Going back is never easy. Joe returns to Arnhill to take up a teaching post at his old school, a post that became available in the most awful circumstances. Tragedy is nothing new to the old mining town, which is something Joe knows all too well. When he was a child, his little sister went missing. He doted on Annie, so her disappearance was the worst thing to ever happen to him – until she came back.

The Taking of Annie Thorne is an exceedingly creepy suspense novel with a dash of the supernatural. Tudor expertly leads the reader through the past and present traumas of Joe Thorne, a man who wants nothing more than to never have to revisit his boyhood haunts.

Sometimes, the best way to deal with the past is to leave it behind and never look back. Sometimes, you just don’t get the choice.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved it. Really loved it. Creepy to the point I had to stop reading. The characters were finely drawn and believable, the suspense unnerving.

I read the authors previous novel The Chalk Man which I enjoyed but this is far, far better.

If you like being chilled and watching over your shoulder when the moon Is dark and the chittering of creatures scurrying in the walls is what you hear, this is the novel for you.

OMG!!! a thrill of a read yet again by CJ. I am in awe at how good this was, well worth the wait. You’ll be delightfully terrified! *****

This book had me thoroughly gripped, almost from the first page. Joe is a teacher who returns to his old school in Arnhill, a surprising decision as his childhood there had been pretty miserable. What unfolds is a story from his schooldays to the present day. There is something strange about Arnhill, a small town which has a desolate history. There are many unexpected twists to the story, a real page turner. Brilliant!

Very, very good. An absolutely compelling read which certainly spooked me at times - perhaps the only book which has done so since I read “IT” as a teen. Genuinely enjoyed this and will be recommending it everywhere.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it certainly wont be my last! The story was excellent, kept me gripped right until the end, absolutely excellent book, would definitely recommend

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
I read C J Tudor’s first book ‘ The Chalk Man and enjoyed it very much. I believe this book ‘ The Taking Of Annie Thorne’ is even better.
It is extremely creepy, haunting and scary and I loved it!! It has all the ingredients of a psychological thriller with all the twists and turns but then there is the unknown element, that is scary and possibly true.
Highly recommended.

Dark thriller in the old Nottinghamshire colliery village

Joe Thorne was born and bred in Arnhill, a village in Nottinghamshire. He got a new job at the same school where he was educated, as the English teacher. He was once part of a gang led by Stephen Hurst who terrorised the students when they were the teenagers.

Joe heard the story about the respected previous teacher. Both she and her son were found dead in the cottage that Joe rented. He suffered some flashbacks from the 1980s.

His eight-year-old sister, Annie was missing for 48 hours until she was found alive. She acted very strangely. One month later she and their father met their fate.

One student, Chris Manning was said to have jumped to his death from the roof of the school building. Joe wondered if those horrible deaths were linked to the old and dark coal mine pits.

There was an explosive hell breaking loose from the abandoned colliery and I was not able to put the book down.

Columbpoirot

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

For the most part, I enjoyed The Taking of Annie Thorne.
Character creation was really good and the writing, of course, was excellent.
But I felt there was something lacking in the story, something that didn't quite work for me this time. Maybe it just took too long to get there.
Sometimes mysteries can do that with me, wind me up a bit. "Just get on with it," I end up screaming at the pages.
It was also a bit of a stop start book, spanning a good few weeks.
That never helps.
This wasn't entirely the books fault. More life's distractions.
But I still think this one is a worthy 3.5 stars. Definitely bordering on 4.
And I managed to finish it so that's always a good sign.

What a great book, full of twists, turns and suspense. I read it in two sittings. Its not like a book I have read before and it was a welcome change. I would recommend this book.

“Sometimes Dead is better…”

Imagine a cross between a classic 20th Century horror story and a really great modern British psychological thriller and that is what the wonderful C. J. Tudor’s new novel is like. Set in a bleak Nottinghamshire pit-village and time hopping between the 1990’s and the present day, it has everything you could wish for in a spinechiller and then more – it is creepy, exciting, immensely readable and fabulously well written.

There is more than an element of Stephen King in Ms Tudor’s storytelling, but that is not a bad thing; the basic plot reminds me a lot of ‘Pet Semetary’ - but I suppose that book was based on some scary folk legend in the first place – and of course authors have always drawn on classic stories for their inspiration.

The Taking of Annie Thorne is a must read for everyone who was blown away by Ms Tudor’s first novel ‘The Chalk Man’. She is definitely well on her way to being a British literary superstar.

Loved, loved, loved this! Such a well written novel with lots of twists and turns and questions as to what happened that it really keeps you enthralled!

Well, knock me down with a feather. THIS was good.

Strike that. This was staggeringly good. "The Taking of Annie Thorne" has given fear a voice, which builds from a whisper into a scream. It contains something dark and predatory – and I’m not just referring to one or two of the characters.

So many curious instances got under my skin that I was itching for explanations. And there were plenty of corners for folks to back themselves into, like Annie’s brother, English teacher Joe Thorne, whose prospects are already packed and waiting to leave the building.

When challenged Joe seems to have a pathological need to make his life way more difficult than it already is by making flippant remarks (quite brilliantly, I might add), which provokes more than a raised eye brow in response. He certainly lives up to his name by becoming a ‘Thorne’ in most people’s side, with minimal effort on his part.

The dialogue volleys and character depictions are delivered with an extra-special kick to give an immediate impression of a person’s outlook. But whether this ensures they are perceived as a victim or survivor, hunter or prey, blameless or otherwise, is a distinction that blurs over time.

Connecting the last of the dots that lead to Annie’s disappearance and her subsequent return (not to mention other significant peculiarities) made me realise why you should never, ever jump to conclusions. "The Taking of Annie Thorne" is so much more than a compelling story – it’s a cunning and slippery journey into the unknown.

I was very curious to see how Caz would follow up the roaring success of the Chalk Man, and was thrilled to see it's every bit as good. Great use of the claustrophobic small-town setting, secrets-galore, and a cast of characters with multi-layered motives keep you turning pages at a rate of knots.

I absolutely love Chalk Man by the same author so was thrilled to receive this to read and review. Absolutely loved it especially the character of Joe. He's such a lost soul but also intriguing. The author set the story perfectly and coming from a mining area myself I could picture the old mine and the land very easily. Cracking read

I was really looking forward to reading this having read and loved The Chalk Man. Unfortunately for me it didn’t quite hit the mark. I found it a bit long winded and dull. 70% in I started skim reading then at 80% I gave up. I really wanted to finish it but I lost the will.

I have mixed feelings on this book, characters are excellently written and the story flows well. It's just a bit slow with no great pay off towards the end (which I was expecting!). I enjoyed the timeline going to the past and then back to now, very gripping!

It's evident to see that C J Tudor is a huge Stephen King fan as there are definite parallels with some of his work

I was hooked on this one from the opening chapter, where a gruesome and violent murder takes place, I'm not usually a gore fan but I was definitely intrigued as to the what and why!

C J Tudor has an amazing talent for descriptive writing, she used such vivid imagery in setting the scenes I could nearly have been there!

I found the majority of the characters likable/engaging although I did think some of them and their story arc completely unnecessary and not really in keeping with the story

Overall a very solid story that I really enjoyed

The Taking of Annie Thorne is the second C.J. Tudor novel I have read this year. The story follows Joe Thorne, the title character's brother, as he returns home when events seem to be repeating themselves. This is probably as much information that I can give about the story without going too far into spoiler territory.

This is most definitely a creepy and engaging story. with an interesting cast of characters who will stay with you long after you have finished the story. Joe was a great main character, he was believably written with his flaws open for the reader to see. Despite this, you are most definitely rooting for him throughout. Gloria and Beth were also stand out performances as they really demonstrate Tudor's ability to create multiple characters really well. I wish that the Hurst family had more of a redemption arc, as even though this is hinted at in one case I really felt that they remained typecast as the villains of the town and therefore were perhaps the weakest of the bunch. Once certain revelations were made about the town and what is going on, I think the character could have been taken in a different direction and not given the easy ending that they received. I also felt that their participation in events was not really confirmed or disproved by the end of the book, leaving me a little disappointed about not knowing what events actually took place and which were speculation. Certain events, such as Beth's niece and Chris, are not really resolved as to what actually happened and I wish we had more information.

In terms of plot, this story moved a lot slower as a whole compared to The Chalk Man, and there were definitely times where it was difficult to get through. With the twists, whilst I didn't figure any of them out they did not seem to have the shock value that I was expecting. It was slightly surprising but more of a "oh ok" reaction rather than a "OHMYGOODNESSIDIDN'TSEETHATCOMING" reaction. The ending itself felt rushed and the epilogue only really served to try and make the book creepy (which it had already achieved without the unnecessary end chapter) so it was more annoying than anything else. However, that is just my opinion and some people may like how the book ends overall. The reveal about The Fat Man was predictable as well, however it was completely unbelievable and raises questions about how much of a bad guy The Fat Man was considering his presence throughout the book. I semi wish we had more from Gloria as I loved her from the moment we met her.

Once again, there are the comparisons with a Stephen King novel (if you get the title it is a major spoiler for what is going on). Whilst the comparison can be made throughout, I think that Tudor has truly made this story unique and her own, just as she did with the Chalk Man.

I would like my final comment to be on the sheer amount, once again, on the amount of gore, violence and nauseating scenes that are throughout this novel. As with my comments on the Chalk Man, these scenes only serve to enhance what we already know about a character or situation rather than revealing anything new. This means that they do nothing for the story, in my opinion, and are rather extraneous to the overall atmosphere. If anything I felt thrown out of the narrative in these scenes. The opening scene being a classic example of too much telling and after that I felt it took a bit of time for the overall creepiness to feed into the novel. Once it is there though I don't think there is a moment it ever goes completely.

A strong book with some brilliant characters, however there are some problematic areas that may not work for people (me being one of them) and the end few pages serve no purpose than to detract from the rest of the book, feeling a bit like an add on rather than part of the overall story. Otherwise, it was really good. I do have a question about the end of the book (which contains a minor spoiler) but why was it just Chris and Annie at the end considering what happened with Ben and Beth's niece? Why was it just the two of them?

Anyway, many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This is a bleak and gritty thriller. I read up to chapter 7 before deciding that it just wasn't for me. The dishonest, gambling addict who chooses to live in the house where a murder was committed may have an intriguing back story and reasons to be there but, after beetles in the toilets, dreams about dead relatives and a weird doll featuring in the first few chapters along with a gruesome death and a run down environment , I decided that this wasn't the type of psychological thriller that I enjoy.
I understand that this is because I dislike the genre and the writing is fine. The title and the cover do suggest a psychological thriller and not the type of thriller with graphic descriptions like in this book. I think many readers may buy this and then find it far too graphic.
I'm writing this for the publisher and netgalley and won't send my review elsewhere as I'm not a fan of this genre.