C.L. Taylor has long since been a favorite author of mine, but sadly this one fell short for me. I found it to be tediously drawn out. The book was about three separate characters; Ursula, Gareth and Alice and each of their individual lives that had no seemingly connection between them. The story went back and fourth about each person's indivdual life. This went on for more than half of the book and I found myself bored. No action really, and certainly not gripping as the description from the publisher states. I kept putting this book down, and found myself not reading like I usually do. It took me almost three months to get through this book. By the time I reached the end it was too late for me to really enjoy.
I do look forward to other books by C.L. Taylor, cause I know she is a good writer. This one sadly didn't work for me.
A very special thank you for the advanced readers copy from the publisher Avon Books UK via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The phenomenal C L Taylor is back and she is at her chilling best with her latest superbly addictive page-turner: Strangers.

Ursula, Gareth and Alice are three perfect strangers. They never met before and their lives have never intersected – until one terrifying evening that ends up changing all of their lives forever. The three of them have got their fair share of problems to contend with. But little do they realise that things are about to get a hell of a lot more complicated for each of them as they find themselves plunged into a terrifying reality from which there seems to be no escape…

Ursula had once thought that she had life figured out. A primary school teacher, she was in a relationship with the perfect man and everything seemed rosy and idyllic for her – until a cruel twist of fate had wrecked her perfect life and smashed it to smithereens. As her life spirals out of control, Ursula ends up losing the man she loved and her job and she now ekes out a living working as a courier and living in a shared house with her friend, Charlotte. Having developed the habit of stealing, Ursula’s kleptomania quickly beings to take over her life and threatens to destroy any semblance of stability she might have. When she ends up kicked out of the shared house by Charlotte’s new boyfriend, it looks like Ursula has lost everything again – until helps comes from an unexpected source. Is this the fresh start Ursula has been yearning for? Or has she just ended up making the worst decision of her life?

Gavin has got enough on his plate. As a security guard at a busy shopping centre, Gavin has to juggle the demands of his job with looking after his ailing mother. Gavin cannot help but worry about his mother, especially as lately she has been getting some less than welcome visits from people filling her head with all sorts of nonsense. Gavin has plenty to think about. He doesn’t need more added to his already fully loaded shoulders – until he begins to receive some strange and unsettling postcards…

After her divorce, Alice decided the time had come to stop hiding in her flat every weekend with a bottle of wine and reality TV and dip her toe in the dating pool again. The shop manager hopes to find somebody decent on a dating app and seems to have hit it off with a guy called Michael, who seems funny and charming. However, appearances can be deceptive and when their first date ends in a terrifying disaster, Alice vows to put dating behind her. But will it be so simple? Or will her decision to step out of the shadows have serious repercussions?

Ursula, Gareth and Alice are three complete strangers, but when their lives collide in the most shocking of ways, they realise that they have no other choice but to stick together because if they don’t one of them will die…

As soon as I read the first page of C L Taylor’s Strangers, I was completely and utterly hooked. An immensely talented writer who knows how to grab her readers’ attention from the off and keep them on the edge of their seats eagerly turning the pages, C L Taylor is an expert at scaring and terrifying her readers and keeping them completely and utterly captivated throughout.

Shocking, tense and so brilliantly written readers will want to devour it in a single frantic sitting, C L Taylor’s Strangers is a creepy and twisted page-turner from one of domestic noir’s most gifted writers.

This is the first book where I didn't figure out who is the bad guy halfway through the book. I used to avoid thrillers and mysteries just for the sake of this. I love how the story was weaved. Like she chose 3 normal people and wrote a story about them. Everything about this book was perfection and o thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this book.

Strangers by C.L. Taylor starts out with a bang as we find our three main protagonists standing over a dead body and contemplating what to do. From then on, the chapters alternate between fashion store manager Alice (the primary protagonist), shopping center security guard Gareth, and delivery
driver Ursula in the week leading up to that event.

This is my first book my C.L. Taylor and I enjoyed it immensely. The fast pacing isn't deterred by the changing in perspective in every chapter like I thought it might be. I rather enjoyed this style and think it added to the story. I also liked how well we got to know each of the main characters' backgrounds and what led these three strangers to be connected to the body. I liked the fact that the author took three everyday people and let them be the heroes of the story. The writing and descriptions were top notch and I had no idea who the "bad guy" was until the reveal. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Avon UK, C.L. Taylor, and NetGalley for gifting me with this copy in exchange for my honest review.

This booked had me hooked from the first page, it was fast paced and thrilling. I loved how the chapters featured the different characters and their back story and when it all came together for the thrilling conclusion I was blown away. I really loved seeing how each individual part tied in with others. How all these people who didn’t know each other we actually completely entwined. I highly recommend this to all thriller lovers out there. The writing style told a twisted and complicated tale without confusing the reader and that is why it worked so well for me. .

I jumped at the chance to read Cally's latest book, I always wonder how an author can better their last book. Some do, but some don't. Without a doubt, Strangers is the best yet. 
There are three main characters all strangers to each other, none of them have ever met, but they live and work in the same area. 
Gareth is a security guard and looks after his mother who has Dementia. He is currently at the centre of a police investigation, which he knows nothing at all about and is completely puzzled. 
And then, Alice who is living life on the edge, convinced a stalker is forever around her. She is desperate to find love, and her teenage daughter is giving her some advice. 
When you start reading, the characters stories are individually told, how they are inter connected is a mystery. Running parallel is the disappearance of complete strangers in the local area, which soon becomes the centre of the communities online discussion. 
The characters are intriguing, page turning reading which had me hungry for more. Cally's style of writing has you gripped and I felt as though I was observing the story sat alongside the characters. It's a writing style that makes visualisation very easy. 

All three strangers come together, but how? That one you will find out if you read Strangers. 
Three strangers, one area, secrets, stalkers and intrigue. 
Thank you to Avon and their publishing team and Cally for our advanced copy and invite to join the blog tour.

I adore C.L. Taylor’s books. What I love most is that she takes the most ordinary of characters although ironically, since Covid-19, these three appear more heroic than they might have done. Ursula is a delivery driver and most definitely a key worker in today’s society. Gareth is a security guard at a local shopping centre and Alice is the manager of one of the clothes shops in the same place. Just three people who don’t know each other, getting on with their lives.

Although they may seem ordinary, they all have things going on. Alice, recently divorced, finds herself at the mercy of a stalker. Ursula is kicked out of her home by her friend and has to find somewhere new to live. Gareth has issues at work as well as dealing with his mother who’s suffering from dementia. For me, this is where C.L. Taylor excels. She takes characters already under pressure and cranks up the tension more. I liked the way the chapters swapped between Alice, Ursula and Gareth and I was always left wanting more from each individual thread. Although there is a prologue at the beginning giving a hint of what’s to come, I honestly had no idea where the story was heading and how the three characters would finally come together.

Although the book is largely about Alice, Gareth and Ursula, there is an underlying thread about a possible murderer. This is kept pretty low-key but I would have liked a bit more about it. Overall, this is another excellent book from C.L. Taylor. Ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances, pushed to breaking point – it’s what C.L. Taylor does best!

Strangers by C L Taylor is a compulsive psychological thriller that hooks the reader from the very first page. Starting with the story’s climax and from Alice’s perspective, the narrative shows Alice, Ursula, and Gareth surrounded by some kind of gruesome blood bath, in a disorientated state not knowing how to deal with a dead body. The novel then flashes back one week before continuing with a linear structure that alternates the third-person perspectives of Alice, Ursula, and Gareth to reveal how these three strangers ended up in the position they are in.

Loneliness is one of the main themes running through the novel and this is no exception for divorced shop manager Alice. Whilst there are three main characters, Alice is the central protagonist: not only is she the first character we meet, but she is also the link that connects the other characters. Fed up of being on her own, Alice decides to bite the bullet and goes on a blind date with Michael, who she has met on Tinder. But when Michael turns up for their date half cut, then follows her to the toilet before telling her ‘You only had to ask if you wanted a quickie,’ Alice swiftly makes her exit; but not before dropping her bag, where its contents are scattered all over the floor. But all is not lost with Alice’s love life when a stranger who was also in the pub chases after her with the purse she left behind.

This scene introduces Gareth, who works as a security officer at The Meads, the shopping mall where Alice works. Sat in front of the CCTV screens, Gareth spots Alice being chased by a man and makes the wrong assumption that he is trying to attack her. Gareth’s story then splinters away from any connection with Alice as we learn about his own heart-breaking story; where, as a middle-aged man, he is unable to lead a life of his own as he is the main carer for his elderly mother who has dementia.

Ursula is a kleptomaniac and is connected to Alice as she has been shoplifting from the shop where Alice works. Despite the fact that she’s pretty much a criminal, I absolutely loved Ursula and she was definitely my favourite character. When Ursula is thrown out of the house she shares with her best friend for stealing her things, she moves into another house-share with the creepy Ed. But Ursula is on strict instructions to stay away from the cellar – and with the strange sounds that can be heard coming from this dark and creepy place, readers will be shouting at Ursula to stay well away!

Strangers is absolutely bursting with red herrings, which together with the clever way in which C L Taylor brings the different storylines together makes for one utterly addictive read. I have loved all of C L Taylor's books but this is definitely her best yet!

I recommend this book for fans of Jo Ullah, Louise Jensen, and Cara Hunter.

Before reading Strangers, I had heard so many good things about this author, and this book, so I had set my expectations pretty high. But, I have to say, that this book didn’t quite live up to them.

The beginning of the story was so promising. The first chapter was full of suspense, and ended with a dead body, leaving you desperate to know what happened. But, unfortunately, it went a little downhill from there.

The story just seemed to drag. Each character has their own story, but none are extremely gripping, and because of the multiple POV, it seemed as though every time one of their stories got interesting, it switched to a different character.

I do think that the personalities of the individual characters were written extremely well, and I particularly felt for Ursula when all that she had been through was revealed. I also really liked the fact that everyone involved were practically strangers to each other, but were connected in ways that they didn’t even realise.

Despite the fact that the person behind it all became fairly obvious way before it was revealed, the ending of the story was still full of excitement, and very satisfying.

I wouldn’t say this was a bad book, but there were times were I found it a little boring. It wasn’t exactly for me, but I’m sure a lot of people will absolutely love it, and there were definitely parts that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for my copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I give Strangers a 3 star rating.

A thrilling culmination of three stories into one dark, psychological thriller. Full of tension and constant drama. You will change your mind constantly throughout this read. It is a book full of twists and turns, shocks and surprises.
I liked short snappy chapters dedicated to each character. C L Taylor is a wonder and I’ve quickly got hold of more.
A highly addictive read.

‘Strangers’ is the latest book by CL Taylor.

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before. Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life. Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards. And Alice is being stalked. None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die. Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

I spent two evenings curled up with ‘Strangers’ , a gripping story of three people who have never met before but end up having their lives interweaved in a way that they never imagined.

Alice is a single mother and manager of a clothes shop who reluctantly decides to look for love, when a date goes disastrously wrong, she ends up being rescued by the charismatic Simon, a man that could certainly change her life for the better. But just as Alice imagines a relationship with Simon, threatening things start to happen and Simon disappears from her life. After the death of her partner, Ursula’s life fell apart and after being caught stealing, she ends up living in a house with a strange man with locked doors and strange smells and finally, Gareth’s father disappear 20 years ago but now someone is sending postcards to his mother, pretending to be him and then his Dementia ridden mother disappears.

Cally has done it again with this impressive thriller, combining suspense, drama page after page that hooks the reader right in. It’s obvious that the story was meticulously planned and structured with an ending that made me gasp in shock. All the characters are interesting with their issues and complexities, but I found myself particularly warming to Ursula, a damaged soul that never recovered from a bereavement. She’s a large woman in stature and personality and she seems to leap off the pages with the scenes that she’s in, I felt an empathy for Gareth, who’s a security guard who never really got a proper chance at life after his father disappeared and he became his mother’s carer. Cally has a great knack for creating characters that the reader has a connection and empathy for.

The story is seen from the perspective of the characters and each time new person was introduced into their lives, I found myself convinced that they were the villain, but in Cally’s style it was never obvious! As the story progresses, we see that they are strangers they may have passed each other in the streets but we see them being brought together in the most extreme and unexpected way in a cleverly written way.

A gripping story of lies and drama, ‘Strangers’ is another superb book from C.L Taylor, with a great premise, suspicious and relatable characters that grip the reader’s attention from the first page, this shocking and witty story is definitely one of my favourite books of 2020.

You can buy ‘Strangers’ from Amazon

My Review
I'm definitely a huge fan of Cally's work so I always feel huge anticipation when a new book is mentioned..
Her writing is superb and her storylines top notch...
Strangers for me was a great read...
I took to her characters Gareth, Ursula and Alice immediately.....
Each were quirky and fun in their own right....
I loved how the author told the story through each character....
Gareth the by the book security guard looking after his sick mum all the while really just wanting to settle down with someone to love...
Ursula the delivery lady resorting to shoplifting to hide her pain..
And Alice, the lady just looking for love but finding something all together different and putting herself in danger in the process...
A very enjoyable read, very firmly keeping Cally Taylor at the top of her game....
Well worth your time...

C.L. Taylor has done it again. Strangers was a fantastic read, following three rounded, realistic and interesting characters each with their own secrets and mysteries, which kept me coming back for more. The three narratives are woven together in a jaw-dropping denouement I didn't see coming. I've been impressed with all Taylor's books and look forward to reading the next!

This thriller has a fantastic construction, as it opens with the three main characters standing over a dead body, so we know immediately they are involved in a death, but not who is dead, which one killed them or why . The plot then scoots back a week and follows the separate stories of the three individuals who we quickly realise don’t know each other at this point, so we spend the rest of the book trying to find out how three strangers come together in a week to be involved in a death.

I found this story really compelling in so far as the three protagonists are very ordinary people leading fairly dull lives, who all get dragged into something extraordinary through a series of unremarkable occurrences. It makes you wonder how far any of us are from becoming embroiled in something way out of our control through a tiny twist of fate. From the beginning it is hard to see how any of these simple people could become involved in a violent death, but the plot slowly and cleverly draws the disparate threads together that bring them all to one place. It is very skilfully done, and fascinating to follow. I loved the series of false trails that were laid to trick us into following them and coming up only with red herrings. I didn’t guess where the story was going to end up until quite close to the conclusion.

As well as being a gripping thriller, the story builds three very believable ordinary characters that it is easy for the reader to relate to. Although not individually remarkable, they all dealing with a series of every day problems that any one of us may face at any time – grief, loneliness, infidelity, divorce, money worries, internet dating, sexual assault, unemployment, family illness, troubled teenagers, domestic abuse, psychological distress, workplace stress – which of these triggers, small or large, are the ones that push these people to the place where they find themselves in a terrifying situation.

This is a book that propels you through the story and holds you tightly in its grip until you get to the end. I read it in two sittings (it would have been one if I’d not started it late one evening and fallen asleep before I could finish.) It is a domestic drama, than a thriller filled with whizz bangs and explosions, but it actually all the more gripping for it. This could happen to you or me. Maybe we should be afraid.

Another fantastic and gripping thriller from Cally Taylor, fans of her books will not be disappointed.

I absolutely loved Strangers! It is a very engaging read. I’ve previously very much enjoyed C.L. Taylor‘s Sleep and I think this is even better. I loved the main characters, who were all very believable and sympathetic. Their individual situations were really well described and realistic; they really came to life for me and I could picture them vividly.

Strangers is very cleverly written, with each story strand developing with its own twists and mysteries as they also gradually weave together in an unpredictable and thrilling way. This is a really satisfying and enjoyable book and I recommend to anyone who enjoys a mystery thriller. The extra little surprise at the end was the icing on the cake and I look forward to more from C.L. Taylor.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy of the book.

One great author, another brilliant book!

This book sucked me in and then spat me out! Within a space of a few hours, I became fully absorbed by the story and could not stop until it was finished.

The story is compelling and wound tight. Three characters, with three stories, how do they relate? Taylor leads the way and shows us exactly how using her expert thriller style. Constantly trying to figure out how the story is going to pan out – I never got bored, was always entertained – and most importantly couldn’t stop reading but never wanted it to end!

The characters are authentic, vivid and powerful. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, in true Taylor style, we become familiar with them, relate with them where we can and feel involved in their stories, regardless of whether we like them or not. This is my favourite part of Taylors books – the characters – they are always rich and always front and centre of the whole thrilling caboodle!

A tale of three threads which evolve into one, with a flaming brilliant ending! Go on read it, you know you want to!

Quite a fun slow burn thriller which roller-coasted in the last few chapters like a rocket. Author C. L. Taylor made me crave to get to the ending with each chapter I read. Everything felt like a teaser right up to the end.

Alice, a rookie tinder user, Ursula, the Amazonian shoplifter, and Gareth, the security guard looking after his mom. All three were bound together yet unknown to each other until the very end. They were the Strangers.

Having read many books by the author, I loved how she slowly led me down the pages almost gently. I tried being a detective to find out how the three could be connected. Alas, all my theories were wrong. The author completely blindsided me.

3 characters, 3 lives, 3 stories all masterfully tied together in suspense and mystery by the talented author until the secrets exploded and truths came to light.

Overall, a fun breakfast read.

This is the second book by CL Taylor that I have read and it is just as impressive. The psychological thriller element is written to perfection, as Taylor gives us many indicators that things aren't quite right for her characters and the sense of creepiness and tension made me want to read on to discover what was happening.

Each chapter is narrated by a different character - mostly Alice, Gareth and Ursula. I enjoyed the insight into their circumstances which shined a light on some interesting issues, such as grief, relationship breakdown and Alzheimer's. Each element of the characters was really well drawn, and whilst they are not always likeable, I had a good understanding of why they did what they did.

At the beginning of Strangers, it is not clear how everyone is connected, but towards the end, as their lives collide, the tension becomes unbearable. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know how it would end.

Strangers ends with an interesting twist that left me thinking about the characters some time after I had finished reading.

I flew through this book, finishing it within 24 hours. Very gripping from the start. Great story. The author is very talented at describing characters and their relationships. Well done.

I absolutely loved this book! Dark, twisted, creepy, keeps you in suspense and guessing...it has it all and I had many late nights reading this book as I couldn't put it down!