While I enjoyed this, I also found it a bit disappointing. The writing was good & I liked how the three main characters were connected, but I felt that 3/4 of the book dragged. I liked the wrap up for each character & that last chapter was a surprise!

Strangers follows the lives of three main characters Ursula, Gareth and Alice as they each deal with the domestic dramas in their life’s relying on no one but themselves but little do they know that their lives will come together and they will need to rely on each other to stay alive.

This book is hard to review without giving away any spoilers but it is a good, easy to read domestic thriller which brings together the life’s of three likeable characters and finishes with a satisfying conclusion.

2.5 on this one for me. There were several things going on but I really thought they would tie together a lot sooner in the story. It was a fairly quick read, but I was mostly ready for it to be over. It didn't have that IT factor to grab and keep my attention.

I read the first 70% late at night and couldnt stop, i had to forcibly tell myself at 2am to put it down and go to sleep! The characters were fully fleshed and emotive, and the plot was fast paced and gripping. Everything i love and expect from a cl taylor book!

Clever, clever, clever!

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Enticed yet?

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

Ever read a book that you are enjoying and you think is good and there are a lot of 5 star reviews on the book and you think the book is good but not THAT good - not 5 star good and then you turn the page or swipe that kindle and have that HOLY CRAP moment because the Author just knocked it out of the ball park? That happened to me while reading this book. It went from good to great. Brilliant even.

Ursula (who BTW, I couldn't stop envisioning as Ursula the sea witch from the Little Mermaid.), Gareth and Alice are the three main characters in this book and they each have a whole lot of sumthin' going on in their lives. All have interesting story-lines, but I enjoyed Ursula's the best! Each is flawed and trying his/her best. Their individual POV chapters really drive the book and kept the pages turning. Their story lines are interesting and yet, I was left wondering how is this all going to come together?

In a reading slump? This one is for you! I was hooked in the beginning but once the Author brought it all together, it was fantastic!

Woohoo! This was a fun ride. Go in as blind as you can folks!

Riveting, Interesting, Captivating and Entertaining! What more could I ask for?

Highly Recommend!

Thank you to Avon Books, UK and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

A story is a world created by the author featuring a main character, their motivations, secrets and the people which feature in their little world. It can be so hard to create one world but what Taylor did here was create three little worlds all containing those vital aspects and expertly bring them together in the most crazy and thrilling ways. Each of the three strangers were well written, fully rounded characters with problems, needs and wants. Nothing was lacking in their development or individual stories and as the plot progressed and the story brought them together, wow. This is definitely going to be in my 2020 top ten. Taylor is amazing!!!

From the very beginning of C.L. Taylor's Strangers, the reader knows that the lives of Alice, Ursula, and Gareth will intersect, but we don't know until very near the end of the book exactly how this will happen. That's not a problem, though, because each character is so interesting, I wanted to keep reading to find out how each character's story would develop; the inevitable overlap of the three strangers' lives was just an added (very good) bonus at the end.

Each character brings a whole host of issues to the table. First, there is Alice. Her daughter has major boyfriend problems. Alice, in fact, has major boyfriend problems herself, and possibly a stalker. Then, there is Ursula, who has lost the love of her life. Also, she can't stop stealing things, has been kicked out of her house, has massive issues with her new landlord, and has gotten involved with the wrong customer on her delivery route. Finally, there is Gareth. Gareth has an ill mother to watch after, and problems at work with both his boss and a subordinate. Gareth might be interested in the lady next door, but she's got her own set of concerns with her bullied daughter. The narration moves smoothly between each character, and each of our three strangers is very well developed. Despite their issues, each strangers is surprisingly appealing.

Each stranger is dealing with loss and lonliness; but, in the end, they make their way to each other. It is a very satisfying ending. And then, just when you think the story is over, there is one more thing! It was a perfect ending.

Thank you to NetGalley, C.L. Taylor, and Avon Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I will certainly be seeking out other C.L. Taylor books. I hope you love this one as much as I did!

I absolutely loved this book. The tension really builds quickly and I had to read every spare minute!! Read it!!!

CL Taylor’s BEST ONE YET. I know I say that pretty much every time I read one of her books, but seriously. What. A. Belter.

Of all the faces bobbing around in a crowded shopping mall, Ursula, Alice and Gareth grow into a trio with utterly memorable personalities. They may exist independently of one another, yet they are interconnected by a carefully targeted curve ball that is thrown into the problematic lives they’re already juggling.

The plot sinks its teeth deep into our trio by taking alternating bites out of them. Their individual struggles may be slices of a much larger cake, but each is brilliantly layered with unease and curiosity. And that ending was simply the icing on top.

It’s the perfect representation of just how deceptive first impressions can be and how people’s motives and actions may surprise us, or trigger shrill alarm bells everywhere!

If you haven’t read this author before you can’t go wrong if you start RIGHT HERE. Great stuff.

Ursula is a delivery driver as well as a kleptomaniac.
Gareth is a shopping centre security guard who cares for after his elderly mother.
Alice is a store manager looking for love.
Three strangers who’s lives are about to collide.

The story is told in alternating chapters and each character has a completely different story to tell. After just a couple of chapters, I was totally absorbed, and every time I finished a chapter, I was dying to get straight back into their world again, it just meant reading the other worlds I was so invested in beforehand. This made the book completely additive from start to finish.

Something I love about Cally is how easy her books are to read. There is no waffle or overly in depth description, which means I am left to run wild with my imagination. I can still picture Ursula, Gareth and Alice in my mind now, and I bet that when you read Strangers, you will create a totally different version of the characters too, now you cant ask for more than that!

Part of me is so excited that I have already been lucky enough to read Strangers, but part of me is also gutted that I wont get to read it for the first time again - does that even make sense!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
I have always enjoyed reading books written by CL Taylor and Strangers was an intriguing story.
The storyline was about three strangers who come together and overcome a man who threatens their lives. The story tells the stories of Alice, Ursula and Gareth and how they come together at the end of the book. It was a crime novel and it was very clever how it all linked together at the end.
Highly recommended.

I want to start off by saying thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book, it was a very good read easy to follow along with storyline and characters. This was a new author for me but I very much enjoyed it, thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to reading more by this author again. I highly recommend this book to everybody.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

Strangers is a quick read with lots of suspense about three strangers whose lives become intertwined. Not to dark or creepy but a fun and suspenseful beach read.

Strangers by C. L. Taylor keeps you guessing, it’s pacy, original and engrossing from beginning to end.

The story is set in Bristol, UK and opens as Alice Fletcher, Ursula Andrews and Gareth Filer are looking at the lifeless body at their feet, these three people are the three main characters, they are strangers who unexpectedly come together.

A few common themes in the book are family, loneliness and violence. Our three main characters have interesting back stories and become quite likeable as the story progresses.

Strangers is cleverly imaginative you just don’t know where the story is going, I really enjoyed this twisty and unpredictable thriller.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a copy of Strangers in return for an honest review

This book revolves around three main characters, Alice, Gareth and Ursula, who have interactions with each other at the Meads shopping centre. This book tells the story of their three seperate lives which come crashing together spectacularly one evening.
C. L. Taylor weaves an intricate story between the characters which brings them closer together with every page, and as the story progressed I could not figure out what was happening or how it was going to end.
This is an absorbing page turner and I recommend this book to anyone who loves twists and turns.

This book follows three characters living in Bristol who are unconnected until events bring them together.

The story is extremely character-driven, so it's a good job that the three main characters feel real and are interesting to read about. I definitely connected more with Gareth and Ursula than Alice but all three are good characters. The story of Gareth and his mum did get me a little emotional towards the end.

I found the novel to be enjoyable, but not an awful lot actually happened. There was a lot of backstory and a few side plots, but I think from reading other reviews I was expecting a 'wow' moment that never really came. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by the last few pages, I just wish we'd got to know that character a little better throughout the book.

I've read all the adult books by C L Taylor and I preferred The Lie and Sleep, but would still recommend reading this one.

This clever book is told from different perspectives of very different people...strangers. This book is a page-turner! CL Taylor is such a good writer. Recommended for a very good read.

Strangers is told in third person from three POVs. Alice- the shop manager, Ursula the klepto courier and Gareth the security guard. Each one dealing with their own mystery; Who is stalking Alice? Where is Gareth's parent? What is Ursula's house mate hiding? The entire novel is filled with many questions but these I felt were the three main events.

I found Alice unbelievably irritating, she talks a lot about not wanting to seem desperate but honestly I've never read a more clingy character. She was obsessive and weak, I cringed at her behaviour all the way through the novel.

I was most invested in Ursula. She was just so real! All she needs is a bit of help and kindness but her appearance leads others to ignore her. Everything about her screams out for pity yet she only receives derision from those around her. Even with her theft addiction I thought she was the most pure, decent soul of them all!
Her storyline was definitely my favourite and the most intriguing.

Gareth is a loveable character. A salt of the earth, simple pleasures kind of guy that deserves a little love and attention but is held back by the responsibility of his ill mother.

Maybe it's because I'm local to Cally that I find her work to be so realistic. The way she ties every day life into thrilling mysteries makes it all so much more feasible. I whip through her novels at speed, they are easy to read and unfold in my imagination like a BBC drama- I'm right there watching from the sidelines.

There is one subplot in Strangers that was neatly tied up at the end which I felt could easily have been left out. It pops up throughout the storyline but doesn't really add anything to the novel. The explanation in the epilogue fell a bit flat and for me there was enough action in other areas to negate it completely.

Strangers is a heartfelt story of loneliness and consequences in the lives of the Bristol working class with twists and turns to keep the reader hooked.

Another brilliant book from C L Taylor – definitely one of my favourite authors. Strangers my attention from page one until the end.

The story is written from the point of view of three strangers Alice, Gareth and Ursula whose lives eventually collide.

Alice is a single mum with a daughter in her twenties still living at home. Alice decided to try internet dating but her first date unnerves her by being thoroughly creepy. In her flight from creepy date she comes into contact Simon who helps her in the situation and soon becomes part of her life. Things then get very odd.

Gareth is a security guard at the local shopping centre. He looking after his elderly Mum who had dementia but then receives a postcard from Gareth’s deceased father. Gareth is now trying to find out how this can be and thinks he keeps seeing his father on the shopping centre’s security cameras.

Ursula is a delivery driver and is struggling to hold down a job and keep accommodation, not helped by her addiction to shoplifting and acquiring of other people’s property. She’s been asked to leave her room in a friend’s house due her pilfering. She then finds a room in a stranger’s house called Edward. Edward is behaving oddly and making Ursula very uncomfortable but she is determined to stick it out and find what it is that Edward is up to and why he keeps his basement locked and insists on the radio always being on and on the same channel.

C L Taylor weaves incredibly tales of suspense, drama and twists. I think this is favourite yet but I still have some books of hers to read for which I am thankful as they are very much looked forward to.

Thanks Netgalley for my first book by this author. After this surprising ride I will be checking out all the others. I wasn't sure how this book would work with the three separate story lines. How would they connect? I couldn't even figure out what was happening, but holy wow, when it connected it was spectacular.

Three strangers that have two secrets. It all links to one evening. Ursula, Gareth and Alice. Ursula it living with killing the love of her life and Alice has a stalker. Gareth is getting crazy mail. But what does that all have to do with each other? I can't give much away because you have to read it to believe it, but trust me. You want to read it.