Okay, yeah I liked this book. It's definitely the kind of psychological thriller that I'm drawn to. There was a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting and I found myself thinking about the characters even while I wasn't reading. I didn't particularly love any specific character but I was invested in the outcome of everything. I also wanted to scream at Jamie a few times throughout the book, especially towards the end.

I'd heard a lot of buzz about this book and was excited to read it. It was a little slow to get rolling for me, but the second half (when the plot became apparent) really sprang to life for me. It took me 10x the normal length of time it takes me to read a book and I think that's because the characters were incredibly difficult to relate to, all of them dislikable in unique ways. It was hard to find someone to root for. (or care about) in this cast of loathsome people. That said, this book is definitely readable and will have no problem finding readers and I always appreciate some good twists and turns,! But overall for me, this one fell short.

The book is well written. The dialogue is very believable. The characters are well constructed though not particularly likeable. The initial friendships between the four main characters (Kit, Jamie, Melia and Clare) unravel as the time progresses. Kit and Melia are in their thirties, despite having good jobs and living in London they are broke and debt laden. There seems to be a growing resentment towards Clare (whose beautiful house was gifted by her parents) and Jamie. Both couples have issues. The story surrounding Kit’s disappearance, lies woven. Jamie is the narrator but theres more than one side to any story,

This is an absorbing suspense story that can easily be read with a strong feeling of dread because of a lingering sense bad things are coming.

Jamie Buckby learns about the disappearance of his mate Kit Roper when he is confronted by police detectives. It's at the end of his morning commute by river ferry into central London one morning after the Christmas break. Usually, Kit and Jamie travel on the same boat each day. Their friendship came out of a dinner invitation Jamie's girlfriend Clare extended to Kit's girlfriend (later wife), Melia, who works in her upscale real estate company.

The initial police interview kick starts the story, which is narrated by Jamie Everything is seen from his perspective. The backstory of the foursome's friendship is developed chronologically in retrospect. Jamie turns out to be an unreliable narrator however, which becomes more apparent as the story develops.

"The Other Passenger" is a brisk read with a credible easy-to-follow plot. There's plenty of twists and some red herrings too. Things resolve as the story ends with an ironic twist (hint: all does not end well) that delivers some just desserts. It's an exciting urban thriller with a touch of a morality tale.

The publisher provided a complementary advance reading copy of the eBook of "The Other Passenger" for my independent review. The comments about it are my own.

I wasn't expecting the story to end the way it did! What a twist! This is a well written story, I like Jamie and part of his story line surprised me....and made me think: no Jamie you didn't do that! There were moments when I thought that I didn't want to know what happened....then I changed my mind and just had to know. Louise Candlish's writing drew me back in to the story.

A very drawn out suspense. Started to get really good at just over halfway through. Glad I persisted and kept reading.

ah, this book was so amazing - a true page-turner, from beginning to end!
i loved the style of writing.
the characters were all believable and mesmerising.
the crime was genius! the story was gripping and chilling!
i think this is going to be a huge hit!

(Disclosure: I read a free copy through NetGalley)
This book had a double twist that surprised me! It took me a bit to get going but by the halfway point I was whizzing through the pages. There was enough intrigue to keep me interested, but reasonably light (no deep philosophical bits).

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this ARC. I throughly enjoyed this book.


Generation x meet generation Millennial.

Jamie, a Gen X-er working in a cafe, lives with his partner, Claire, (also a Gen X-er ). Claire works in real estate and together they live in an upscale house in London.

Claire befriends a new work employee named Melia, (a Millennial) and invites her and her partner Kit, (also a Millennial) over for dinner.
Kit and Jamie hit if off and agree to commute to work together on the river boat.
The men start a fast friendship, drinking together at the pub after work, but their friendship begins to sour as jealousy, and feelings of resentment and entitlement take root.

On the commute home for the Christmas holidays, Jamie and Kit get into a bit of a tussle and then Kit doesn’t show up for the morning commute after the Christmas break.
Jamie seems to be nursing some injuries from his tussle with Kit, suspicion that something untoward begins to mount and intensifies when two detectives walk up to Jamie as he disembarks the boat on the other side.

Kit is missing and hasn't been seen since the night of their argument. And another passenger, “the other passenger” reported seeing both Kit and Jamie arguing.

Jamie is under suspicion. Could Jamie have motive in Kit disappearance? And where is Kit's body?

Melia of course is distraught over Kit’s disappearance. Or is she.....

From this point the book takes you on a wild ride of twists and turns full of lies and jealousy.

Are any of the characters honest or even likable in this book?

Louise Candlish is a master at keeping you guessing all he way through this twisty plot.

This was my first book by Candlish but it won’t be my last. I’ve already put some of her backlist in my cart at Amazon.
This book is already out in the UK.
It will be out in Canada and the US on July 20, 2021. You're gonna want to read this one, so get this in your cart for pre-order!

If a middle aged man was in The Girl on the Train, or Gone Girl - this would be that book.

Candish gets you very invested in the story - you know what it feels like to be trapped, to have a phobia so intense it cripples your life, to have to take a cafe job - but even then your life only continues because of your partner's fortune. you know what it feels like to be living on the edge, to have so little of your life in your control.

And yet... there is something. Something riveting, and young, and sexy, and wrong.

And then he goes missing, and then it's murder. Hoe do you factor in to it? He was just your mate, from your commute. But it wasn't just that.. but what it was will keep you turning page after page, long after you should be asleep. The Other Passenger is perfect for fans of Femnoir fiction, and for those who know that a slow start means a big payoff.

A slow burn, twisty thriller with and ending you don’t see coming.

One day Jamie is stopped and questioned by the police on his way to work about his friend’s disappearance and it is all downhill from there. Or is it?

You can’t trust anyone in this 3.5 rounded up to 4 star book which is just how I like them. Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a digital ARC of The Other Passenger. All opinions in this review are my own

I had a great deal of difficulty getting into this book. It seemed to drag . The narrator has , at times , a rather complex way of expressing himself. Having said that, I am very glad that I kept on going.
As the main character develops you think the story is going nowhere or you think know exactly what is going to happen and then three twists later you find out you weren’t even close. What a ride at the end of the story.
The story is thought provoking as a comment on societal values as well as a good mystery.
You will find yourself evaluating the characters long after you finish the book.
If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins you will enjoy this book even more.

Goodness me! At first the story is unhurried with no sense of urgency, but it once it got going, boy, did it go the distance! The tension practically had me gnawing my tongue. My favourite aspects are the kinks, bends and u-turns. Secrets, greed and deceit in spades, the author messes with the reader's mind brilliantly.

Jamie and Kit commute on the ferry each day and get to know each other. Jamie is middle aged and Kit is about twenty years younger but they strike up a friendship. The two men and their girlfriends become friends as well so the four meet for drinks and hang out. But no relationship is perfect and Jamie and Kit have an argument on the ferry, clearly witnessed. When Kit is soon discovered missing, Jamie is suspect #1. Enter the twists. Kit's girlfriend, Melia, and Clare, Jamie's girlfriend, become involved as do friends Gretchen and Steve as they are concerned with his whereabouts. The police ask probing questions which reveal even more layers of deceit.

Though it took awhile, the premise and story yanked me in like crazy. I didn't like the characters with questionable scruples and choices but enjoyed the clever psychological onslaught.

My sincere thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading the e-ARC of this roller coaster of a book!

The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish is a twisty ride (pun intended) that will keep you hooked until the very end. Ms Candlish skillfully teases out just enough of the ongoing suspense to have the reader fully invested in this slow burn of a thriller, and the end result is deeply satisfying.

Jamie shares his daily commute with his charismatic neighbour Kit. When Kit fails to materialize one day, Jamie finds himself being met at the end of his journey by the police, becoming the prime suspect in his friend's disappearance. Just whom among their fellow passengers is pointing the accusatory finger?

As mentioned previously, this one is a bit of a slow burn, as the author is meticulous in chronicling the details of both past and present, and the book is ultimately richer for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC.

The book starts out well. It’s done as a first person narrative; Jamie is telling the story of his ten year relationship with Clare, and his new affair with Melia.

Background information is brought up with good flow. How Clare met Melia first, through work; how Clare invited Melia and her boyfriend Kit for drinks; how Jamie had a psychological issue with crowds and could no longer take the subway; how Jamie and Kit ended up travelling to work together on the river boats; how Jamie and Melia started their affair; how Jamie and Clare stood up at Melia and Kit’s wedding (even though Jamie and Melia were carrying on).

Just as I started to get bored with the day to day events of Jamie’s home life, travels to work, and fling with Melia; the twists are suddenly thrown in. Things happen and the police are questioning Jamie. All along, Jamie is professing his innocence of any wrong doing (except for the affair), and confusion.

Then, as the story goes on, we find out that things are not all as they seem. The reader starts trying to figure out who is playing whom. Once the plot twists and turns started, I was expecting even more; but they stopped before getting unrealistic.

The ending shows that you must be careful what you wish for and that ultimately, people (e.g. Melia) don’t change their stripes. The ending was satisfying, each person got a level of what they deserved.

This would be a perfect book, but at the beginning some of the sentiments of Jamie seemed to me to be more the author's voice than the character's voice.

But really, that was a small matter. I figured the one twist was coming but be warned, there may be several more coming that will make you stay up way into the dark finishing the book.

If you think you have this one figured out, I promise you, you don’t. This was everything I like in a thriller. I absolutely hate when an author stoops to implausibility just to create a plot twist. This one has a lot of twists, alright, but every one of them is plausible. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie… you really went and got yourself into it, didn’t you?
The dialogue and the characters were very believable. The pace was fast; it took me an afternoon to whiz through this. I had to keep going to find out what happened. I loved the ending. I will definitely read more by the author.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a ride! From the very first page, this book had me on the edge of my seat and occupied my mind when I wasn’t reading it. There are so many plot twists and turns, but without it being overwhelming. There is a perfect balance between suspense and shock. It was written with just the right amount of detail, too; no endless dialogues. I found the description of the river commute and commuters captivating, and the drama between all the characters is excellently depicted. Every time I felt like I was getting a sense of what would most likely happen, something completely surprising would unfold! I think that’s a sign of a fantastic thriller!

I'm not normally a fan of suspense novels but I truly enjoyed this one. I found the story very compelling and I definitely didn't guess how it was going to play out. I enjoyed all the twists and turns and couldn't wait to get to the end. A fun read, perfect for summer.

Louise Candlish's The Other Passenger is a psychological mystery (or 'commuter horror story') told from the point of view of fortysomething Jamie Buckby, as he digs himself every deeper into a morass of his own making. Much of what happens occurs on a river bus traveling from St. Mary's Pier to Waterloo on the Thames in London.

The plot twists and turns around a set of rather unlikable leads to a rather surprising conclusion (in which only some get what they deserve) with a final twist at the end. If you enjoy psychological mysteries, dive into "The Other Passenger".