In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.
In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he's put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.
That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.
Expertly alternating between flashbacks and the present day, The Chalk Man is the very best kind of suspense novel, one where every character is wonderfully fleshed out and compelling, where every mystery has a satisfying payoff, and where the twists will shock even the savviest reader.
My Review:
Great story that kept me guessing until almost the very end. A definite must read page turner. The group of friends, and the finding of a body reminded me of the kids from Stand By Me.
I thought the story was very well written. It left me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t put it down! I actually read it in one setting. One of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year.
I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.
About the Author
C. J. Tudor
C. J. Tudor lives in Nottingham, England with her partner and three-year-old daughter.
Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voiceover and dog-walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn’t miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much.
