"And it felt good, to confess."

Confession is good for the soul they say...but then again there are characters in this book who would disagree. Who feel the complete opposite. Who believe that well, "sometimes......it's better not to know all the answers." But we do learn the answers in this psychological/suspense thriller. I'll be entirely honest, when I first began reading this book I thought "what is all the fuss about?" I thought the first chapter or so was dull. All I can say is, if you feel the same way I did when you first pick up this book, KEEP READING. Things got interesting fast.

This book flips back and forth between 1986 and 2016. Going back and forth in time used to really annoy me as did differing POV chapters. Either Authors have master how to do this or I have surrendered myself to this story telling device. Either way, I found this really worked in this book in the unraveling of the story.

So What is the story?

In 1986, Eddie and his friends (Fat Gav, Hoppo, "Metal" Mickey, and Nicky) draw chalk men, they use them as their secret code that only they understand. They each have their own color and leave messages for each other about meeting up, etc. Then one day thy discover a chalk figure that points the way to a grisly discovery in the woods: A local teenager, Elisa, has been dismembered. Elisa is the young woman who Eddie helped save at the carnival after a moving piece fell off a ride and landed on Elisa. Eddie and the new teacher in town, Mr. Halloran helped save her life and became local heroes in the process. Who would have wanted to kill Elisa and why?

Flash forward to 2016, Eddie still lives in his childhood home and is a teacher at the local school. He has taken on a lodger and is happily unhappy living his life and drinking a little too much. Then he receives a letter in the mail. A letter which changes everything....The letter contains a chalk stick figure. He then learns that all of his friends have received the same letter. Has the past come back to haunt them?

"An ADULT is only an illusion. When it comes down to it I'm not sure any of us really grow up. We simply grtow taller and hairier. Sometimes, I still feel amazed that I am allowed to drive a car...."

One of his friends comes back to town and then turns up dead. The letter was no prank. Who could have been behind it? Why? They only found the body, they had nothing to do with the teen girls murder. Eddie decides that it is time to look into the past. Try and put the pieces together. Time to determine who is responsible.

This book may have started slow for me but it built...and when I say it built I mean EVERYTHING built. The suspense built, the plot and subplots built, the suspense built, the revealing built. The story came together so flawlessly that it was actually quite brilliant. There was more than one "AHA" moment in this book. Truths both large and small are revealed. It was brilliant and I have to say that I am really surprised that this is a debut novel. I have not been this impressed sine I read "The Summer that Melted Everything". This book also has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. By going back and forth from childhood to adult hood this book had a "IT" and "Stand by Me" feel to it. The teens deal with bullying, parental issues, anger, death, family secrets, etc. C.J. Tudor really pulled off the Nostalgia aspect of this book quite seamlessly. How one event experienced in childhood, can not only change a person but change friendships forever. Tragedy can either pull people closer together or tear them apart.

As I mentioned there are other sub-plots going on in this book as well. This makes for a very interesting read. Plus, they all blend together and make for a captivating read. I loved when the "aha" moments and revelations were revealed. They all seemed to come at just the right time to keep the pages turning and the story moving. If this is C.J. Tudor's first book, I can't wait to read the next!

I received an ARC of this book from Crown Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for making the book available for me to read and review.

Creepy mystery that keeps up the suspense until the end. The beginning it a bit gory but the gore surrenders to a haunting mystery quickly. At times, this book reminded me of Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman in all the best ways.

Thirty years ago, five misfits banded together while growing up in the small town of Anderbury. Eddie, Mickey, Hoppo, Gav, & Nicky weren’t cool or popular. And sometimes they didn’t even like each other all that much. They shared adventures, pranks & secrets. They even had their own way of communicating by leaving chalk stick figures for each other on pavement & fence posts.

Looking back, it’s hard to pinpoint when it all began. Maybe it was the summer of 1986. That was when new teacher Mr. Halloran came to town. And when Eddie, Mickey, Hoppo & Gav found the body.

In the present, Ed is a bachelor still living in the same house. His days are spent teaching at the local school & occasionally meeting Hoppo & Gav for a pint. He’s a quiet, solitary man who rarely thinks about that summer. But someone wants to jog his memory. Ed receives a letter with only the drawing of a stickman in a noose & a piece of chalk. Then Mickey suddenly reappears on his doorstep after a long absence. And he’s got a proposition. Somehow you know this won’t end well.

Not another peep about the plot. It’s layered with so many twists that it’s better you go in blind to get the biggest bang for your buck. All you need to know is this is a fabulous read. The past & the present are told in alternate time lines. As we follow Ed the adult, we slowly learn what happened to those kids 30 years ago. And it’s quite a tale.

Chapters set in the past will feel familiar to anyone who grew up in a small town. There’s a clannish culture where everyone knows your business & outsiders are viewed with suspicion. We get to peek over their shoulders as the kids struggle to fit in & deal with family problems while something sinister stalks them from the shadows. Each character has such a distinct personality that they pop off the page fully formed as you meet.

There’s a definite Stephen King vibe to the story & it reminded me of the movie “Stand By Me” which was based on on his novella “The Body”. But the creepiness is balanced by humour, heartbreak & poignant moments that resonate as they remind you what it was like to be 12. With the possible exception of finding a body…you probably missed out on that.

After the chalk man arrives, Ed is forced to remember what it was like to be Eddie. As he sifts through events from that pivotal summer, he reexamines his own actions & how they affected the terrible crimes. Looking back with adult eyes, he sees things he couldn’t understand as a child. And he realizes he is surrounded by people who have kept their own secrets for decades.

This is a spooky, addictive read that forces me to trot out that tired old phrase….I couldn’t put it down. It’s a gripping mix of chilling suspense & coming-of-age. And it’s not just great story telling. Once finished, I found myself thinking about memories & how they can be coloured by a specific place & time. Why I can remember a throw-away moment so clearly while something others would deem significant is a blur. It’s a running theme on several levels from beginning to end where the author takes one final jab at your heart on the very last page.

I’m now officially freaked out by stick men. And…sorry kids…henceforth, all chalk is banished.

4+++ Stars. Beware The Chalk Men!

Only a few chapters in and I was hooked on Eddie "Munster" Adams and the gang of mischievous 12 year olds who ride bikes around their quaint English village.... communicate in secret code....with chalk stick figures (so cool)....disclosing the site of their next rendezvous.

The fair was supposed to be fun, and it was at first, but turned out to be the beginning of disastrous times, harmful misadventures, and deadly accidents. Add threatening bullies and a creepy new teacher to the mix and you have one suspenseful and entertaining read that leads the reader from a haunted playground into the nearby woods....for a horror of a find.

THE CHALK MAN alternates smoothly from past to present as Eddie and some old friends find out all has NOT been forgotten or revealed....even 30 years later. There's still more trouble to come evidenced by creepy dreams and even creepier visions from the grave.

C. J. Tudor delivers wonderfully defined and engaging characters in an engrossing mystery I could have read in a day. Definitely NOT "a pile of stinking buckaroo" but one solid debut!

Many thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC (coming January, 2018) in exchange for an honest review.


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Hi all. This book just wasn't for me. I found i couldn't really get I to the story or the characters

This is a great thriller!

Eddie Munster, Metal Mickey, Fat Gav, Hoppo and Nicky are close friends in 1986, they are twelve years old and go to school together. They come up with a secret code using chalk and use it to communicate messages, calls to action, meetings and other fun things preteens do at that age. Then a murder happens to a beautiful young girl they all know and this event brings repercussions that change everybody's lives after that.

The novel is narrated by Ed (Eddie) and alternates between 1986 and 2016. It takes place in Anderbury, a small English town and is told at a moderate pace. The story is chilling, engaging and mysteriously dark.

The friendship that these kids have reminded me of the characters in the TV show Stranger Things , maybe because they are preteens and it takes place in the 80s.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to all lovers of thrillers, mysteries and contemporary fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley, the C.J. Tudor, and Crown Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.

Started reading this blind not knowing anything about the plot except that The Chalk Man was a creepy title. This book did not disappoint. I was left mouth agape from the start. Tudor weaves a fine tale with murder, intrigue, and mystery.

Told in two parts, one in 1986 and one in 2016 the story follows Eddie as both a 12 year old and a 42 year old. There are multiple mysteries included.

. The book was an easy read though uncomfortable in parts. Overall I found the story and ending a very satisfying read. The subtleties included really made the story here.

Absolutely amazing! I was sucked into this book and could not put it down for anything! Such a compelling and gripping novel. This author has hit their mark and I can't wait for the next work to come out already. 5/5 stars.

A great, suspenseful mystery where every answer adds additional questions. We switch back and forth between Ed in current time and looking back at 1986 when he was 12. He and his small group of friends play a central role in a series of deaths. We slowly discover what happened that summer and how intricate the web is. I liked this much more than I expected. I loved the unique voice of Eddie and the great characters.

One of my favorite thrillers this year! C.J. Tudor gives Stephen King a run for his money in this chilling tale. Definitely hard to put down. My customers are going to love this book.

The Chalk Man is an impressive ,gripping psychological debut thriller by C.J. Tudor

12 year old Eddie , Hoppo , Fat Gav, Metal Mickey and Nicky were enjoying a lazy summer when Eddie meets the Chalk Man for the first time while saving a teenage girl. The Chalk Man gives Eddie an idea about creating a secret code among friends using chalk where each friend has a special color chalk so that everybody knows who the message is from. This creates a lot of fun until the chalk symbols lead them to find a dismembered body. Now 30 years later when Eddie receives another letter with a stick figure drawn in chalk , he realizes the deadly game has started all over again.

Powerful writing , interesting characters , intriguing suspense , lots of twists and turns makes this book a compelling read . I cannot recommend it enough .

Many thanks to Crown Publishing & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

A simple box of colored chalk. The magic contained inside is limited only by the range of imagination of the one using it. In Old Meadows Park, there is an empty playground which appears strangely dark even in the bright sunshine. It's all fun and games until the body of a young girl is found in the nearby woods.

Eddie, Mickey, Hoppo, and Gavin are 12 years old in the summer of 1986 and they are about to start learning some of the facts of life. For one thing, don't assume (we all know why). For another, there is not much you can do about crazy. It comes out the winner every time.

<spoiler>I got a kick out of a conversation between two of the characters while they were standing in a cemetery. They were discussing "plot holes" even as a coffin was being lowered into an empty one behind them. Ironically, this was not the type of plot hole under discussion. There is some sly humor going on there. Fantastic!</spoiler>

Thriller, reminiscent of Stand By Me. Great portrayals of the young characters.

I am.predicting this novel will go on to be made into a movie. It is cinematic, with characters, actions and settings that are desperate to be played out on a screen. I'm not usually a fan of stories told in alternating timelines, but this one works. The author does a fantastic job if telling you just enough in each narrative to move naturally.
The opening scene isn't the grabber the rest of the novel becomes. In fact, this was a book I abandoned for others. But once I got a few chapters in, I was intrigued. Honestly, I did figure out who the killer was fairly early on, which was disappointing, and a few.of the shocks weren't as shocking as probably intended. The closing scene, however, did its job thoroughly. No.spoilers, but the twist really was one I never saw coming.

This was a decent thriller. It's a good summer read, and I would recommend it to fans of Stephen King. Based on the reviews, I expected to absolutely love this, but I guess this just wasn't up my alley exactly. It's a quick, entertaining read, full of twists and turns but it didn't re-invent the genre for me.

"People are strange........" crooned in the deep, haunting voice of Jim Morrison of The Doors.

Oh, that's only the tip on the piece of chalk that leaves irreverent drawings along the way. Quickly sketched ramblings with elusive meanings.

The pages flit back and forth in time from that serrated summer of 1986 in Anderbury. Eddie Adams and his friends are in their twelfth summer of wild boyhood and feel the excitement of good-looking girls and the fast carnival rides that hold promise at the town fair. That's when the worst of the worst actually happens.

An unimaginable accident occurs when part of a fast-moving ride breaks loose and careens into seventeen year old Elisa. Eddie had just been admiring the young beautiful girl when the mayhem broke out. Mr. Halloran, just newly hired by the school system, grabs Eddie and the two of them try to stop the bleeding of Elisa's nearly amputated leg with Halloran's belt. Eddie turns away when he realizes what the impact did to Elisa's once lovely face.

C. J. Tudor creates a boyhood atmosphere here liken to the strength of the comaraderie in Stand By Me and The Goonies. Eddie, Fat Gav, Hoppo, Metal Mickey, and Nicky are as thick as thieves that summer. They will forever be changed by what happened at the fair in those climactic moments. Tudor presents her adult characters through the limited lense of twelve year old boys. The adults' driftings and meanderings throughout the story will leave questionable trail marks in addition to the iffy honesty and the strange intentions of the boys themselves.

The discovery of a body in the woods during this same summer will certainly shake the leaves off many a tree. From 1986 to 2016 Eddie's voice will lay the groundwork for a very intense storyline filled with the reverberations of childhood slamming head-long into the chunks and pieces of their eventually unstable adult lives.

"I need to grasp it quickly before it scuttles away again like the hideous head spider from my dream." Have mercy! C.J. Tudor has an exceptional style with tasty words and phrases placed adeptly throughout this book. Her descriptives are rich in hue and that uneasy tone creaks along with uncanny results. Tudor gets into her characters' heads and seems to know just when to blink and just when to stare.

The ending left me a bit unsettled. So much was unraveling at such a fast pace. It was the lifting of the masks with results that sizzled and burned. It stirred up the cauldron in ways that brought new thoughts to the surface and old thoughts submerged. And the door was left opened just a crack.........

I received a copy of The Chalk Man through NetGalley for an honest review. Many thanks to Crown Publishing and To C.J. Tudor for the opportunity. I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for the next one from this highly talented author.

Strange chalk figures are making their way again into the lives of Eddie and his friends twenty years after they thought it was the end of them in 1986. The pattern leaves the question of if what happened all those years ago is still going on today.

Eddie, Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Hoppo, and Nicky are at a fair when it all starts. An accident that leads Eddie to the lives of Mr. Halloran, a new teacher, and Elisa, whom he calls Waltzer Girl, and he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery that is only the tip of the iceberg in this tale of small town bigotry and condemnation that claims more than one victim.

Chalk men they used to draw as messages to one another have a more sinister meaning when everyone is grown and start to receive new messages containing the chalk men they once drew for fun.

Now, years after the murder, Metal Mickey is wanting to write a book about the murder that happened when they were kids...and tell who he really thinks did the killing. Only, before he can tell, he's murdered. Someone's after the old gang and Eddie finds himself asking questions: who is behind all the chalk men? Is everyone who they say they are? Who's keeping secrets? And are Eddie's hands as clean as he thinks?

A psychological suspense novel on par with Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and just a little bit of Jo Nesbo.

Certainly a disturbing tale, but a riveting one that will have thriller readers on the edge of their seat until the final chapters when the revelations make you wonder how you missed all the clues and a shocking ending you won't see coming.

Told from two different decades, the story comes together like any good suspense novel should and works to the effect of this shelf ready book for any reader's collection.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read the Chalk Men. This story line goes back and forth in time with the central character who is 42 years old. He tells the story of when he was 12 years old and witnesses a terrible accident of a young girl. This incidnent is engrained in his memory and marks a turning point as a young man.
At first I thought this was a supernatural plot, but as the story unravels the reader sees the young man struggles with the past and how decisions ,made in the past impact many things including murder and deceit that are happening in his current life.
There are alot of characters and I found some of that confusing and not critical to the story line. But overall this is a good book. 3 stars.

"The Chalk Man" is one of the most intriguing and compelling novels I've read this year.
The story is told from the perspective of a man named Eddie, about the chilling events that occurred when he and his friends were 12 years old and the related events that are happening 30 years later. Eddie and his friends were typical kids, looking for adventures, horsing around, teasing and testing their parents' limits. And then there was the bullying. And murder. And other deaths. And how does what happened when you were 12 somehow affect your life and relationships when you are 42? And why does everything seem to tie together, but you just can't put your finger on how?
I loved the twists and creepy surprises in this book and thinking I had figured it out, and then knowing that I hadn't, and then thinking again that maybe I had, and then KNOWING that I hadn't.. A page turner from start to finish! I highly recommend this book and I thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Chalk Man is a mystery/suspense book told in two times. We learn what took place in 1986 to five friends which changed their lives forever and we get to know them 30 years later, in 2016. The story is told by one of the Ed who is a teacher and drinks a bit too much too often. There are many twists in this book which keeps the reader guessing until the secrets become revealed. 1986 was a hard year for the English village of Anderbury. Not everyone is who or what they seem to be. There are a lot of secrets that stay secret until 2016. The five friends invent the Chalk Men to let each other to know where they should meet up. It is an innocent private code that keeps turning up at the scene of disturbing events. Who is drawing the chalk men in 1986 and again in 2016? This book is a very fast read which keeps the reader turning pages to find out who did it. There are numerous who did it events, so this book is quite hard to put down. I will say there is at least one thing I am still confused about, but perhaps that was my incorrect interpretation of the book and it does not ruin the story line at all. This is a 4.5 star book rounded to 5 which has me wanting to read more from C. J. Tudor.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/new/35356382-the-chalk-man