Audiobook Review: A Psychological Thriller

The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

Read By Steven Macintosh

Publication Date: June 2020

Summary from Goodreads:

You’re feeling pretty smug about your commute to work by riverboat. No more traffic gridlock or getting stuck on the tube in tunnels (you’re claustrophobic); now you’ve got an iconic Thames view, fresh air ?— a whole lifestyle upgrade. You’ve made new friends onboard — led by your hedonistic young neighbour, Kit ?— and just had your first ‘water rats’ Christmas drinks.

But the first day back after Christmas, Kit isn’t on the morning boat. The river landmarks are all the same, but something’s off. You disembark to find the police waiting. Kit’s wife, Melia, has reported him missing and another passenger witnessed the two of you arguing on the last boat home after your drinks. Police say you had a reason to lash out at him. To kill him.

You protest. You and Kit are friends ?— ask Melia, she’ll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your private lives? No, whatever coincidences might have occurred that night, you are innocent, totally innocent.

Confession:

I have not read any other books by Louise Candlish, but if this book is any indication of her writing, then I am all in. This was an amazingly well done psychological thriller that kept me guessing right up to that final chapter that just blew me away! I highly recommend that you pick this one up as soon as you can.

Jamie is the narrator of this story and we only see things from his point of view. As things progress you begin to see just how unreliable he is in his telling of the story. But he is sort of a likable character and one you can feel a bit of sympathy for. There are choices he makes though that will keep you just on the edge of not liking him. He is a middle aged man living with a rich girlfriend, but working a low wage job. He and his partner become friends with this younger couple and that is when the trouble starts for Jamie.

The plot was so well done. The pacing was perfect, not to slow, but it doesn’t speed by either. I loved the writing style with just enough descriptions to keep grounded in the locations and the characters, but not overly done. I liked that Jamie had trouble remembering characters names, ones that he deemed not important enough to remember. The plot was masterfully done with some twists at the end that left me rethinking everything we had learned about the story so far. I had just started to think something was not quite right and putting together what was really going on, when everything went totally sideways, and I loved it. The last chapter was absolutely chilling.

Steven Macintosh did an absolutely marvelous job of portraying Jamie. His voice sounded nervous when it needed to be, and confident at other times. At one point Jamie has a panic attack and Steven really had me believing in it and feeling just as panicked as the character. I really enjoyed listening to him read this story and will be keeping an eye out for other books narrated by him.

I don’t usually compare books, I think every book should stand on its own, but I couldn’t help thinking of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn with this. The twist impacts in this book very much reminded me of this book, they just totally come out of no where and leave you breathless. So if you liked Gone Girl, you really should give this book a try. It will blow you away!