A very British suspense, perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and B.A. Paris.

Great character and scene building. The author is very talented. But the book is slow and there is too much description of mundane details. I almost gave up and stopped reading. When I finished, I was relieved that I was done, it took to much effort to finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing and story reminded me of Stephen King in his prime. It was fast-paced and full of rich characters. It kept me on the edge of my seat and there were times I could not put it down. I recommend this book to those who love good fast-paced stories that leave your breathless wondering what comes next. Thank you for the opportunity to read this and I look forward to reading the next one by this author!

*5 Amazing Stars

THE CHALK MAN by C.J. Tudor is a psychological thriller that is very well-written, creepy, suspenseful and an extremely twisted read that I couldn't get enough of. I read this in 24 hours flipping each page as fast as I could till I got to the end. I had to know who The Chalk Man was!!!

Alternating between flashbacks from 1986 and present day, The Chalk Man is a unique novel with a unique plot and believable characters. This was truly like nothing I have ever read!!!

This book packs a creepy punch right from the start and doesn't let up until the very last page. I highly recommend this addictive, deep, and mysterious novel! Buckle up for a wild and creepy ride!!!

3.5 stars

The book's narrator is 42-year-old Eddie (Ed) Adams, an unmarried English teacher who still lives in his childhood home in the English village of Anderbury. Lonely and longing for company, Ed has taken in a lodger - a pretty, twentysomething called Chloe who works at an alternative clothing shop in Boscombe.

As the story opens Ed is anxiously expecting a visit from his childhood friend, Metal Mickey, whom he hasn't seen in decades. Whatever Metal Mickey wants.....it can't be good.

The story alternates back and forth between events that occurred thirty years ago, in 1986 and what's happening now, in 2016.

*****

During the summer of 1986, twelve-year-old Eddie Adams had a little gang of friends that would meet to ride their bikes, visit each other's houses, go to the playground, traipse through the woods, and so on. The group included Eddie, Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Hoppo, and a girl called Nicky. As the novel unfolds, we learn about each of these characters - their quirks, personalities, and home lives.

When the fair came to town that summer Eddie and his pals met on a Saturday, to attend the big event. That was the day 'everything stopped being normal.' Eddie - searching the fairgrounds for his lost wallet - happened to be nearby when the Waltzer ride snapped and threw a carriage. The flying metal sheared half the face off a pretty teenage girl, and almost severed her leg. Pressed into service by Mr. Halloran - a new teacher in town - Eddie helped save the girl's leg.....and life. From that moment on Eddie thought of the mutilated teen as 'Waltzer girl', and had a lasting bond with Mr. Halloran.

When Eddie was chatting with Mr. Halloran one day, the teacher - who liked to draw with pastels - described a game he played as a youth. He and his friends made up a secret code using 'chalk men', which they employed to leave covert messages for each other - like 'meet me at the park.' Eddie and his friends thought this was a nifty idea, and invented chalk men symbols to communicate with one another. Each kid had his/her own color, to identify the message writer.

This was all good fun until the day chalk men drawn in white, which was nobody's color, led the boys to the woods. There they found the body of a dead girl, dismbembered and scattered around. An Anderbury resident was blamed for the crime, but Eddie had doubts about the person's guilt.

Skip ahead to 2016, and Metal Mickey - during his visit with Ed - says he's writing a book about the girl's murder and wants Ed to help. When Ed seems reluctant, Metal Mickey throws in the clincher - he claims to know 'who really killed the girl.'

That's the backbone of the novel, but only part of the story, since there was (and is) a lot going on in Anderbury.

In 1986, for example, drama in Anderbury included: child abuse; bullying; an accidental drowning; anti-abortion protests; an unwanted pregnancy; a man being beaten senseless; a pet tragedy; inappropriate romances; a suicide; and Eddie talking to ghosts. During that year Metal Mickey distanced himself from the gang and - later on - a car accident made the estrangement permanent.

In 2016 things are pretty quiet in Ed's life, though he drinks and smokes too much. Ed's sedate existence changes, however, when he and his friends receive envelopes containing a stick of chalk and a chalk man drawing. These mailings are followed by Metal Mickey's visit - which leads to another death.

By the end of the book, all the story's mysteries are resolved (well.....maybe not the ghosts), and Waltzer girl's story comes full circle.

The characters in the book are three-dimensional and interesting, and the story is well-crafted and engaging. There are clever surprises that aren't over-the-top, which I appreciate. (Hyperbolic revelations at the climax of thrillers seem to be very popular lately).

All in all, this is an enjoyable psychological thriller that I'd recommend to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (C.J. Tudor) and the publisher (Crown) for a copy of the book.

The Chalk Man surrounds Eddie and his childhood friends. The boys found a dead body when they were younger, who was killed by the supposed Chalk Man. Years later one of Eddie’s friends, Mickey comes back, after they all received a letter with a chalk figure drawn on it. From there we are told Eddie’s story in alternating time— the present and 1986.
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This book kept me guessing about everything! Every time I thought I knew something I had no clue. Tudor does a great job with the plot. It never gets outlandish and it is quite the page turner. I don’t want to say too much because of the chance of a spoiler. But if are a fan of suspense books, I highly recommend The Chalk Man.

Fantastick book! I could not put it down. Great twists and will keep you guessing until the end. Even when you think you have it figured out, you don't

You cannot outrun your past or your secrets, but you can learn to cope with them. They were best friends, twelve years old and growing up in a time that held the innocence of youth, the wonder of simple adventures and the intrigue of special secrets. They lost that cloak of sweet protection when murder came to their sleepy little village and they became caught up in a nightmare that wouldn’t let go, even as it destroyed the childhood bond they once shared.

The THE CHALK MAN knew what happened, but he wasn’t real, right? He was a game the kids played, a secret code only they knew, and yet…he left his messages, made his threats and gave his clues…and they were scared…

Eddie and his friends have all grown up now. Thirty years have passed, but the events are not forgotten, only buried. THE CHALK MANby C.J. Tudor is mystery and suspense at its most devious. What happened the night that girl was killed? Who did it? Why? And who has come back 30 years later to toy with the town, the killer and the one man who knew more than he let on? What happened to those innocent kids?

Someone is still out there, someone knows what happened that night in the woods, someone knows what happened to the missing head, but no one will suspect the answers to a crime that killed a town and its innocence decades before.

Dark, devious, filled with an atmosphere of fear, broken bonds and the pain of growing up and losing the innocence of childhood and friendships. Life will go on, death will come to many who were there in 1986, yes, life will go on…

C.J. Tudor has created a tale that is both chilling and so entangled in the webs of lies, half-truths and mystery that it is nearly impossible to guess the outcome of the next page, let alone the ending! What tale! What a fabulous read, but definitely not for those who seek the perfectly wrapped closure with the pretty bow all neatly tied on top!

I received an ARC edition from Crown Publishing in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Publisher: Crown (January 9, 2018)
Publication Date: January 9, 2018
Genre: Adult Fiction | Suspense
Print Length: 288 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

I finished this book, but it was a mighty effort. The story and characters in and of themselves aren’t bad, in a vacuum — the plot is serviceable and the lead protagonists are fine. The writing is boring, without flair, pedestrian . . . but this is a debut novel. I didn’t expect this to be perfect.

The shameless ripping off of one Stephen King, though, I cannot abide. The story’s conceit is, to be charitable, familiar: the narrative switches between 2016 and 1986, and features a guy (named Eddie, wouldn’t ya know) dealing with dark events that happened in his childhood, events that shaped him and his friends into the people they are today. The gang is a nice hodgepodge of cliches ripped out of everything from <i>It</i> to <i>Stranger Things</i> to <i>The Goonies</i>. Add in an important character named Mr. Hallorann, a few references to something called “the deadlights”, a funeral scene featuring a casket falling to the floor, only for the casket’s latch to come undone and reveal the corpse’s hand, and you’ve got lukewarm reminders of everything the Master of Horror was doing better three decades ago. It’s not often I accuse authors of plagiarism, and I’m not calling into question this author’s character or intent — but damn, this story is anything but original.

It’s unfortunate, too. For a while I was mildly intrigued and wanted to like these characters. But I quickly found myself growing bored and frustrated. I was able to predict everything these jokers were going to say and do before they said and did it. That’s never good. Avoid this at all costs.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free review copy.

Eddie and his friends were just kids who liked to ride their bikes around their town to try to find something exciting happening. They communicated through a code consisting of little chalk stick figures. One day, they found a mysterious chalk figure that led them to a dismembered body.

Thirty years later, Eddie receives a letter with a single chalk stick figure. His friends receive the same message, and they believe it is just a prank. But then one of them turns up dead. Eddie is trying to figure out what really happened in 1986 before it’s too late.

This contemporary psychological suspense novel is full of surprise twists. The timeline alternates between the past in 1986 and the present in 2016. This is an excellent debut novel that surpasses most other first novels. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had difficulty putting it down. I hope it is the first of many thrillers written by C. J. Tudor. I highly recommend this one!

well HOT damn!!!5 BIG chalk drawn stars🌟

WOW! I cannot believe this is this authors debut book.... it was just so extremely well thought out, the characters were well-developed, the pacing of the plot was perfect, I really just can’t think of anything wrong with this book....

The story is told from the perspective of Ed.... with two different timelines his present life as a teacher in 2016 and his 12-year-old memories in 1986....

Ed and his buddies find a dead body in the woods, and the murder has never quite been solved (at least not in Ed’s mind).... The boys had used chalk drawings to communicate with one another back in the day.... so when Ed receives a drawing and a piece of chalk in the mail, he begins his quest to figure out what really happened all those years ago.... I don’t want to say any more than that and ruin it... just know you will go on a wonderful adventure with Ed filled with twists and turns and revelations you never will see coming.....

In addition to this fantastic mystery filled with these wonderful characters, was the nostalgia of the 1980s....as somebody who spent all of her teenage years in the 80s, I thought the author did such an amazing job of making me long for those good old days.... A time when you could ride your bike to the playground, hang out with your friends all day, and didn’t need to come home until the street lights came on.... I didn’t grow up near woods, I never found a dead body, but this book did definitely make me feel a little nostalgic for my childhood....

Can’t wait to see what this author has in store for us next!

*** thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Initially a little slow-going for me at first, once I got into the story I couldn't stop. The storytelling teases out questions and answers perfectly, enough to satisfy readers but keep them guessing along the way. Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers with twists around every corner.

Loved this book!! It had just the right formula of creepy and mystery. It reminded me a little of The Long Walk by Stephen King. It does flash back and forth but the author does a great job with this so you aren't confused. This is a quick read and is hard to put down. The ending is soooo worth it!!

Here is another great book that I discovered since so many of my Goodreads friends loved it and they are seldom wrong!!!! I really enjoyed this book as well.

At first I was a little put off by the fact that it seemed like yet another story about a small group of pre-adolescent boys and one intriguing girl in a summer in the 1980’s, I’m thinking The Goonies and now Stranger Things, but this was unique. While explaining his 12 year old summer, Ed who is now an adult and teacher in his hometown, recalls all of his best buddies while unraveling a mystery which started that summer.

The summer of 1986 would change Ed’s life forever, he will be haunted by what he and his friends did, saw and were a part of. The story is told in both past and present which can get a little confusing but for the most part the story flowed smoothly. There are many plots and subplots and the use of the “chalk man” drawings was a clever tool which the author used in several different ways. First it was a way for the boys to communicate with one another during the summer, then later it became something fiendishly different, messages from a murderer!
The summer that the boys turned 12 and the annual fair came to town a terrible accident occurs when a carriage from a ride loosens and flies through the air leaving several people injured and one girl changed from what looked to be a charmed life to a life of solitude and disability.

I would like to tell the readers a quote from the book which will help them to solve this mystery: “Never assume, my dad once told me. To assume makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me” Question everything that you read and every character, everyone! “Assuming can trip us up in other ways, too. It can stop us seeing people for who they really are and make us lose sight of the people we know”.

The only boy from the old group of Ed, Gav, Hoppo, Mike and Nicky, who moves away is Mike and when he reappears many years later he has a proposition for Ed, he wants to make a movie about that terrible summer and he wants Ed to help him. Before Ed even has a chance to make up his mind, explain to Mike about the continuing appearance of the chalk men, Mike disappears. What has happened to him is yet another piece of this intricate puzzle.

I urge you all to pay close attention to everyone and stay sharp, the ending will have you shaking your head in disbelief, as it did me!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
Will also post to Amazon upon publication

3.5 stars--somewhere between liked and really liked.

This is a tricky book that I enjoyed more than most thrillers. The plot might not entirely hold up to close scrutiny, but that didn't decrease my enjoyment--I devoured this book in two nights because I was so engrossed.

The story is spooky, with an nostalgic 80s setting and a cast of messed-up and intriguing characters. Highly recommended for thriller readers.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

I nearly passed up the chance to read this book. With it's simple unassuming cover, written by an author I had never heard of... I nearly passed it by without a second glance. Especially as it claimed to be "The Must Read" of 2018. So many make that claim. Too many make that claim. I nearly passed it by. What a loss that would have been. What a flaming pile of Buckaroo indeed that would have been on my part to miss out on reading this novel. I just this minute finished it. I'm still stunned. Pardon me if it shows. I began this book a day or so before Thanksgiving. I kicked myself over that repeatedly. So much to do and so little time to read. It took me more than a week to finish it. I thought about it day and night when I wasn't reading. All through the holiday preparations I could not wait to get back to this book. Looking at that claim now "The must read thriller" I am nodding my head in approval. I'm applauding. Heck I'm cheering out loud. This was an incredible read. 5 out of 5 stars from me, and if I could I'd give it 10.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital ARC of this book. This book is true to its title description. The reader won't be disappointed when reading this book.

A great read! Enjoyed this entertaining book from start to finish. The suspense will keep you on your toes trying to guess whodunit. I definitely recommend.

I love a good mystery and THE CHALK MAN had a lot of potential: interesting, flawed characters and a plot and subplots galore. So why the frequent use of foreshadowing? None of the mysteries were that difficult to solve, but I felt like I was being lead from clue to clue. Personally, I find it a much more satisfying journey (read) if I’m allowed to explore on my own. My thanks to NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy..