The Chalk Man
A Novel
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4.0 • 433 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
“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 NOVEL
A 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 ending
In 1986, Eddie 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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A killer’s been claiming victims in an English town, leaving little chalk drawings as a calling card. The Chalk Man ricochets between 1986 and 2016, tracking a group of friends who discovered one of the victims and tracing protagonist Eddie Adams’ attempts to sort out whodunit. C.J. Tudor ratchets up the uncertainty with cleverly developed internal tensions between Eddie and his pals; every time we were ready to dismiss him as a suspect, his peculiarities—sleepwalking, kleptomania, portentous nightmares—threw his role into question again. This spine-tingling mystery totally gripped our imagination.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1986, Eddie Adams, the narrator of British author Tudor's promising debut, and his four best mates, all early adolescents, become ensnared in a series of ghastly events in the picturesque English town of Anderbury, with the nightmarish inevitability of the Grimmest of tales. In the most shocking episode, a mysterious man leads them to the dismembered remains of a teenage girl in the woods. Not surprisingly, these traumas, which also include abuse, sadistic bullying, and a prank that turns deadly, cast a sizeable shadow over the friends' futures. In 2016, Mickey, one of Eddie's old friends, returns to town after more than 20 years away, planning to write a book about the girl's murder upon the occasion of the murder's 30th anniversary. Danger looms after Mickey announces that he knows who really killed the girl (the prime suspect killed himself before his likely arrest). Though Tudor makes a couple of rookie missteps, including excessive plot twists seemingly for the sake of surprise, her storytelling prowess is undeniable.
Customer Reviews
Interesting
Really interesting and suspenseful but some things that didn’t make sense and were never tied up about Eddie
Twists and Turns
The novel boasts masterfully executed plot twists and a robust foundational concept, elements which undeniably propel the narrative forward. However, the profusion of these narrative contortions occasionally imbued the reading experience with a layer of complexity that, at times, diverted my comprehension and subsequently, my engagement.
For connoisseurs of literature who revel in unpredictable narratives replete with jolting, staggering developments, this book will be a treat. Additionally, the meticulous crafting of the horror elements, along with the vividly gruesome details, have been executed with precision and finesse.
umm
i can’t remember much tbh of what i read because it was a while ago but i don’t remember being too disappointed like it was so-so