Other People’s Lives is a psychological thriller, but tries to be clever about it and I thought it missed the mark.
Sophie’s husband, Jack, is considered missing
as he never arrived at his work trip’s destination and she is distraught as she
thinks someone is watching and stalking her. Determined to work through the
issues, she meets with Dr Thacker, a psychiatrist, who is ready to help her.
But with each session Sophie opens up a little more and the truth may be
stranger than anyone suspected.
After reading the story I felt meh.
There were places that felt confusing and slightly off and the writing hinted
at something else. With so many people saying wow about the book, I decided to
read it again to see what I missed. And yes, I had missed the early signs but I
felt cheated. If the smoking gun is going to be used in the final scene, the
smoking gun must be introduced early in the book. You can’t suddenly spring an
ending on a reader when the actual “tie” is not there. I will give the author
credit for the different way it was done, but I felt it was too forced into
what it was.
It’s really difficult to say much without
giving away a spoiler about the script or the ending, but I honestly thought
the ending was a no. Even newbie crime thriller readers would be questioning police
procedures and what would really have happened. There is literary licence and a
request to suspend disbelief and then there is straight-up nope. And the more
you reflect on the ending, the more holes show.
We see Sophie’s interactions with Jack through
letters she writes to him and as the book progresses, the tone changes and the
clues are more obvious. Some people felt the letters annoying while I enjoyed
looking at the underlying intention.
I’m glad the book was short to be able to
read it again, but I wouldn’t read it a third time, not even to look for more
clues. Maybe I just prefer my psychological thrillers more guided and less deus
ex machina... who knows...
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