Once, many moons ago, I lived next door to a horrid man. I was only young at the time and for some reason he took a dislike to me; obviously because he was horrible rather than something I’d done! So I had huge sympathy for the residents of Lowland Way when Darren and Jodie moved in and spoilt the idyll, in fact at times I felt perhaps too emotionally invested in it. It’s this empathetic connection that makes Those People such a good read.
Darren and Jodie aren’t likeable characters at all, determined as they are to alienate themselves from their immediate neighbours surrounding their house. But it’s not what they do that keeps you reading, it’s the effects their actions have on everybody else that’s the draw. The perfection of Lowland Way and its Play Out Sundays, to the marriages and businesses that Darren and Jodie manage to slowly but steadily destroy. Who doesn’t silently pray for good neighbours when houses in our own localities go up for sale? It’s all too easy to imagine how possible it would be for a new occupant to be as vile and disturbing as they are.
The story is a slow unravelling rather than a fast-paced thriller, but it doesn’t suffer for that at all; in fact I’m not convinced it would work any other way. It begins with the present and then skips back in time so we get a definite sense of the destruction caused, as well as the question of who it was that committed the crime. To be honest there were that many suspects it was hard to choose.
I enjoyed the book and my mind is already pinning this as a perfect summer holiday read, though perhaps don’t pack it if you’re not on the best terms with those on your street.
Those People is published by Simon and Schuster on 27th `June. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an HONEST review.
