This was an interesting story. A man disappointed with how his life is turning out leaves a business awards dinner. His wife refused to go with him, and he is disappointed as the awards are announced. He has an altercation in the parking lot and starts driving with no destination in mind. It's raining out and he sees a young female standing on the road and offers her a ride. They both have secrets and in flashbacks from where they were 5 hours earlier and up to how they are now together explains a lot. The pace intensifies from page one to the end of a very engrossing story.

3.5 rounded to 4

What a wild ride! David and Emma are two strangers out on the road in the middle of the night, surrounded by darkness, pouring rain, and secrets. 'Wrong place, wrong time' meets 'Everything happens for a reason' in this captivating story. I liked the way the chapters were structured, the Now and Before point of views tied nicely together to tell a story of two people that are 'lost' and stumbled upon each other on the same 'less travelled' road. I felt their internal struggles, their pains and their hopes of making amends with themselves. Nicely done.

That being said.... I believe chapter 5, David's interaction with his daughter needs to be addressed. The whole scene was very confusing. Was the daughter standing, sitting on her bed, lying down? Was she under the blankets? Why was a 19yr old acting like a 7yr old? I went over the chapter twice and it was just so murky, and, as much as I tried, I could not create a definite flowing scene in my head.

I want to thank the author and NetGalley for the advanced copy for an honest review.

This author is quickly becoming someone I really enjoy. I loved the way this was written. I also liked the flashbacks as well.

🚗The Other Passenger by JE Rowney🚗

Thank you @JEROWNEYauthor for this ARC! The Other Passenger is out now! This was a great fast paced thriller.

Pages: unknown, kindle edition.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Goal 2024: 64/100

✨Have you been in a weird situation with a stranger?

This book was an easy thriller to read and I enjoyed it. I was curious how the stories were going to tie together. The author did a great job of keeping the pace exciting and before I knew it, I was 80% in.

David and Emma are complete opposites who happen to get stuck in a car together during the middle of the night. With them being polar opposites, it kept the environment tense. It wasn’t really a creepy feeling which I think would have made it 5 stars for me since I seem to love books that give me ✨anxiety.✨ But it was enough of a difference in personalities that I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Overall, easy thrilling read that I enjoyed.

#netgalley #review #read #0to100 #reads #reading #booknerd #books #book #dark #arc #thriller #horror #fright #spooky

This book was a fast paced book. I enjoyed the pacing and really really loved the ending… that being said, I wanted more from the backstory of the characters. I wanted to know why I should care about either of them. It was a solid but not noteworthy thriller (3stars) until the end which I loved so I bumped it to 3.25 for the ending.

More character development, less focus on just having a shocking twist

Interesting read. I found the alternating POV’s to be confusing at times; however, overall it was fast paced. I enjoyed it and would recommend to others.

This was a bit odd for me though overall it was an ok story. The story takes place in a car with 2 strangers as they try to get out of the middle of no where. But they both have there secrets that they are running from.

"𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔," 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅, "𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆."

I'm screaming that this wasn't a five star read because it very well could have been! A man is traveling an isolated stretch of road to get away from what he's done, and he picks up a young woman who is having car trouble. Is she in danger, or is the driver? Both of them are keeping secrets.

I did like the dual timelines and POVs that allowed to story unfold, but it was just missing that sense of dread that I was expecting. At no point did I ever feel anxious or excited like I expect to with a thriller. The ending was a letdown for reasons I won't spoil, but it really came across like a cheap shot.

I enjoyed a few books by this author but haven't liked her last few. Regardless, I thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the early read. This title is available now.

Time jumping pov was well done. Easy read and small set of characters so easy to follow.
Alone in the rain happening on a body near by… I’d stay clear but hey Emma and David are all about it.

I would have preferred a bit more lean into David’s story and leaving the book on a cliff hanger setting us up for another novella with a deep dive into Emma’s story.

Over all a solid novella.

This was such a fun read. It was very twisty and kept me and the edge of my seat. I did personally get a bit confused but that’s just me. It was well written though. I look forward to reading more.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A chance encounter between two strangers one late night sets the stage for a tense, captivating ride in this new thriller by J.E. Rowney. I love a good thriller, and I especially love a thriller in which close proximity is the main trope and the tension is palpable, dripping from the page with ever-increasing speed. When I first came across this novel, I found myself instantly drawn to the premise, delighted that some of my favorite thriller tropes would be present in the story. So, I downloaded the ARC and started reading, hoping that it would live up to my expectations. I am happy to report that Rowney's latest novel was an absolute hit for me.

Firstly, I really enjoyed the two main characters. Deeply flawed people with their own ominous secrets, these characters were a lot of fun to get to know. Getting to pick their brains for throughout the story was as intriguing as it was intense. I also really liked how suspenseful the story was. Rowney has a knack for mystery and suspense, and they showed off their writing prowess to stunning effect. Finally, I really enjoyed Rowney's writing style in general. Their prose was fresh and easy to read, and I never felt bored. Overall, this novel was an exciting showcase of how scary people can truly be. You never know who you're sitting next to, and this novel doesn't let you forget it. I recommend this book to anyone that loves suspenseful thrillers. I look forward to the author's next venture!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

We follow David as he drives through a storm when he picks up a woman on the side of the road who looks like she needs help.

This has dual timelines jumping between the present, & a few hours beforehand. They are both running from something, but what is it?

This is a pretty quick read that you can read in a few hours. I enjoyed it but it didn't go deep enough for me to rate it higher.

Things i liked
- Characters from different generations, but still being able to relate to each other
- There is one setting for most of the book (the car / around the car) & a lot happens in such a small space
- Dual timeline

There aren't many characters in the book, so it's quite easy to guess what happened. When I read a mystery, i want a shocking twist & this book didn't do that for me

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Other Passenger
by JE Rowney
Thriller
My first ARC (=advanced reader copy)!!!!
I liked it!
The author explores the dark sides of picking up hitchhikers in the middle of a stormy night.
We have David - running away from everything he's lost.

We have Angeline or Twenty-One: helplessly trying to hold on to things that have been gone for a while now.

And we have Emma, wandering the streets at night, reminiscing and remembering what has been.

The three of those get intertwined with each other's secrets, scrutiny, personal reasons to run.


The book has a nice pacing. I like how everything turns out in the end. Or, better said, what questions stay unanswered. JE Rowney has a beautiful way of pulling the reader into the scene. There's so much vitality in every description, there's tension throughout the whole book. I really felt the rain and storm crashing down, I smelled the forest and I saw David, dear Twenty-One and Emma.
This one's a short, good and tense thriller. I'd recommend it to everyone who wants to be pushed into a stormy night, in which anything can happen.

It took a while to finish reading this book. I started it and had to finish it, waiting for it to get better……..it never did. I didn’t care for the characters or the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. The Other Passenger was the first book that I have read by JE Rowney. The story follows two strangers during a nighttime ride. The story alternates between the present and hours before. I feel like the alternating POVs made the book more confusing than it should have been. It was hard to follow along when it would switch from the present to the past.

This was a fast read and was paced nicely. I read it in a day and was recommending it to my friends - she’s a great writer and I will read more!

This book was very promising and has so much potential. Unfortunately, it didn't have the suspenful feeling I expected. There is a bit of twist to the plot, but it was a little predictable. Overall I feel like this story could've been so much more. I was a little disappointed.

I enjoyed this book, it was an easy read and not too long.
It has a tense setting, dark road, killer on the loose, stormy weather.
I thought the story was well written but had potential for more development.
I did enjoy it though, I would just have liked a bit more.

Thank you NetGalley, J.E Rowney and the publisher Books Go Social for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very well written and was a slow but easy read. It tells the story through dual pov, dealing with past and present timelines. The present storyline has the same setting the entire time—in a vehicle—which could make the read feel boxed-in, but I feel as if the author executed it decently. Meanwhile, the past timeline didn’t seem to evolve as well as the author may have expected it to and could have been developed more. I enjoyed the elements of the thriller! The author did a great job at bringing the characters to life, but I hoped for them to grow and evolve throughout the story, which didn’t seem to happen, and the main female lead seemed to lack character, making it a bit difficult to connect with her. The dialogue was strained at times, but good overall. The ending felt rather abrupt as well and could’ve used more detail. Overall, this story was well written, but not something that I would personally go out and choose to read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author J.E. Rowney, and the publisher Books Go Social for providing me with an ARC of this book for an honest review.

A nice 150 page quick read with a twist I didn't see coming. A wrong place, wrong time; just up to chance outcome that I didn't see finishing in the way it did.

Thank you BooksGoSocial!