I didn't expect this to be so dark and the reveal at the end was shocking. However, I encourage everyone to read the trigger warnings before picking this up. "The Beast" was hands down the best character and those chapters were entertaining. If you are a fan of whodunit books with dark twists and turns, then I think you will enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc! This book was great at the beginning, fantastic ending, but the middle 75%was TOUGH to get through. Many characters and unclear where the story will go.

This book is a refreshing twist on the classic locked-room mystery, combining a nod to Agatha Christie with a modern, gritty edge. The setup is familiar: a group of strangers, isolated in a locked house, begin to die one by one. But this story takes things further by diving into the distinct personalities of each character, bringing depth to their inner lives and motives. Each chapter alternates between these characters’ perspectives, immersing the reader in their thoughts and fears, which helps keep the characters straight and makes it easy to invest in their stories.

Adding to the intrigue, the book includes commentary from a separate narrator, who seems to oversee the entire event and interjects with clues, hints, and often witty observations. This unique narrative device acts almost like an invisible guide, sometimes teasing, sometimes revealing just enough to keep the reader guessing. It’s cleverly done and adds a darkly humorous touch to the suspense.

As the story progresses, deeper themes emerge, with some characters grappling with existential and spiritual questions that provide layers beyond the mystery. However, the author’s recurring focus on religious themes can feel heavy-handed at times, leaning more toward the author’s voice than the characters’. While this might not resonate with all readers, it does give a sense of the characters’ turmoil and adds dimension to their desperation.

There’s plenty of suspense, and the sense of impending doom is palpable as the characters race against the clock. The plot twists keep coming, and while some sections may feel repetitive, the story manages to pull it all together with an unexpected, satisfying ending. For fans of a thought-provoking mystery with psychological and philosophical undertones, this one delivers a dark, engrossing tale that will keep you hooked until the last page.

The Other People by C.B. Everett brings a familiar, Agatha Christie-style mystery into a new, chilling context. Ten strangers wake up in a locked, decaying house with no memory of how they got there. To survive, they have to solve the mystery of a young woman’s disappearance while a killer lurks, picking them off one by one. With hints of Shutter Island, it promises tension and twists—but this comparison does give away more of the plot than it should. Knowing this angle removes some of the story's suspense and ruins a bit of the thrill of discovery.

The beginning felt a little slow and left me wondering about the direction of the plot, but the pacing picked up and proved itself as a clever, well-constructed story. Despite the large cast, it was easier to keep track of the characters than I expected, and they fit well into the mystery’s layers. There were moments of repetitiveness, and while that slowed things down a little, the mystery’s tension kept me engaged, and I was pleased to find a surprising, unexpected ending
Overall, The Other People is a solid pick for fans of classic whodunits with a dark edge. While it occasionally stumbles in pacing and lacks a bit of subtlety, it delivers enough intrigue to keep readers hooked. For anyone in the mood for a tense, twisted mind game set in a sinister old house, this story has plenty to satisfy.

In this gripping psychological thriller, ten strangers wake up in a mysterious house with no memory of how they got there. With cryptic details scattered around them and a shocking death right from the start, the strangers are thrust into a deadly game of survival, suspense, and discovery. Each must confront their hidden fears and secrets as they race against time to unmask the killer lurking among them—and to find the missing girl who may be the key to their survival.

Drawing on an Agatha Christie-esque atmosphere reminiscent of And Then There Were None, this story delivers tension and intrigue in spades. The characters’ personal explorations add depth to the mystery as they grapple with what drives them and who they truly are. This high-stakes, edge-of-your-seat thriller keeps you guessing until the final, surprising twist.

A must-read for mystery fans—I highly recommend it! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

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 was a wild story - a locked room mystery with ties to Agatha Christie. I had trouble at times understanding all of the characters but absolutely loved it by the end.

This was a really good locked door murder mystery book. It had so many twists and turns, and my guess on who the killer was has changed many times throughout reading this book. It was really thrilling!


Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Locked room mysteries are some of my favorites and this book did not disappoint. It was so much fun that I just wanted to sit down and devour it all in one setting, and thankfully I was able to do just that. All ten of the guests have secrets, and no memory of how they got to the mansion. It is rather intense. There are a lot of pov’s but it was okay, I ended up rather liking hearing the story from so many perspectives. It added spice and flavor. This is one of those books that you might want to have a notepad handy for notes, because you will want to use it. It helped me get through it with everything straight. Then the twists started coming, and they were great. The final twist was amazing and just made the whole book.

If you’re looking for a uniquely done mystery, then check this one out.

well
i somewhat saw that coming
due to the synopsis y’know?
some things are best left unsaid, not compared to
was quite a ride
but…. as said, some things are best left unsaid

I really enjoyed the way the thriller element that worked with what was going on in this universe. The characters were everything that I was looking for and enjoyed how they worked in this. It had that feel that I was looking for and thought the serial killer element perfectly. I enjoyed the way C. B. Everett wrote this and can’t wait for more.

While this book had a strong start, it got really slow about 35% in and I ended up bored. I barely finished the book and the ending was terrible. I can see that this would be a fun read for other people but this just was not the kind of book for me.

I made it 35% into this, and I loved the concept and the beginning but it started to slow down quite a bit and almost lag a bit? With my ADHD it was hard to keep focused, so I am putting this one down for now but I do want to come back to it when I have a bit more attention to troop through.

The first 80% of this book is unputdownable. I didn’t enjoy the ending, but enjoyed the reading experience enough to recommend. 3.5/5 stars, rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for letting me read an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

WOW!!! What a great book!! This one had me hooked from page 1! This was a first for me from this author and I will not be my last! This one was a win for me!

Good morning Netgalley. First of all thank you so much for accepting me request. Second this book was pretty good. I liked it enough and I'd give it 3 stars.

Thank you @atriabooks for the eARC!
This book is my new hyper fixation. I am utterly obsessed. I was so enthralled that I was reading this on my kindle app on break at work. I had to find out what was going to happen! At no point did I ever expect the twist that caused me to nearly throw my kindle across the room - I was so shocked - but it made SO much sense.
This had me hooked like no other thriller has in ages. It tethered that line between thriller/mystery/horror and I absolutely loved it. The Other People releases March 2025 and I won't be done yapping about it until long after.

I really enjoyed this book, although I believe it may be one of those where people love it or hate it because of the ending. If that's the case, I'm definitely in the love category. A house that's locked from the inside with a group of strangers that begin dying one by one. Yes, it's an homage to Agatha Christie, but it's so much more than that. Each person has a distinct personality to help you keep them straight as you read about them and also from their point of view. There's also a narrative by another person involved in the story that is sprinkled throughout. They act as a sort of omnipotent being who ties it together, provides feedback on what you've read so far, and disperses hints throughout. That narrative is by far the funniest and quite clever if you're paying attention.

What kicks off the action is when they're informed that a girl is missing and they need to find and free her, leading to their own freedom. But they only have one night to do so. They're left confused and frightened with no idea how they got there and why they are tasked with this mission. And how will locating her automatically free them? Are they being watched as they move about the house? Are there other people and/or traps to hinder their success? Is the killer one of them or the person behind them all? So many questions and no time for answers.

I raced through the story, reading it in one sitting because I just had to see how it would end. Things happen throughout that make you feel there's no way to adequately explain all that you've read. You keep thinking it doesn't make sense and will never make sense, but just keep going. I urge you not to give up on the story and wait until the end to give it a fair chance.

I loved the style of the book, and I wish there were more stories this engaging and thought-provoking. It's so much more than you expect and well worth the journey.

Dang, if this author doesn’t have big issues with God and Christianity.

This is fine, you don’t have to be a Christian if you don’t want to, but why was it necessary to constantly bring it up? It didn’t add anything to the plot, in my opinion. I do see why the characters would feel that way, but it just seemed a little extreme to the point it felt like the author's opinion and not the character's opinion.

Anyways!! It started off promising. I thought it was a quirky kind of murder mystery. Kind of like Knives Out. Not super serious, but still a murder mystery. The Beast chapters were fun to read for the most part.

There were a lot of different characters. I worried it would be hard to keep up with them, but it wasn’t that bad once it got started.

But then as you went on, it got a little repetitive. I did enjoy that we got to go inside each of the minds of the characters and see what they were each feeling and thinking.

I thought the way/reason they died was a nice idea. I don’t want to explain that part so to not spoil anything.

I can honestly say I didn’t really see the twist coming. Everything wrapped up well enough.

So, I give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

(2.5 rounded down to 2) If a book is described as having both Scream and Agatha Christie vibes, then I am going to read that book. A bunch of people are locked in a mansion with no clue how they got there, and tasked with a mission to find a kidnapped woman within the house in 24 hours. I could absolutely be in the minority because I watch a lot of scary movies, but the plot twist is taken nearly wholesale from two movies, which was a real disappointment. I did like the writing - I found the dialogue to be overwritten and cringey at times, but there’s a reason for that, and I liked those choices. Even though I was frustrated with the twists and blurb and similarity to prior pop culture I’ve enjoyed, I sped through this. it’s fast-paced, there’s a good balance between interior monologues and dialogues, and I really liked the fact that we spend time in each of the trapped guests’ heads, along with someone referred to as “the beast in the cellar” who is basically used to inform the reader about the characters and provide interstitial beats. I think I was overall a bit disappointed, but I did have a good time while reading.