“Want to read something good?. . . If you like my stuff, you’ll like this.”—Stephen King • WINNER OF THE ITW THRILLER AWARD • WINNER OF THE STRAND MAGAZINE AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT NOVELA riveting psychological suspense debut that weaves a mystery about a childhood game gone dangerously awry, and will keep readers guessing right up to the shocking endingIn 1986, Eddie and his friends are on the verge … and his friends are on the verge of adolescence, spending their days biking in search of adventure. The chalk men are their secret code, stick figures they draw for one another as hidden messages. But one morning the friends find a chalk man leading them to the woods. They follow the message, only to find the dead body of a teenage girl.
In 2016, Eddie is nursing a drinking problem and trying to forget his past, until one day he gets a letter containing a chalk man—the same one he and his friends saw when they found the body. Soon he learns that all his old friends received the same note. When one of them is killed, Eddie realizes that saving himself means figuring out what happened all those years ago. But digging into the past proves more dangerous than he could have known. Because in this town, everyone has secrets, no one is innocent, and some will do anything to bury the truth.
Praise for The Chalk Man
“Wonderfully creepy—like a cold blade on the back of your neck.”—Lee Child
“An assured debut that alternates between 1986 and 2016 with unpredictable twists. The Chalk Man fits well with other stories about troubled childhoods such as Stephen King’s novella Stand by Me. . . . Tudor never misses a beat in showing each character as both a child and an adult while also exploring the foreboding environs of a small town.”—Associated Press
“Utterly hypnotic. The Chalk Man is a dream novel, a book of nightmares: haunted and haunting, shot through with shadow and light—a story to quicken the pulse and freeze the blood. A dark star is born.”—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
“If you can’t get enough of psychological thrillers with sharp twists and turns, you need to read The Chalk Man”—Hello Giggles
“I haven’t had a sleepless night due to a book for a long time. The Chalk Man changed that.”—Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow
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I needed a couple of days for this review. This is amazing and gives you hell of a ride. The narrator does amazing job keeping you listening and finding how wants next and who really did what. At first I was not understanding where this book was going. But I am glad that I stayed with it.
Highly recommend this book. I will be reading anything this author writes.
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This book is is set between two different times. The 1980’s and 2016 when a group of young boys decide to write codes on the drive always in chalk someone finds out and uses it to scare they boys. And people end up getting killed and the boys think its a chalk man using a different color then what they are using. Highly recommend. This book will make you think that this will happen or this who did it. Very unpredictable.
This was more mystery than thriller, especially regarding the pacing. I liked how it was told in alternating timelines, but I didn’t favor one timeline over the other because, for a large majority of the book, I couldn’t see why Eddie had changed so much in 30 years. He acts like his mother is an imposition, with no reasoning for it. He’s anti-social and has no connections to anyone, yet he is a teacher. The worlds didn’t blend and so I wasn’t all that attached to him as a character. But I liked the premise. Overall, an enjoyable read.
Love this authors style and clever twists and turns. On her 3rd and most recent book. Can’t wait for more.
**spoiler alert** So unoriginal! This is such a shameless thievery of Stand By Me by Stephen King that I feel pissed off for King and embarrassed for Tudor.
Also, why is it awesome these days to bash God, bash Christians, and portray clergy as the bad guys? Tudor clearly has issues with God and religion. Her protagonist says at one point, along with many other misotheistic things, “If anyone mentions God when I die, I hope they burn in hell.”
She maybe needs to work some of this out in therapy and not in her books. Her hostility is palpable, pulsing and a real turn off for some readers.
What a fun summer I’ve had — great read after great read, and The Chalk Man is another. It is, as some have noted, reminiscent of Stephen King’s work in The Body and even, to some extent, IT, in its focus on a small gang of middle-school boys (and, of course, one red-haired beauty with daddy problems), living a little town in England in the mid-eighties and in the present. It works wonderfully for the story that unfolds on multiple levels, about (among other things) how the smallest of actions can have unintended, often devastating, consequences. The author also explores secrets, friendship, and loss. On top of all this, the characters are clearly drawn and, in at least one case, unforgettable. So, you’re probably thinking, Allan, you’re being pretty vague. I know, and you’ll thank me. The less you know, the more you’ll enjoy this terrific novel.
A good page turning read that keeps you guessing
Completely derivative of Stephen King, but enjoyable nonetheless.
This started out slow and then picked up its pace. When things that happened in the past start happening in the present Eddie has to look to the past for the answers. It is a twisted story that does not hide its ending but I still found it to be an enjoyable read.
An accident at a fair, a drowning, a brutal beating, and a dismembered body and that is all in 1986! 4 friends discover a body in the woods. Who and why would some have reason to kill this girl? Fast forward to 2016 and the boys are now adults getting on with their lives. 1 of them ends up dead and that leads to all kinds of unanswered questions about the girl in the woods all those years ago. These characters stories are woven together and this shows how one harmless action can have unforeseen consequences.
creepy – a lot like Stephen King’s early work
Kept me guessing
This book was fantastic. A wonderful story that keeps you guessing. Surprises around ever corner all the way to the end. Just when you think you know what’s going on, there is another twist in the story. It was a joy to read. I can’t want to read something else by C.J. Tudor. Fabulous!!
Loved this book. Reminded me of Steven Kings books.
If you have ever read Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole novels, you will see another character who is actually real! Great characters.
Eddie and his gang, Metal Mickey, Hoppo, Fat Gav and Nicky, are twelve. It’s 1986, and they are always looking for adventure. For his birthday, Fat Gav gets are jar of chalk. It sure seems like a lame gift for a twelve-year-old, until they get the idea to use a secret code with the chalk, to communicate using chalk men. Each member of the gang has a different color chalk, so that each person knows who sent the message. This works great, until chalk man drawings lead them to a dismembered body in the woods. Who is using their code?
This story alternates between 1986 and 2016. By 2016, the gang is all grown at 42. Each of them faces their own problems, and they all share the same horrors from their shared childhood. As the story bounces back and forth, revealing a little of each section of their lives, we learn more and more about the adults they have become, as well as more about the horrors they shared as children. Little-by-little, the author puts puzzle pieces of the murder mystery together, creating tremendous tension and a wonderfully written psychological drama.
I love the effectiveness of the innocence of the children’s voice juxtaposed with the very grownup life events that they are forced to face early in their lives. I also enjoyed learning how these events lead them to become the adults they become. This is a well-written and well-crafted book that I could not put down.
Loved this debut from CJ Tudor – as an avid horror fan I thought this really broke the mould. Really creep with an excellent feel for the group of kids. Loved it so much I read it twice!
It could have been a good thriller if the writer was less transparent with hints as thick as an elephant, I might have been surprised at the end.
After reading the reviews for this I had high expectations but closed the final page with mixed feelings. It took a good third of the book for my attention to be grabbed, the first part reading only as a twelve year-old’s memoir. The pace does pick up & liberal clues are scattered in the chapters that ensue. An easy read with upbeat dialogue between characters but the ending failed to pack a punch.
This is a super page turner and stay up late reading book. I can’t wait for her next book out soon. I even pre-ordered it, something I never do.
A story about a murder committed when the narrator was a child, shifting back and forth between past and present Flawed and interesting characters, twists and turns in the storyline that kept suspense going until the very end. Reminded me of Stephen King’s best stories; I had to keep reminding myself this was set in England rather than New England.