"But you know what they say are the two most heartbreaking words in the English language? What If. Or, if they don't, they really should."

I have been utterly captivated and addicted to this book, devouring it in less than 24 hours. It is absolutely incredible and The Other Passenger is now my favourite of Louise's books (and all of her others I have read were amazing)!

I really liked how this story was told from Jamie's perspective in the first person and his experiences following that fateful morning on 27th December 2019 when he gets off the river bus at his usual stop, only to find the police are waiting to speak to him. His friend and fellow commuter Kit has been reported missing by his partner Melia, and Jamie was seen arguing with Kit on the boat home just a few nights before. Unfortunately, this is the last time Kit was seen by anyone and the finger of blame is pointing right at Jamie...

It was really effective having the flashback chapters interspersed throughout Jamie’s narrative, showing how he and his girlfriend Clare first came to know Kit and his partner Melia in January 2019 and how their lives became so intertwined over the following months. I could really feel their differing personality traits and emotions, especially those of Jamie, who I found to be such a brilliant character!

I absolutely adored the setting of this book and really felt like I was there in London as I was reading. London is a city I love visiting for day trips and for concerts (I've even been to The Water Rats pub which was mentioned in passing to see bands I love) so I immediately felt a connection to Jamie and Kit's world. I can't wait for a time when I can visit this wonderful city again and think I will definitely have to go on a river bus (something I have never done before) to experience Jamie and Kit's journeys together.

The fast paced nature of this story was fantastic and for me the twists and turns made it all the more compelling. The ideas I had as it progressed couldn’t have been further from the truth! The scenes that transpired three quarters of the way through left me gobsmacked and my heart was racing! I did not see them coming at all. Then an even bigger event happened shortly after which left me completely and utterly speechless! This was such a phenomenally clever and gripping turn of events and the epilogue too; I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading! I still cannot stop smiling now at just how fantastic the whole plot was! I will be recommending this book to everyone!

This is a very well written book, and I did enjoy it. I did unfortunately find it a touch predictable, however this didn't take away from my enjoyment and I still read it in one day

Oh my goodness, Louise Candlish what a book! Having read previous books by this author I knew that it would be an adventure but that was something else. That ending...;!!! A psychological thriller with a cast of unlikeable characters and themes of envy and betrayal - I read this in 2 sessions, reading late into the night to finish it. I just had to see how it was going to end, and I was not expecting that!

The Other Passenger is a twisty and unpredictable thrill ride. Jamie is scared of the underground so travels to his job in a cafe on the Thames riverboat with his new friend Kit. On the 27th December, Jamie is met from the boat by 2 police officers asking questions about Kit - he gone missing and Jamie was the last person to see him, making him prime subject number one. From this point we Jamie's story from a year ago when he first met Kit and his girlfriend Melia. The 2 couples are very different in age and financially but enjoy spending time together.

I won't say anymore about the storyline as you will want to be shocked like I was when reading this book. Very cleverly written, I was addicted. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read.

What a beautifully unexpected narrative!
Just as you think you've got to grips with what's going on, the carpet is pulled out from under you at dizzying speed. Candlish has mastered the art of tension building, effortlessly weaving multiple threads of deception to leave you guessing at every chapter.
Fantastic read, finished it in 24 hours.

I’d heard great things about The Other Passenger and I have to agree it’s quite simply brilliant. I was drawn in from the first page and found it impossible to put down. Fantastically written, it’s thrilling featuring love, lies and deceit. A perfect recipe all wrapped up in a novel. Highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster and the author for the chance to review.

Although I love a good Louise Candlish book, this wasn't one of her best. My favourite is still Our House. Maybe I just didn't bond with the characters this time round. Still, I like books that are set in an unusual place so the use of the London's Riverbuses is a great one, this is where some friendships begin to start the story. There are little tit it's to keep you interested but I just thought something was missing but I can't put my finger on it

This is a well constructed, twisty thriller set in London, by a new author for me and I will revisit for sure. It starts on 27th December, Jamie Buckby does his morning commute on the river, but his commuter buddy, Kit, is a no show, probably another heavy night. As Jamie disembarks, ready for a day making coffees, he is met by two detectives, who explain Kit is missing and Jamie was the last person to see him alive, when he left him 4 days earlier for their commuter Christmas drinks. The detectives make it clear they think he knows something? Jamie knows nothing….doesn’t he?

The story then flicks back, with Jamie narrating the events of the last year which have lead up to Kit disappearing. It starts with a dinner party, Jamie and Clare, and Melia and Kit. Melia works with / for Jamie’s partner, Clare and Kit is her boyfriend. Clare and Kit are 20 years their junior and a strong friendship develops at hyper speed. The younger couple are so in debt, they live way beyond their means and the older couple live in a large house that the millennials are resentful of.

I’ll hold back from giving any more detail on the story as it would ruin it. This is really well plotted, the throw back timeline, really sets the seen and insight into the 4 main characters. There are a lot of feelings between the couples, both good and bad. You reach current day, two thirds of the way through the book and then the rug is pulled from beneath your feet. For the rest of the book there are more twists to through you again. The twists were so well disguised they hit you like a cold fish across the face, but he last 10% of the book for me, didn’t quite live up to the fantastic build up and lets it down slightly.

I received this free advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. I really enjoyed The Other Passenger and give this 4.5/5 rounded up to 5.

Instantly compelling, this is the kind of novel that you’ll be unable to put down. Jamie is a magnetic, not wholly likeable character. He brought to mind the main protagonist in Sabine Durrant’s Lie With Me - the freeloading Paul. Cafe worker Jamie is supported financially by his long-term girlfriend Clare who owns a large house in Prospect Square, having been helped to buy it by her wealthy parents. Jamie is vain and somewhat preoccupied by his approaching fiftieth birthday. When Melia and Kit, who are in their late twenties, come into his orbit, they soon begin sharing dinners and drinks with Clare and Jamie on a frequent basis. And when Kit suggests eschewing the tube in favour of taking the river bus to work, Jamie is only too happy to agree. Kit and Jamie then start to socialise daily on their trips to and from work. When Kit goes missing, however, it is Jamie who becomes suspect number one and Jamie’s comfortable life starts to unravel.

Addictive and beautifully written, there is nothing flimsy about this crime fiction novel. The suspense builds as the characters deepen. While I really enjoyed Candlish’s Our House, this novel is even better than that, the writing more accomplished and the characterisation second to none. I haven’t yet read Those People so will need to remedy that soon. A magnificent, pulse-racing read.

Sharply observed and smartly written, The Other Passenger is dark, current, satirical and twisty in all the best ways. Genuinely compelling, cleverly plotted and a delight to read, it stands out in terms of both quality and originality in a crowded field.

Very well written and enjoyable read. Numerous twists and turns to keep the reader enthralled. Interesting baseline topic of the wealth divide, particularly within a relationship and the lengths people will go to for money. Highly recommend.

I could not have enjoyed this book more! This has me gripped from the beginning. The bond of the commuters on the riverboat ferry; the conversations they shared on their commute as you might with near strangers gave an insight into their personal relationships. The love affair of Melia and Jamie isn’t all that it seems and when Melia marries her boyfriend and he goes missing her involvement is denied. This has many twists and was full of thrills, from the affair very close to home to the disappearance of Kit. Without giving away the ending all isn’t as it might be. I loved this and highly recommend it!

This book gripped me from the first chapter. As with her previous novels, Louise Candlish is extremely good at scattering a few crumbs within the first thirty or so pages which make you want to keep reading because you just have to find out more!

Again the characters are intriguing, never really good or bad and always with their flaws at the surface. The characters of Jamie and Clare are a couple in their late forties who befriend a much younger couple and the seemingly ordinary couple become carried up in some extraordinary events.

I really enjoyed reading this (devoured might be a better word), and Louise is fast becoming one of the authors I will actively look forward to reading in the future.

Thank you to Net galley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely incredible book, that grabs you from the start.

The characters are so well developed into the story, that you feel sorry one minute and hate another the next.

A story that makes you question whom you can trust, and that money isn't always everything

Highly recommend being your next read, with twists, turns and pure shockers.

Well done Louise candlish

I really loved Louise Candlish’ previous books, OUR HOUSE and THOSE PEOPLE, especially the way she explored the dark side of suburbia and dynamics between neighbours and friends. Also, I’m one of those readers who enjoyed GOTT, so the commuter aspect of her latest novel THE OTHER PASSENGER really appealed to me.

Jamie, a forty-something man with a dead-end job as a cafe barista and a fear of crowded public transport (this book was written before the covid crisis, so at the time those fears were not commonly shared by millions of others) befriends a fellow commuter on a London riverboat and finds himself as a suspect in his murder. Told through the eyes of Jamie and flipping back and forth between the past and the present, Candlish explores the events that got Jamie into his current unfortunate position.

As with her previous novels, Candlish doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to her characters’ less endearing qualities. So here we have Jamie, who has given up his career and is now aimlessly drifting through life, working in an underpaid dead-end job and living off his wealthy girlfriend Clare, who also owns the luxurious townhouse the couple live in. Far from being grateful for enabling his lifestyle, he has no qualms whatsoever about cheating on her with a woman two decades younger than her, justifying it with the fact that Clare has become less attractive and exciting to him as she is getting older. If you think that he is a bit of an asshole, you won’t find any of the other characters to be any more endearing. Kit, Jamie’s commuter acquaintance and pseudo friend, is constantly complaining about Clare’s inherited wealth and the fact that he and his girlfriend Melia have to live in a basic flat and aren’t able to afford any luxuries (boo-hoo!). Meanwhile, Melia is busy sleeping with Jamie whilst pretending to be Clare’s friend. What an utterly despicable bunch of characters!

My inability to feel even the slightest bit of warmth and empathy towards any of this lot was probably my big downfall here, because in its own right, the story was entertaining enough and contained enough twists to keep me guessing. But did I really care about the fate of any of them? Nope. To be fair, my timing was probably not great, because starting this book at the height of the coronavirus anxiety here, the many scenes of crowded commuter trains, parties, furtive sex in for-sale houses and parties felt not only unreal but also wrong – where is your social distancing, people? However, I am the sort of reader who needs at least one tiny redeeming feature in a character to be able to root for them, which was totally lacking for me here.

All in all, whilst I appreciate Candlish’ penchant for exploring the dark dynamics between friends, neighbours and partners, the cast of totally unlikeable characters kept me from fully enjoying the twists and turns of her latest mystery. Whist the general plot was clever, my utter dislike of each and every character made me reluctant to pick up the book and left a shadow of a deep dark depression over the state of modern society. I had to get together with my own peer group to remind myself of the good in people. If you like twisty mysteries featuring ruthless and unlikeable characters, then you will hopefully enjoy it more than I did.

"One day you're living the dream, commuting to work by riverbus with your charismatic neighbour Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn't turned up for the boat and his wife Melia has reported him missing."

It was a great read, full of twists and with an ending I didn't see coming.

I get so excited when there is a new Louise Candlish book out, because you know you are about to read a brilliant, twisty crime thriller that will keep you guessing to the last page. The Other Passenger was no exception.
Jamie and Claire make friends with another couple, Kit and Melia. They younger couple seem fun and exciting and the four quickly find their lives entwined. When Kit goes missing, Jamie is met after his morning commute by the police. He was the last person to see Kit the night before he went missing, and they were seen arguing. Jamie is suddenly a suspect.
I read this book in a day, like all the other Louise Candlish books, because nothing else seems as important as finding out what happened, then the twist about what REALLY happened.

Jamie and Claire befriend a young couple, the charismatic Melia and her partner Kit.
One thing leads to another and Jamie finds himself agreeing to join Kit on his commute by riverboat.
Their friendship evolves but then one day, the first day Jamie is back on the boat after the Christmas holiday, he learns that Kit is missing. And what's more, the police clearly suspect him of having something to do with his disappearance.

The story follows Jamie as he recounts his friendship with Kit, from when he first met him to the day he disappeared and beyond.
It was one of those books that have me on the fence about the rating.
The story started slow, but it was, however, intriguing enough to warrant 3 stars. I really enjoyed the style of narration.
The action did pick up about half-way through and had me gripped from then on. It turned out to be a roller coaster of twists and turns.
I reserve a rating of 4 stars and above for books that grip me instantly and keep me on my toes all through, and this book didn't tick those boxes.
However, I decided that the twists were enough to raise the rating and, in the end, I went for 4 stars.
It was my first book from this author but it won't be my last.

Amazing read. I couldn’t put it down. So many twists & turns and Louise’s writing just swept me away. Totally engrossing book.

Absolutely loved this book - lots of twists & turns and I kept thinking I knew what the outcome would be!!!!!!!

This was so good, so clever and twisted. I genuinely couldn't predict what was going to happen next. The author just keeps getting better and better with each book.