The Secret of Strangers is mostly set inside a café in London where a gunman has taken some customers hostage after an altercation with the owner. The story is told from the perspectives of five people inside the café. There are plenty of flashbacks to key events which have led the events unfolding and the reader gets to build up a good understanding of how some of the characters have ended up in the position they are currently in. Having multiple perspectives helps to move the story along. The storyline has clearly been carefully considered and planned and it reads very well. I began to care about each central character and what would happen to them as the book played out. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good thriller and likes a book where the reader really gets to know the characters.