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The Other People was so good that I finished the whole book in a day but… whoa, whoa, that ending!🤯 If you read thrillers, you know that locked room thrillers have been done over and over so this is the expectation that I went in with, when I opened the page. 10 strangers trapped in a mansion with no recollection of how they got there. Rinse and repeat! BUT Y’ALL I audibly GASPED at that ending. WTF was that?! No, really?!
Please DO NOT read the official synopsis because it compares the book to a very famous book & movie and imho it shouldn’t have. Go into this one blind as a bat and then DM me later to thank me or beat me up. Yes, it’s one of those polarizing endings you will be in team LOVE (as I am) or team HATE and I want to hear it all!
I must warn you, the deaths are described in gruesome detail more like a horror book than your usual thriller. If you read horror books, you’re zen. But if not, be forewarned.
My favorite POV chapters are from the “Beast In The Cellar,” a mysterious narrator living in the cellar, who is full of wit and sarcasm giving you just the tiny bit of clues and banter to keep the story going forward. But I guarantee you, you won’t guess the identity of “the beast,” unless you got a clue from the synopsis, which is why I implore you not to read it. Those chapters also discuss social commentary and touch upon basic theories of the human psyche, which you might be wondering why we need it in a thriller, but I assure you, they all weave in perfectly with this story.
The Other People is among my favorite thrillers I’ve read in 2025 so far!
——
The Other People was so good that I finished the whole book in a day but… whoa, whoa, that ending!🤯 If you read thrillers, you know that locked room thrillers have been done over and over so this is the expectation that I went in with, when I opened the page. 10 strangers trapped in a mansion with no recollection of how they got there. Rinse and repeat! BUT Y’ALL I audibly GASPED at that ending. WTF was that?! No, really?!
Please DO NOT read the official synopsis because it compares the book to a very famous book & movie and imho it shouldn’t have. Go into this one blind as a bat and then DM me later to thank me or beat me up. Yes, it’s one of those polarizing endings you will be in team LOVE (as I am) or team HATE and I want to hear it all!
I must warn you, the deaths are described in gruesome detail more like a horror book than your usual thriller. If you read horror books, you’re zen. But if not, be forewarned.
My favorite POV chapters are from the “Beast In The Cellar,” a mysterious narrator living in the cellar, who is full of wit and sarcasm giving you just the tiny bit of clues and banter to keep the story going forward. But I guarantee you, you won’t guess the identity of “the beast,” unless you got a clue from the synopsis, which is why I implore you not to read it. Those chapters also discuss social commentary and touch upon basic theories of the human psyche, which you might be wondering why we need it in a thriller, but I assure you, they all weave in perfectly with this story.
The Other People is among my favorite thrillers I’ve read in 2025 so far!
April 23, 2025
4.5
i went into this blind and i don’t regret anything. i ATE this up
i went into this blind and i don’t regret anything. i ATE this up
October 30, 2024
Yikes! The second book I’ve read this year that almost takes it’s an entire plot from a film. Here it’s a 2007 movie that I won’t mention because it will spoil the entire book. Sadly, the publisher gives away a huge chunk of the plot by mentioning the book is similar to Shutter Island, what a terrible marketing idea. If you’ve read that book, then you already know everything that’s taking place here. This is also my second book of the year with at least 10 first person narrators, all tell no show. Clunky, inauthentic dialogue, a plot that drags, packed with info irrelevant to the story, dreadful characters and no reason at all to care whodunit.
Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for an early review copy.
Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for an early review copy.
April 1, 2025
What made this more disappointing is that I was really enjoying this, and then it had to go and do that. Idk if I’m more sad or mad.
November 27, 2024
This was quite an interesting locked room mystery. I think that the Beast chapters sprinkled throughout were my favorite part of the book. They were fun to read and helped break up some of the heavier topics.
I appreciated how the book was told from the points of view of each of the guests, but it took me a bit to be able to keep them all straight as there were so many.
Read this if you like:
♦️ Locked Room
♦️ Lots of POVs
♦️ Whodunit
♦️ Unreliable narrator
If you are looking for a unique murder mystery type book, try this one when it comes out next year.
Thank you @atriabooks for sending me a gifted copy of this book.
I appreciated how the book was told from the points of view of each of the guests, but it took me a bit to be able to keep them all straight as there were so many.
Read this if you like:
♦️ Locked Room
♦️ Lots of POVs
♦️ Whodunit
♦️ Unreliable narrator
If you are looking for a unique murder mystery type book, try this one when it comes out next year.
Thank you @atriabooks for sending me a gifted copy of this book.
October 9, 2024
Mind blown.
What a heck of a locked room murder mystery! I couldn’t put it down and had to put my life on hold to finish it as I had no idea how it was going to end! I was not disappointed.
We have a ‘And Then There Were None’ Christie set up. 10 guests, all strangers, having dinner in an old mansion. None have any memory of how they got here. The doors are locked. The windows are shuttered. They must find an abducted girl before she dies and each have a countdown timer attached to their wrist.
10 very different personalities. With hidden secrets.
A ‘Beast in the Cellar’ who pops up now and again to discuss the progress and pose questions.
The book is narrated from the POV’s of each ‘guest’. Very very clever!
And the Hispaniola! Omg I remember that at Scarborough!
Fasten your seatbelts for a heck of a ride in April 2025!
Thank you so much to Jamie-Lee Nardone for a super early e-arc to review.
The Other People is available to pre-order now.
What a heck of a locked room murder mystery! I couldn’t put it down and had to put my life on hold to finish it as I had no idea how it was going to end! I was not disappointed.
We have a ‘And Then There Were None’ Christie set up. 10 guests, all strangers, having dinner in an old mansion. None have any memory of how they got here. The doors are locked. The windows are shuttered. They must find an abducted girl before she dies and each have a countdown timer attached to their wrist.
10 very different personalities. With hidden secrets.
A ‘Beast in the Cellar’ who pops up now and again to discuss the progress and pose questions.
The book is narrated from the POV’s of each ‘guest’. Very very clever!
And the Hispaniola! Omg I remember that at Scarborough!
Fasten your seatbelts for a heck of a ride in April 2025!
Thank you so much to Jamie-Lee Nardone for a super early e-arc to review.
The Other People is available to pre-order now.
March 14, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
The Other People.
I wasn't intrigued by the premise since my first thought was, "Another locked room mystery with a cast of strangers? Another Agatha Christie wannabe?"
This is the 10th? book I've read with a blurb mentioning Agatha Christie.
Reviewers are comparing this to Shutter Island but I think it's most akin to the movie Identity.
I began to have suspicions about the plot 1/4 in when the characters started dropping like flies.
I'm not a fan of using DID or any form of mental illness as a literary device, especially when the author implies people with DID are violent.
There's so much exposition and info dumping you can skip pages and miss nothing.
The characters are all unlikable but that's not the point.
The point is, can you figure out the twists?
I did almost from the start and I'm not impressed.
There's nothing new or original with this premise.
Some movies have used this technique in similar ways and told a better story.
Like Identity. RIP Ray Liotta.
I'm tired of these locked room mysteries and Agatha Christie knock-offs.
But I know this trend will only get worse, not better.
I keep reading these books because I'm hoping I'll be surprised (in a good way) but so far, no dice.
I should stop when I'm (not) ahead.
I wasn't intrigued by the premise since my first thought was, "Another locked room mystery with a cast of strangers? Another Agatha Christie wannabe?"
This is the 10th? book I've read with a blurb mentioning Agatha Christie.
Reviewers are comparing this to Shutter Island but I think it's most akin to the movie Identity.
I began to have suspicions about the plot 1/4 in when the characters started dropping like flies.
I'm not a fan of using DID or any form of mental illness as a literary device, especially when the author implies people with DID are violent.
There's so much exposition and info dumping you can skip pages and miss nothing.
The characters are all unlikable but that's not the point.
The point is, can you figure out the twists?
I did almost from the start and I'm not impressed.
There's nothing new or original with this premise.
Some movies have used this technique in similar ways and told a better story.
Like Identity. RIP Ray Liotta.
I'm tired of these locked room mysteries and Agatha Christie knock-offs.
But I know this trend will only get worse, not better.
I keep reading these books because I'm hoping I'll be surprised (in a good way) but so far, no dice.
I should stop when I'm (not) ahead.
March 9, 2025
C. B. Everett’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 is a locked room mystery set in the middle of the night at a dark, ornately decorated manor. Ten strangers wake up in separate bedrooms and—after coming downstairs for dinner—learn they must help solve a crime within twelve hours to find a way out of the house. The premise is very interesting, however I found the characterization lacking and did not feel a connection to any of the people. Without that emotional investment, the story was sluggish for me. This may be a better read for those who enjoy straightforward murder mysteries. Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
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