I received this book into audio form from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I found the concept here really interesting, and it was hard to guess where the gaps between the three storylines would begin to converge. This is both good and bad - I couldn’t see where it was going which is always good, but also it felt a little harder to connect with the story as a whole.

I think the second half of the book really goes from strength to strength - you really feel their fear and desperation. Ursula’s story in particular ramps up the tension, though I was more engaged with Alice’s throughout the book. Other than at the end, I have to say I wasn’t loving Gareth as much - though honestly I felt every second of his pain around his mum. That was very hard for me to read. The stalker aspect definitely propelled this book along, but it was nice to see all the various storylines fold together.

Also I love at the end we get a couple of chapters from additional perspectives, to explain things, these are lovely additions.

As with all of C.L. Taylor’s books, this was pacy and very human, I definitely recommend if you like a good thriller mystery. 3.5 stars.

I received an advanced copy of the audiobook from Netgally in return for my honest opinion.

Three people with their own lives and problems, seemingly unconnected, but woven together in a way none could possibly anticipate. Ursula still blames herself for the death of the love of her life. Gareth worries about his mother's advancing dementia and the strange postcards she has received from his long dead father, and Alice is being stalked after being attacked recently in a pub. Their individual journeys will crash together, affecting them and those around them.

I found the book compelling for all the right reasons.
Clare Corbett's excellent narration brought this story to life even more than the physical book (well, Kindle edition but you know what I mean), and conveyed real tension and humour. I even ugly laughed a couple of times at those moments of levity.

I instantly warmed to the main characters, and many of the supporting characters too. There was just the right amount of creepiness to a few which actually made me feel uncomfortable, but also compelled me to find out what would happen to them. The skillful way these interwoven destinies were written to collide left me breathless in places as I tried to foresee how things would develop. And of course, CL Taylor pulled the rug from under my suspicions, by providing a few hidden corners and twists.

Overall I can't recommend Strangers enough, hence the five stars, and can't wait to pick up another from CL Taylor.

Loved this book - what a page turner!! Following the lives, warts and all, of three main characters Gareth, Ursula and Alice. This is a well bought together fast moving thriller as we see the separate characters paths start to cross, with no idea where it is going until the dramatic finale. The characterisation is superb, requiring a very talented writer to bring the plot together in the way that this has been and to finish with such a conclusion. In this audible version Clare Corbett is excellent at bringing the story to life. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Harper Collins Audio and Netgalley for providing this copy to listen to.

Ursula, Alice and Gareth are loosely linked through their jobs and situations at the shopping centre. They are not friends and know nothing about each other on a personal level, yet they are tied by invisible links and this is eventually revealed through a comprehensive portrait of them and their backstories at the climax of the story. Ursula is down on her luck and sinking deeper into her kleptomaniac tendencies. Gareth is trying to hold down his job, and care for his ageing mother. Alice is trying to start dating again after a failed marriage.

There is always something in the corner of the readers’ eye which cannot be seen!
An enjoyable story which I enjoyed in my daily commute and during lunch breaks!
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Alice, Ursula and Gareth exist in and out of the very fringes of each other's lives ... until now.  Ursula is still falling apart after the death of her fiance.  Alice is picking her life back up after a divorce.  Gareth's life never got started after the death of his father.  As the story progresses, we learn more about each character and how they came to be standing over a dead body when the book opens.

A well-written thriller that does a great job of developing characters and bringing the lives of three strangers together.

A rollercoaster of a thriller.
This audiobook tells the tale of three peoples lives; Alice, Ursula and Gareth.
The story starts telling the tales about the characters. Alice suffers a horrible incident, Ursula is dealing with the grief of the loss of her partner and Gareth is caring for his mother who has dementia.
Throughout the tale you are left thinking how the tales will connect. They do so in a very gripping ending which you do not see coming.
This book is filled with twists and turns and is very cleverly written. The characters are well illustrated and this makes them jump out of the story.
The audiobook is well narrated and you forget that you are actually listening to it and can lost in the story.
A recommended read for all thriller lovers.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read in return for a review.

An amazing book by an incredible author.

I am a huge fan of C.L.Taylor, so when I found out I had been approved to read this I was over the moon, and this book definitely lives up to expectations!

I was engrossed from the start, especially as the interesting method of the climactic murder scene being the very first chapter immediately plunges the reader into the action.

The intertwining storylines are intriguing and well written, and the meeting of the characters is realistic yet intriguing. I love that the story leaves you guessing, repeatedly thinking that you have solved the mystery only to encounter another excellent twist.

The characters are well crafted and complex, whilst not all are inherently relatable they feel more like actual people, adding more tension and interest to an already incredible story.

My first audio book! Really enjoyed it, big fan of CL Taylor books, it was nice to enjoy this on the go

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I haven’t read from CL Taylor and it took me a while to get into this one but it just didn’t work for me in the end. I don’t know if it was the audiobook that didn’t work? (The accents were so irritating - especially if you listen on 2x speed like me and lots of other readers) but I didn’t mesh with it. The story was also very slow for a thriller I find. I did like the character of Ursula and the story of her and her living situation was excellent!

I could not review as could not get to do on my mob I have read book plot good a gripping read I like her writting style so easy to read I not sure why I can not listen to book

Loved 3 storyline and how they all connected at the end. Characters were good and strong and there were some unexpected twist and turns but what for made this audiobook what it is, was a narrator. Absolutely brilliant. I'm fairly new to the audiobook world but so far, this was the best narration I came across.

Great novel that kept me hooked. Liked the way the different strands fed into each other. Narrator easy to listen to.

I really enjoyed this, as i always do with C. L. Taylors books. Always (and also in this case) a great story line with believable characters.

The Audio version was narrated really well and at a good pace making it easy to listen too.

Gripping story and comes together so well at the end! I could not stop listening to this, I was hooked from the start. Loved this and the narrator so much, I found 2 other C.L Taylor audiobooks from the library. Amazing author.

I have enjoyed past books by C. L. Taylor, but haven't read any for a while so was really pleased to be given the chance to review this audio book. I liked the narrator and the different voices used. The story kept you gripped, each chapter was just the right length and switched between each character. The story flowed up to the big finale.
Another 5 stars from me. Loved it.

My Thoughts: I read this book back in April & my thoughts haven’t changed, BUT listening to it in an audio format added a whole new atmosphere to it & I found myself gripped in a totally different way, I would definitely recommend it if you’re into audio books!

But because I can’t put my feelings into words any better than I did before I have posted my previous review below..

I’ve read a couple of C.L. Taylor’s books before and absolutely loved them, and this one was no exception, the story was told from 3 different perspectives which left me a little worried at first, would I be able to keep up? would the differences confuse me? – I should’ve had more faith in the authors skill, it was so easy to follow and the end of every chapter left me excited to get to their next chapter.

Ursula has a problem with taking things that aren’t hers and sticking her nose into places where it’s not wanted, but through doing that she could change the life of more than one person for the better so is it always a bad thing?

Gareth is a security guard who lives with his mum, she has dementia and needs caters in to help her during the day. Gareth’s life changes when his mum starts receiving postcards from her husband who has been presumed dead for many years, but then Gareth thinks he sees him on one of the cameras at work, has he been lied to his whole life? is he dad still alive?

Alice has been pushed by her daughter to start online dating, through which she meets Simon at first she’s smitten, but then things start happening which make her doubt his intentions and his honesty, what is he really after? Is he hiding something?

I honestly could not put this book down, I just had to know how their lives were going to pan out and what was going to happen to bring them all together!

If you love a thriller that keeps you guessing and makes you doubt yourself several times along the way, then I highly recommend this one, I promise you won’t be disappointed

3.5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book. It was a little disjointed and although all the threads came together in the end, it happened too far into the story. Too much of a build up with rather disappointing resolution, which seemed unrealistic to me. The narration was very good and I enjoyed the Q and A with the author and narrator at the end.

Three random people are introduced to the reader and it is inevitable that their fates will combine at some point down the road. But quite how is, of course, at the heart of the mystery. Three such different people too!

Gareth lives with his dementing mother and works as a security guard at the local shopping centre. He cares for her as best he can and is perplexed when his mother starts receiving postcards, purportedly from his father, who disappeared many years ago whilst on a walking holiday.

Ursula is a parcel delivery driver, with the stress of earning 70p for every parcel delivered. She feels she was responsible for the death of her boyfriend and since his untimely passing, she has soothed her troubled mind by shop-lifting and stealing from all kinds of people. It is an urge she struggles to control. She is banned from Mirage, a dress shop in the shopping centre, for shop lifting. The shop is run by the third character, Alice who has split from the father of her daughter and is actively looking for someone new in her life. After a misjudged meet-up in a local bar, where she has an unfortunate encounter, Simon comes to her rescue and he certainly catches her eye. But he is evasive and she can't quite pin him down. He is clearly hiding a secret.

In the background it appears that men are falling into the river and dying. Could there be a serial killer on the loose to add to everyone's woes?

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator - with whom the author chats at the end about narration - has quite a few voices (often with a Bristolian accent) to juggle. I listened to the equivalent of c.350 pages on my Coronavirus walks and I found the story engaging. Alice, as a character, was at times simpering and needed a good shake. Ursula's heart was in the right place but really needed some help on several fronts and Gareth plodded along, struggling to cope with his domestic situation. The ending was a little over-enthusiastic and melodramatic for my taste and perhaps overall there were just too many threads - which of course prove to be a mêlée of red herrings for the most part!

This book was utterly wow for me. It’s one of those thrillers which you never want to end, but at the same time you absolutely have to know what’s going to happen. Listening on audiobook I felt added an extra dimension, increasing the tension with carefully timed pauses and inflection and character voices tinged with emotion. Clare Corbett is the perfect narrator and I loved the way she voiced different characters, in particular Ursula and Edward. Edward’s voice felt particularly dark and foreboding. She brought out their warmth, anxiety, fear and compassion. I particularly loved the hashtag twitter discussions about the Bristol Bay murderer using different voices for each twitter handle. I found the additional discussion (after the story ended ) between the author and narrator fascinating as they discuss the art of narration, accents and character voices. I was totally drawn into the story of 3 very different people living in Bristol, all embracing different challenges - divorce, dementia, bereavement, all struggling. I felt desperately sad for the lonely, misunderstood Ursula and worried for her when she moved into a new house share with a very odd man. I loved the way the book switched between each story, building the tension, leaving that thread hanging until it came around again. The story throws out so many questions and twists away from you as soon as you feel close to an answer. I’ve given this 5 stars because for me it was an absolutely fabulous read, I was totally absorbed by this story and felt almost lost finishing it. With thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Audio for a digital copy - I’m so glad I didn’t miss this one.

This was a fab audiobook. Alice, Gareth and Ursula were great characters, with lots going on in their lives. I liked Alice and Gareth but I must admit it took a while to warm to Ursula, probably because I could identify more with their situations than Ursula’s.
I loved how the author weaved together the story of these three unconnected people, and wondered how on earth they were gong to become involved.
I had so many questions going around my head whilst listening to this. Who was Alice’s stalker? Who was sending Gareth the postcards? Why did Ursula do the things she did?
I had my suspicions about the postcards and the stalker, but was totally wrong! One of my theories about a character was partly right, but not spot on. Oh yes and I loved the surprise ending, it had me chuckling out loud to myself. It really was the perfect ending! I’m sorry for being so vague, but I can’t reveal too much as I’d definitely spoil this fab story for you.
Clare Corbett’s narration was perfect! I loved the way she brought each character to life, and particularly enjoyed her Bristol accents.
At the end of the audiobook was a wonderful interview between the author and narrator. I loved hearing about Clare Corbett’s experience as a narrator and some of the secrets of her profession.
I definitely recommend this if you enjoy brilliantly narrated, character driven audiobooks!