The Other People by C J Tudor

 The Other People, 2020 is Tudor’s third novel, with her fourth, The Burning Girls, just published in hardcover this past January.

This author has read, and greatly enjoyed, her Stephen King.  And like King, she knows how to spin a page turning tale with relatable ‘every-man’ protagonists.  And again, like King, you’ve got to be willing go along with the often over the top supernatural stuff.

All fiction, no matter where it is on the ‘realism’ spectrum, requires of the reader some degree of ‘suspension of disbelief’.  Whether or not those readers are willing to follow a story down a particular ‘rabbit hole’ is, in large part, a matter of skill on the author’s part.  Stephen King certainly possesses that skill.  Not all of the writers inspired by him do.  How does C J Tudor stack up?

Her first novel, The Chalk Man, 2018, does one of those things that King is so very good at, creating a childhood world that holds the possibility of other realities; especially nasty evil ones.   In this case the realness of the creepy stuff is ambivalent enough to keep the more sceptical readers on board.   As well, by having her adult protagonist forced to confront and resolve the childhood trauma that has blighted his life, she adds an element of psychological depth to the story.  This, also, helps to keep the reader on side.

The Other People attempts to do something along the same lines.  There are problems that arise in this effort.  Too many plot lines for one; there are enough for at least three separate novels here.  And, it doesn’t evoke childhood’s ready acceptance of the un-worldly that would allow a belief in the supernatural for we, more cynical, adults.

However, for those fans of King, his son Joe Hill, James Herbert and the like, there is still a lot to enjoy here.

Published in paperback by Penguin Random House at £7.99 in the UK and $17.00 in the USA