This book was labeled as the next Girl on the Train, but I didn’t really get that vibe. There were some twists to the story, but I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Jamie has a supportive girlfriend that he has been with for 10 years, and despite having nothing to offer her, he is the one who strays with a girl (Melia) who is way out his league yet doesn’t see the red flags with this. There wasn’t any great climax to the story and then it just fell kind of flat.

When one of the foursome goes missing...well accusations start flying. Envy, privilege, deceptions and a couple of huge twists that I certainly did not see coming. What more could you ask for?!! My first book by Louise and it will not be the last Amazing!!

What an exciting read! If you enjoy twisty books that will surprise you then this is the book for you. The Other Passenger is well written and the plot is plausible which I feel is often lacking in thrillers. The dialogue flows well and the book has the perfect sense of atmosphere. This was a gripping thriller that I highly recommend.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.I read this book in 1 day.It was okay to me just a little too predictable at times.

Another great store from Louise. Very intriguing story that keeps you guessing until the end. Great plot twists and one of the best endings. She writes great characters that you will love and feel sorry for and others 5hat you will think are total duds and deserve what they get. Lots of good drama that takes place right around the Christmas holidays.
#theotherpassengers, #netgalley, #louisecandlish

initial thoughts: a fun, fast paced, twisty thriller! while the ending of this one slowly revealed itself, there were still twists + turns I didn’t see coming.

while the majority of the characters of this book left little to like, I was fascinated by the commuter river boat that Jamie + Kit took & from work every day. public transportation with a bar? sign me up, London.

big thanks to NetGalley + Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

This is an interesting domestic thriller full of twists and turns. However, the ending gets a bit confusing, bringing it to a 4 star.

Yessssssss. Do read this. I enjoyed this title quite a bit. I imagine the audiobook would also be compelling.

I absolutely loved this book! It was a twisted love triangle and based on lies, deception, and murder! What better combination for a thriller! The characters were fabulously developed and Candlish did a great job making readers love to hate all of them and hate to love all of them. The plot was devilishly unraveled and perfectly timed. I would highly recommend this book to any psychological thriller reader.

Thank you to NetGalley, Louise Candlish, and Atria Books for a copy of the E-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was my first book by this author and while this one didn't fully do it for me, I do look forward to reading more from them. The plot was decent (as I easily wanted to keep turning the pages) but I really really really despised the characters. I'm not sure if there was a single character I didn't want to punch in the face most of the time. A decent twist around the end helped this one out too.

3.5 Stars.

This was an enjoyable book with good writing. The characters are hard to like but that is what makes the story interesting. The story became a little slow during the middle but really picked up by the end.

This was a like for me, as opposed to a love. The pacing is slow enough that I put it down regularly, but it was compelling enough that I picked it back up every time. Would be a good book club pick, as there is much to discuss, especially about the characters and their motives.

I’m not exactly sure how to put it, but this crime thriller is absolutely amazing. It is the first novel I have read by this author, and I am in the process of downloading her others as I type this review.
From the opening pages to the messy conclusion, the author weaves a story with a clever plot and compelling characters.
That is not to say that the characters are likable. In fact, I can honestly say that I didn’t particularly care for any of them. But that makes it easier to read what happens to them with a sick fascination.
It is sort of like watching reality television or tabloid journalism. You know they have put themselves in the situations, but you can’t look away from what happens to them.
Jamie, the true main character, is relatable in a Gen X way. I know several people who have lost jobs for various reasons and are finding it difficult to re-enter the workforce.
Does this mean he is a sympathetic character? Not really. Because he makes foolish choices and then gets burned by them. That is no spoiler, but his character arc is quite satisfying.
Melia and Kit appear to be stereotypical millennials. But are they or do they have a deeper drive? Regardless, I enjoyed many of Jamie’s observations about the difference in generations.
I can’t say much about the plot because it is too twisty and there are too many things that could get spoiled. Let’s just say that I have about a dozen notes of different theories and most of them are incorrect.
What I like most about this novel is that the author’s pacing and plotting allow for the reader to have “aha moments” shortly before the characters. There were numerous times I returned to earlier parts of the book to see where the author dropped hints.
Truly masterful.
The homages and influences are apparent (at least to me). I caught a whiff of “Double Indemnity” and there is a meta moment with another movie
I don’t want to name that movie because it might spoil a plot point. But the reference is there.
I highly, highly recommend this crime thriller. And I can’t wait to dig into her other books.

This was the first book I've read by Louise Candlish and she did not disappoint! I love the cover for starters. Secondly, this story! Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the slow burn and the ending was so satisfying and really brought on that wow factor for me! I did not see the twists coming and that really makes a book great for me!

Author Louise Candlish relates that she was inspired to write The Other Passenger by the 1944 classic film "Double Indemnity" starring Barbara Stanwyck as a femme fatale; generational conflict -- in this case between Millennials and members of Generation X; her love of thrillers set on modes of transportation and commuter culture; music -- lyrics of songs mentioned provide clues to her characters' motivations and plans; and real estate. In The Other Passenger, Candlish incorporates a family home -- a valuable Georgian town house by the river in which Jamie and Clare reside -- which stands in stark contrast to the apartment in a rundown area for which Kit and Melia struggle to pay the monthly rent, The stately home helps emphasize the economic disparity between the couples.

Incorporating those elements, Candlish has crafted a clever, suspenseful, and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of not just "Double Indemnity," but also "Body Heat," the 1981 film starring Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. She employs a first-person narrative by Jamie that begins with an interrogation at the pier on a December morning as he attempts to board the river bus and begin his commute to his job as a barista. Kit has not shown up for the morning commute -- he has gone missing, and it quickly becomes clear that Jamie has come under suspicion. They were seen fighting the previous night, and Jamie has to ensure that the bruises on his collarbone remain concealed by his sweatshirt. The detectives suggest that it was an unidentified passenger who observed Jamie engaging in suspicious behavior and reported it. But Jamie has no idea who that passenger could be. Or if the informant could be someone related to an earlier event in his life who has been stalking him.

From there, Jamie describes the events of the prior eleven months, beginning with Clare announcing that Melia has begun working at the real estate firm where Clare serves as a rental agent. Jamie and Clare's relationship is strained because Jamie's career imploded after what he describes as a "mental health episode suffered a year and a half ago among total strangers" and he has not made satisfactory efforts to resurrect it, in Clare's estimation. They live in that aforementioned Georgian town house that actually belongs to her parents -- they bought it in the 1980's before gentrification made it a sought-after location. Kit and Melia are would-be actors struggling to pay the bills with Kit toiling at an insurance brokerage. They have unpaid student loans, have defaulted on credit card payments, overdrawn their bank accounts, been evicted, and owe overdue rent for their new residence. "Their salaries barely touch the sides of the money pit."

Candlish deftly reveals the conflicts in the four characters' relationships that develop over time. Clare wants Jamie to take advantage of the opportunities she has afforded him to get his life back on track, utterly unable to understand why the former marketing executive seems content working a dead-end job far below the professional standing he previously enjoyed. She is anxious for him to become her equal in every way. Jamie is happy to reap the rewards of Clare's privilege (they live in that beautiful home rent-free), but emasculated by his understanding that he must sufficiently placate Clare to avoid becoming homeless. "The truth was that by leaving my white-collar career I'd rendered myself as economically helpless as the Ropers." He is gradually unmasked as a man who is not as principled as he initially seems -- a liar who deceives Clare in order to maintain the status quo, justifying his mistakes because he has "to grovel." Candlish injects jaw-dropping revelations at expertly-timed junctures, compelling the story forward at a steady pace.

Envy plays heavily into the plot as Melia and Kit openly long for and not-so-secretly resent the lifestyle Clare and Jamie enjoy. Jamie, Kit, and Melia characters are, in varying degrees, duplicitous and willing to form alliances and double-cross each other to attain the standard of living to which they aspire without having to earn it. One character is particularly hapless and gullible, failing to observe and heed the clues that Candlish simultaneously presents to him and readers, at his own peril. As the story progresses, allegiances shift, secrets are disclosed, theories proffered and discarded, and those generational divides, coupled with old-fashioned morality, prove to be impactful. Candlish incorporates astute observations about the difficulty young adults face as they emerge from college burdened by student loan debt and find home ownership an elusive dream.

The Other Passenger is a tautly-crafted, character-driven thriller. Replete with with surprising plot twists, the contemporary setting and relatable struggles Candlish's characters confront enhance its believability, making it thoroughly entertaining.

I'm a sucker for a book that features a narrowboat! Luckily there have been several the last year or so. I haven't loved her earlier work but the narrowboat got me. I felt like there was good character development and things made sense chronologically in a way I've found lacking in recent books.The middle dragged but the last third really had some fast plot going and sucked me back in. Great travel book.

Somehow I haven't read more books by Louise Candlish, but I will be going back to find some after reading this one! The Other Passenger drew me in from the get go, and did not ease up with the twists and shocks throughout! I love mystery thrillers, and kept wanting to read more to find out what would happen and how things would tie together.

The Other Passenger is a twisty psychological thriller by author, Louise Candlish. The story opens with Jiime Bucky being questioned by the police about the disappearance of Kit Roper, a friend and fellow passenger on the day ferry into central London. Told in the first person by Jaime, he tell of how the friendship developed between him and Kit Roper despite a 20 year age gap and the differences between their jobs and economic circumstances, as well as how they both came to be riding the ferry together everyday. It also becomes clear that Jaime is an unreliable narrator and not everything he says can be taken as true, raising questions not only about what he tells the police about what really happened on the boat but who the other passenger is who claims to have witnessed an altercation between Jaime and Kit despite Jaime's attempts to downplay the incident.

The story begins slowly but quickly picks up speed as we learn more about what happened and why as more about the characters and their secrets are revealed. So why only 3 stars? Well, as much as I enjoyed the book, I never felt fully committed to it and that is down to the characters, all of whom I found unlikeable; as a result, the ending just didn't have the impact it might have had.

But that is just me and I have no doubt most readers will enjoy the story despite or perhaps because of the characters and I leave it to them to give a more favourable review.

<Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

The story starts out relatively slowly but picked up its pace fairly quickly

Synopsis: When Jamie switches up his routine to work after being stuck in the subway system, he decides the ferry is a much better option. Jamie takes the same ferry each day and finds a group of friends that he enjoys talking to. Little does he know that one of them will end up dead and him to blame.

Thought: I enjoyed this book. I think that the author did a great job keeping the reader guessing. This is definitely a book I wish I could read again for the first time to see if I picked up on the same things or saw things differently. I think that the characters were developed and very impactful to the story. I recommend this one to anyone looking for a mystery book with unexpected twists and turns.