Dark, twisted and a who done it. Wasn't sure right until the end. Really enjoyed.

The Chalk Man by C.J.Tudor
Poignant and evocative, the author paints with words the memories of childhood and (marked by traumatic events) the insecure man that child will become. Tinged with beliefs and terrors all children with ordinary childhoods can conjure up, the teenage ‘boy’ remains trapped in the events and puzzles of yesterday brought to life for the man by those of today.

The writing is excellent and reminiscent of that classic movie ‘Stand by me’ in its ability to bring to life the inner working of the adolescent mind. I’m not yet sure that I have enjoyed this book but do know it will stay with me for some time.

'The chalk man' by C. J. Tudor is an interesting, well told and easy reading thriller.

Thriller is my go to genre and for that reason I am only giving 'The chalk man' 3 stars. I had the killer cracked early on and because of this I didn't get to endure the excitement of the twists once they were revealed. I feel I would of enjoyed this book so much more if it was double the length because I don't feel there was enough character development and some points/events were rushed and/or swept to the side.

I did enjoy the basics of the plot and the fact it was such an easy reading having completed it in 2 sittings. I enjoyed that the story was told from one characters point of view in past and present.

Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to my thriller loving friends but would maybe recommend it to someone who wants to ease into the genre lightly.

Thank you to netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Chalk Man has been described as a cross between Stephen King and Stranger Things and I have to agree with them – it suits this book to a T. It tells the story of five school friends and splits the story between 1986 – when they were 12, and 2016, 30 years later. It’s set in a small village just outside of Bournemouth, where several strange things happen, starting with a fair ground accident and leading on to one of the friend’s birthday where they receive a pot of chalks. They decide they can use these chalks to leave secret messages to each other, however the drawings start turning up in all sorts of strange places and are involved in a string of assaults and killings that happened.

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. It switched between the two different times effortlessly, and at the end of every section there was a sliff hanger where you had to read on to find out more. It flowed really well and there was no confusion as to which time zone you were in.

The characters were built up really well, and I found I was sympathising with the lead character, whose eyes the story is told through. Until there was a massive twist at the end which I was not expecting at all.

I would certainly recommend this book and I will perhaps even read it again, which I very rarely do, to see if I can spot more clues that I missed the first time round.

You know those books that you pick up with no expectations, start reading and before you know it you are 20% through and you have no idea where the time has gone but you do know that you are absolutely LOVING the book and then all you can think about is when you can continue reading it (damn you real life, work, family, housework etc), and then you steal more time away from real life to read and suddenly you notice you are 60% through and your kindle is telling you that there is 1 hr 25 mins left in the book and you think "NOOOOO!" because you want to read it BUT you don't want to finish it as it's so good?  Well that is EXACTLY how I felt whilst reading CJ Tudor's brilliant debut novel THE CHALK MAN.

I don't need to go over the blurb as it's been described brilliantly above, however I do need to tell you that this is one of the best suspense thrillers I've read in a long time and you need to put this on your wishlist or pre-order this now is as this will be HUGE in 2018.  Not only is the writing superb, the author has such a wonderful way with her words which is both observational and thought-provoking, the plot line is original and gripping, the humour is dry and dark, her characters are so plausible and believable I felt like I knew them all and don't get me started on the twists and turns throughout!

A very easy 5 big fat stars and 100% recommended by me! 

My thanks to Netgalley, the publishers Michael Joseph and of course the author CJ Tudor.

I wasn't ever really gripped by this - there were some quite interesting turns, but overall I was a little underwhelmed, sorry!

WOW!! This is how you do it!!
The Chalk Man is absolutely brilliant. I could not put it down! The plot is intriguing and has all the makings of a good horror, mystery, crime book. The characters are all well developed, relatable and very likeable. The main gang of 5 boys made me think of Stand By Me or Stephen King’s IT... close friends bound together by childhood friendships and dragged into something horrifying. Mysterious characters, awful events, small town secrets... the list goes on!
I can’t recommend this book enough ... brilliantly written, well paced, intriguing, mystifying, keeps you guessing right to the very end. An absolutely fantastic book that I would recommend to one and all. 5 HUGE stars from me. Loved it!!

Thank you to NetGalley, C. J. Tudor and Penguin UK for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Good creepy tale of pals growing up around horrific murder events and present day resolution of the horrors. Well written with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most critical of readers this keeps on giving until the final twist in the tail. Pure entertainment!

The Chalk Man is a compelling, unputdownable thriller. Which is going to be a big in when it’s published.
It’s 1986 Eddie, Hoppo, Fat Gav and Metal Mickey and Nicky out at the fair in the village of Anderbury. When Eddie first meets the Chalk Man after an accident with the Waltzer breaks away and careers into a girl giving her life altering injuries. The boys devise a code and send messages to each other in different coloured chalks over the course of the summer, having fun, when one day they find chalk figures in a wood, leading them to discover a mutilated body buried in the ground. None of the gang have drawn these figures.
For a debut novel I thought this was excellent and gripping I couldn’t put it down. I will also be looking forward to any other books that this author writes. This was original, not like other psychological thrillers I have read. It also reminded me of Stranger Things on Netflix or the Goonies type of vibe which reminded me of my own childhood. I loved it.

4.5 stars

A very impressive debut novel by CJ Tudor, I found The Chalk Man reminiscent of the writing of a young Stephen King, with a tinge of Stranger Things/Stand by Me thrown in for good measure. The story moves back and forth between 1986 and 2016, and in doing so, we see the impressive cast of characters grow and with them, their secrets grow bigger too.

Our protagonist. Eddie is in his early 40s, going about his business day to day, sharing his ramshackle family home with his lodger Chloe, a 20-something woman who works in an alternative clothing shop and enjoys annoying Eddie's mum when she comes by to visit.

As we meet Eddie he has received a chalk drawing of a stick man that takes him back to his childhood friends and the leads him to re-evaluate the games they played as children. Following the chalk drawings they used to leave as a secret code for each other led them to a murdered, and dismembered girl. A girl Eddie had feelings for. The reappearance of the chalk man in Eddie's life takes him on a journey both through the past he has tried to forget, and his unfolding present.

As events unfold, it becomes clear that the game was never really over. Is Eddie in danger?

There are many interesting and serious subjects covered in this book, the child becoming the parent, dementia, murder, jealousy, fear - but the main theme that runs throughout is that everyone has secrets, even children. And sometimes, they can be worse than you could ever imagine.

This has to be one of the most unique books I have ever read. To start with I wasn't even sure I liked it but as the story developed I got more into it.

With more twists and macabre turns than you can shake a stick at, this book is well worth a read.

The Chalk Man is a debut novel with many intriguing elements. As a boy Ed comes to the rescue of a young girl injured following an accident at a fair. This sets off a chain of events that resonates to present day. Switching from past to present, the novel is a coming of age drama, a horror story and a psychological thriller with an interesting twist at the end.

Now this is what you call a great read!!This is my favourite genre of book but it was quite different to the usual thriller type books I read. To me, In a way it has a sort of feeling of the series Stranger things on Netflix (which is very popular) which is also about a group of boys that strange things happen to them. The story goes between 1986 to 2016 but what happens in between is the real mystery which I’m not going to spoil for you. All in all a brilliant read which I recommend 100%

There are Those kind of books that you just know so deserve your 5* rating, and this is one of them.

Its a story that is going to stand out to me, its kind of unique in its story telling, I felt Eddie was actually speaking to me and telling me his life story.

A groups of boys, making their own adventure dream up a secret code that involves drawing stick men as signs. Each boy has a different colour chalk to represent who the message is from. Very ingenious I thought........until things start to go wrong.

Eddie is now grown telling us his story and his part. Then it flicks back nicely to years before when he was with his mates, its all tied in really well, not confusing at all and very well done.

This book is very different in its writing, it feels very different in its approach which will make this stand out from the crowd for sure.

We have a newly hired teacher Mr Halloran who features in several places within this story.
A girl named Elisa who Eddie was quite taken with even at a young age.


A murder in the woods.

This author C.J. Tudor has a fabulous way with words which keeps you hooked and some really good gems within its sentences which if you read carefully you will never forget.

Eddies summer that changed everything in his adult life is a remarkable story that you won't be able to put down.

My thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via Net Galley for my early copy

It's 1986 and 12 year old Eddie is at the town's fair. It is here he meets the Chalk Man who gives him the idea of using chalk drawings to communicate in secret with his mates. However, the chalk men lead them down a dark path to a dismembered body. 30 years later the chalk men reappear and Ed finds himself experiencing a waking nightmare.

This thriller has a hint of the supernatural about it. I can see this doing really well, it's entertaining and a page turner. Moving between 1986 and 2016, it reminded me of Stephen King's Stand By Me. The only downside was it doesn't quite capture the 80's, Eddie talks about his dad working from home on a computer, this doesn't ring true (this was a time when broadband wasn't widespread and people didn't have the technology to work from home.

There was something so familiar about the description of the summer of 1986 here with the group of kids going everywhere on their bikes and with each of them having a nickname. However this is not a cosy, nostalgic look at young Eddie’s life and there are several dark topics included. Like many other reviewers it did bring to my mind the movie Stand by Me, which I would suggest is a compliment. There is a great cast of characters and it was interesting to chart the changes in them between 1986 and 2016.
There is a great feel to the narrative which I think would work really well as an audiobook.

I can’t remember the last book I enjoyed as much as The Chalk Man. Actually I can remember – and it was probably a classic Stephen King chiller. The Chalk Man is very reminiscent of ‘It’ or 'The Body' (filmed as ‘Stand By Me’) in that it takes the reader to the traumatic horrors that happened to our characters when they were little gang of misfit kids back in the 1980’s and then it jumps to the present day and we see how those events have affected their adult lives. Yes, The Chalk Man is very Stephen King-like but that’s not a bad thing – this kind of British horror story is always a pleasure to read.

There are practically too many treasures to mention in this review –one highlight for me was the spookiest ghost I’ve encountered in a book for many years (since Danny Glick in ‘Salems Lot’ actually, but he was a vampire so I suppose he doesn’t count) and the ending was absolutely heart stopping. I went to sleep with the light on.

I love it. It will be a massive hit and I take my hat off to C. S. Tudor; I hope she’s got a lot more stories up her sleeve.

Many, many thanks to Penguin, to NetGalley and to Ms Tudor for giving me the privilege of reading and reviewing The Chalk Man. I would recommend it enthusiastically to anyone.

First title I Have read by this author, and certainly wont be the last. I enjoyed the story and found it well written, and easy to get into,

The Chalk Man is a chilling psychological thriller that is very hard to put down .The story goes back and forward from 1986 when Eddie and his friends were 12 years old to the present .It all started at the Fair but this was the beginning of an event that will have repercussions and change all the boys lives.I loved the characters and could just imagine these boys on their bikes making the most of the summer, they used coloured chalk to leave messages for each other .I particularly liked the ending wow just brilliant .

This is a great read. In 1986, Eddie and his friends are 12 years old with nothing better to do than cycle around and have fun. Until the day they find a dismembered body in the woods...... Now in 2016, the events of that time still haunt Eddie, and when he and his friends all receive a letter warning them about the chalk man, they begin to wonder if that killer from way back is still at large. Told in the 2 time frames, this is a real page turner which will keep you guessing right to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.