Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life. Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards. And Alice is being stalked.
None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.
Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.
The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.
Review
Firstly let me start by saying how much i adore C.L Taylor and i have loved every single book i have read by her. I was so excited for Strangers pre release and then i attended alot of online book festivals where Cally was attending and hosting. The constant chatter around this book had me obsessed before i had even read the first page and well.
Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met. They are all completely different people. Ursula is struggling to get a handle on her life, she thinks she killed her one true love, had a breakdown and is now battling through each day with a mediocre life. Gareth is a security guard who is looking after his poorly mum when strange postcards start appearing at his home. Whilst Alice who has just started the dating scene once more is been stalked after a disastrous first date.
We start the book as they are gathered around a dead body (this isnt a spoiler it is literally the beginning of the book) We then travel back to follow the three as their paths eventually cross. As they are going to have to learn to trust others and this is something all three characters lack. These are some of my all time favourite characters. They are such a mismatch of a bunch but they are fantastic.
Ursula is by far my favourite. She is deeply flawed, she at first glance is not the most likeable character but as i got to discover her, i warmed to her and she was just wonderful. She has been dealing with so much guilt and trauma and is carrying that around with her every minute of the day and it has had so much impact on her life. Gareth is a good man at heart, but as a character is lost. He is still struggling to deal with the fact his dad vanished and now his mum is struggling with dementia and it makes working for Gareth harder. Not only that - when strange postcards arrive, he takes his eye of the ball at work and that could have major impacts on his job. Alice is new to the dating scene with the help of her daughter who wants her to no longer be lonely. Yet when she attends her first date it ends horrifically and she feels only to be followed by a slightly better man. Someone however doesnt like that and before long Alice is being stalked.
Cally has done a wonderful job creating characters that have so much depth to them with flaws. The narrative itself is so gripping, i found myself settling in for hours to crack on with the reading. I liked following it from each characters point of view as we were lead to the conclusion. It was tense and thrilling as well as been so cleverly crafted to get back to the opening. I honestly didn't see it coming but i spent time with my heart pacing as i turned each page. Well, the conclusion just blew me (and my stress levels) out of the water.
I think by far this is my favourite read of hers, it has taken me a few days to try and get my thoughts down on this and the characters even turned up in my dreams...well Gareth did (he was in a murderous debate with his neighbour Jerry? hah!) I can honestly say every single bit of hype surrounding this book is deserved. A wonderful wonderful read.
I was gifted an e-arc to review but this has not biased my review, if you are interested in this you can pick it up on amazon
Author Info
C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and young son. She is a five times Sunday Times bestseller and her books have hit the number one spots on Amazon, Kobo, Audible, iBooks and Google Play. Cally has a degree in Psychology, with particular interest in abnormal and criminal Psychology.
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