The police enter a small cottage to find a murder/suicide. Mother and son, she brutally murders him and then herself, leaving behind a message that hints at her motives. She had been a teacher; he had been a popular student. People really should be more surprised than they are, even with her history.

Enter Joe. He grew up in this small village. He got out and swore he'd never return. So why is he faking his way into the vacant teaching position? He sees something in the murder/suicide that he know relates to his own sister's disappearance, and reappearance, twenty-five years before. Someone else agrees and lures him back to town. The reader gets to follow Joe as he stumbles through his investigation and plans to set things right once and for all.

Joe is aptly named. He is sarcastic and smart. The entire novel reminded me of an injured and less trained Joe Ledger falling into several interwoven Stephen King novels. This is my second Tudor novel (and the second to remind me King). I look forward to future books. Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and the publisher for the opportunity to preview this book.

“Places have secrets too, I think. Like people. You just need to dig. In land, in life, in a man’s soul.”

A fabulous suspenseful page-turner by C.J. Tudor. The story’s intensity builds about mid way and never slows down. Tudor created clever characters, supernatural highlights and twists I didn’t see coming. I raced through the book in two sittings.

*will post in additional online venues upon publication.

The story started out a bit slow but definitely picked up near the end ! I absolutely love C.J. Tudor writing style, it’s amazingly described and she makes you feel like you are right there in the story. Some parts of the story are really creepy and I just couldn’t get over how well described the whole environment was.

The story goes back and forth from the present to 1992, when Joe’s sister Annie went missing. There are many stories from Joe’s past that we must entangle to understand what happened to his sister, his friends, and all the other kids that have gone “missing”. I did enjoy that aspect, it left me wanting more and most chapters ended in a cliff-hanger. However, I wasn’t very fond of most of the characters, and didn’t really root or have sympathy for any of them which left me less invested in the story.

There were some twists in the story which I greatly appreciated and made my rating a bit higher. If it hadn’t been for those twists I honestly would of rated this a 3.5 stars. Unfortunately, the ending left me questioning the whole book and was a bit too far fetch for my preference.

Thank you to Crown Publishing for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions

A great second novel from C.J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man. I must confess, I loved The Chalk Man so I went diving into this quickly!
Joe Thorne returns to his hometown of Anrhill for a teaching job, after never imagining he would even be back to visit. He then rents out the house where the previous teacher lived. Oh, did I mention the previous teacher killed her son and then herself?
Joe is burdened by his past, not the least being the 48 hour disappearance of his 8 year old sister when they were children.
The past and present continue to meet as Joe realizes not all was as it seemed when he was a child.
Fast paced and well thought out, The Hiding Place is a great read that lived up to expectations!

This was a seriously creepy book that will send tingles dancing up and down the back of your neck. As much as you want to put down the book for a minute it's reach is just too compelling until you're back deep in the story trying to figure out what is going on. Really looking forward to reading more books by C.J. Tudor. Happy reading!

Joe goes back to his hometown after being gone for many years. Once back in town, he discovers some recent events that are eerily similar to things that happened in his past. He gets caught up in discovering the truth behind the recent events and uncovering the secrets and lies of his past.

Joe is a desperate mess. He's down on his luck, owing money to some bad people, and lying his way into a new job in his hometown. Not to mention the events from Joe's teen years have led him to not exactly be welcomed back with open arms.

The secrets from Joe's teen years mostly center around what happened to his sister. She went missing, but she came back. Soon after arriving back in town, Joe learns another kid recently went missing and showed up again after a couple of days. He is afraid history is repeating itself, and takes measures into his own hands to set things right.

This is a slow-paced, character driven story. I was not expecting a supernatural element to this novel, so that took me by surprise. This book is listed as a mystery thriller, but it read more like a horror novel. Dark, bleak, and atmospheric.

I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor is a psychological thriller. Note that this book is also published under the title The Taking of Annie Thorne.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Crown Publishing, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:  
Joe Thorne has returned to the mining town where he grew up. Arnhill has not changed. Neither have the people. Joe returned anyway. He returned to the place that took his sister, where his father died, where a friend committed suicide, where the memories are vivid, and the lies still buried. His old friends are not happy to see him. But it looks like events from the past are recurring. This has to be stopped.

25 years ago, Joe hung out with Stephen, Marie, Fletch, and Chris. Stephen was a bully, Marie his girlfriend, and Fletch his muscle. Chris was there because of his brains, and his strange ability to find and obtain things. Joe was there as Stephen’s voice of reason. This unlikely group fell apart when Joe’s little sister went missing. Annie often followed her big brother, and one night she followed him into hell. She showed up two day later, but was no longer the same bright and playful little girl. Not long after, Chris committed suicide, and a car crash claimed the lives of Annie and Joe’s father.

But now Joe is back, and retribution is on his list of things to do.

Joe is running from a debt that has already cost him the full use of his leg, but the collector is following him, and Joe is going to have to pay up soon if he ever wants to walk again.

But Joe has a plan. He has fudged his resume, and landed a teaching job at his old school. Unfortunately, when he tries to discipline a bully, he realizes it is the son of an old class-mate and one-time friend, Stephen Hurst. Hurst is now a respected council member, and still no one messes with him.

Joe will have to confront his friends, his past, the hell-hole they went down, and his own lies. But he will discover that he wasn’t the only one that lied.




My Opinions: 
I am really enjoying this author’s books, even though she seems to use a lot of Stephen King’s thoughts. This one reminds me a little of Pet Semetary….so I’m hoping her next one is a little more original.

However, I enjoy her writing and the depths of her characters, even though none of them had many redeeming qualities. Joe’s love for his sister is about it.

The book has the right amount of creepiness and the disturbing atmosphere to keep the reader engaged. I saw a lot of the twists coming, but a couple surprised me.

Anyway, the book was really good, and I am looking forward to her future endeavours.

3 stars Thank you to NetGalley and Crown for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Publishing Feb 5, 2019 on Kindle.

For those unaware, this book has a second title - The Taking of Annie Thorne.

This is the second book written by C. J. Tudor. I was very quick to secure a copy of it because I liked The Chalk Man so well. Sadly, I must say that the two books are very dissimilar.

I liked this book up to and a bit beyond the half way mark. Then, for me, it just kind of fluttered out. Although it was starting to answer questions from the first half, the rest of the book, in my opinion, remained just mediocre. I felt a build up, then a let down.

I try not to compare books, even by the same author, but... this book did not give me near the satisfaction that Chalk Man did. I think that if you are not an exceptional author then the alternating story line is hard to pull off with any glowing reaction. In this case, I would much rather have read the story of the children, then moved on to the adult story line. I had become invested in the characters, but the story was not up to the level of keeping the characters most interesting. Premise was there, but, for me, the story line faltered, even with the twists at the end.

This novel was not so bad that I will not read Tudor again, I just will not be jumping on her next book quite as quickly. I am hoping that this book was the rushed and stressed follow up to Chalk Man, and that her next book will maintain the level of mastery that she previously proved she has the ability to put forth.

This little nugget is my first book by C.J. Tudor, and I loved it!

Joe attended Arnhill school as a child along with his many friends. He does not have good memories of his time there and vowed not to return because he left under difficult circumstances…including a suicide and a murder; all on a bed of lies and deceit.

Now Joe HAS to return to Arnhill. Something bad has happened to another student, all eerily similar to what happened to Joe’s sister. He’s the only one who can get to the bottom of what is happening because he knows the truth.

Joe lies to get the job as a teacher, and he faces his old friends that no longer want anything to do with him and vice versa. The tragedies center around an abandoned mine. What happened to his sister, the secrets at Arnhill, and all that has changed Joe’s life are enclosed in the shadows of that mine, and Joe will have to confront them.

Oh my, what a thrilling page-turner this one is. I was hooked on The Hiding Place and had to know what happened to Joe’s sister. The shock value is high, the writing is fluid, and the pacing is on point. Why is Arnhill so deliciously creepy? Why do horrific things happen there?

Overall, The Hiding Place is an exquisite thriller with a touch of horror, and I’ll be waiting in line for Tudor’s next book AND reading The Chalk Man asap!

Thanks to Crown Publishing for the complimentary book. All opinions are my own.

I think this book was the victim of high expectations for me. I really enjoyed The Chalk Man and jumped at the chance to read and review an advance copy of the author's next book. For some reason this one didn't grab me and keep my attention as well as the last one.

C.J. Tudor is a great storyteller and I look forward to her next novel. This one kept me reading because she's such a great writer. The subject matter just didn't engage me as much as I had hoped. Plus, too many insects. I hate bugs and reading books about places infested with bugs gives me the creeps a bit more than I care for when reading an already eerie sort of book. All in all it wasn't a bad read, it just didn't live up to my expectations, which were admittedly high after enjoying her previous novel.

I was really looking forward to this book after the first one. In some ways, it was really good. It was well written, had a good plot with strong characters and a story I didn't want to put down. The problem? It was such an homage to Stephen King that I thought he had written it. Oh wait. He did. It was called, Pet Cemetery. I am frankly surprised that such a derivative book was published by such a talented author. It was a waste of time for both the author and the reader.

Did you read C.J. Tudor’s first novel, The Chalk Man? If you haven’t, do it! It was really good. Then get yourself a copy of The Hiding Place. Joe is a man who struggles with is past, but here he is returning to his home town to work as a teacher and to also see if he can figure out what happened to his sister Annie. Something bad happened in the town decades ago and it hangs over the town like a heavy fog.

Here’s what you need to know:

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang–the betrayal, the suicide, the murder–and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe’s sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town–while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since–is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing. It was the day she came back.

There is a supernatural, horror-ish element to this book so keep that in mind. It’s a dark, creepy book that is also sinister which is what you want when reading a thriller.

The Hiding Place is a book that's going to sit with me for a while. It's a story that curls around your bones and leaves your spine tingling with an ice cold chill. I don't really know what I was expecting when I started reading The Hiding Place, but it definitely wasn't this!

Joe returns to Arnhill after receiving a cryptic email that beckons him to return to the place where it all started. Growing up in Arnhill doesn't sound much different than growing up in most small towns, but then something unthinkable happens. Annie, Joe's 8 year old sister, disappears. Things couldn't get worse, but then Annie returns.

The Hiding Place is really atmospheric, dread inducing and almost leaves the reader breathless in some parts. There were a few times where it slowed quite a bit and I was wondering what any of it had to do with the story being told. Then this story began blossoming into something filled with horror. The true story of it all takes shape and it is truly dark.

Thank you Netgalley and Crown Publishing for this ARC.

An enjoyable horror read, rounded down from 3.5. I really enjoyed Tudor's writing in The Hiding Place, which appears to be the North American name. ( The Taking of Annie Thorne seems like a better title...ah, well.)

Joe Thorne has returned to his old stomping grounds to work in his old high school, Arnhill Academy. He is running away from a troubled life and gambling debts and seeking to understand what has been happening in his hometown. A lot of strange happenings have taken place in Arnhill relating to his old gang, a teacher's recent murder-suicide, and his little sister's disappearance (and return) many years ago.

Joe's snarky comments and the first half of the story were particularly strong. Although it slowed down and I wanted to just get to the end, I would read another book by this author. I'm going to have to give The Chalk Man a try.

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for a chance to read an advance copy.

> The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor
The Hiding Place
by C.J. Tudor (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Jan 31, 2019 · edit
it was amazing

The opening scene grips you by the throat. In cinematic fashion starkly described is a grisly murder dripping with gore. In a small village of Arnhill ... sitting on a couch is the corpse of a mother, Julia Morton, who has shot herself through the mouth with resultant skull and brain tissue splattered on the walls and furniture ... however, how do you explain the cracked and fissured television, dripping with gore. This heralds the unexplained discovery of the gruesome murder of her beloved son, Be ... apparently dragged up the stairs and discarded like garbage onto his bed. The authorities cannot ascertain a motivation for this heinous act.
The subsequent narrative is described in contradistinctive fashion of the opening tableau ... in a crafted sense of quiet horror with all pervasive sense of dread.
Predating the bloodbath was the mysterious and unexplained disappearance of Ben, only to turn up several days later ... but significantly changed in mood, affect and action. The narrative unfolds in the eyes of Joe Thorn, a teacher who has left his previous job in a cloud of suspicion in regards to his ethics and morals. He is drawn back into this same small community in which he was raised ... by a somewhat mysterious anonymous email ....." ... it is happening again" His memories of childhood here are bitter. He feels responsible for the death of his little sister Anna ... both her and his father succumbing to a terrible auto crash. He returns riddled with guilt and disturbed memories of his relationships and interactions with multiple members of his high school classmates.
Tudor craftily ratchets up the mounting tension with florid descriptions of past and present events unveiling the mystery. What follows is a pitch perfect and complex twisted narrative that propels the reader to an unexpected and yet satisfying denouement. Interspersed throughout are nuggets of exploration of humanity. " People say time is a great healer. They're wrong. Time is simply a great eraser. It rolls on regardless, eroding our memories, chipping away at them... what remains are big boulders of misery ..." To further the melancholy nature of ongoing events: " There is no winner in life. Life is ultimately all about losing: your youth, you're looks. But most of all, those you love"
Visual and auditory descriptive accounts of events are utilized throughout to build up menace and tension ... " There was no mistaking that skittering an chittering now. It was all around us ... This was a brittle, busy sound. The sound of something small but multitudinous . A mass of bristling shells and scuttling legs" (a description of events preceding a hoard of black beetles pouring from a cave wall)
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Publishing for providing the Uncorrected Proof of this thought provoking novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the author's first book, The Chalk Man and had high hopes for her second novel, The Hiding Place. I have to say, I do believe I hold an unpopular opinion about this book, as most of the reviews I have read so far are quite positive. When I was reading The Chalk Man, I got a few vibes from Stephen King's "IT", which this book, The Hiding Place, had some parts that were very similar to "Pet Semetary" by Stephen King. I haven't read Pet Semetary in about 10 year, but I vividly remember certain parts. Now I know that the author is a big fan of Stephen King, as am I, but I am just not really a fan of reading books that remind me so closely of other books.

I also have to say that I also wasn't that found of our main character, Joe Thorne, and found his personality to actually be fairly annoying. I also had some issues with his constant discrimination against a variety of people. I do enjoy the author's writing and I do think that she is a very creative story teller, this book just wasn't a hit for me. I do however recommend checking out this author's work and making your own conclusions. As I said earlier, I seem to have an unpopular opinion about this book. I do look forward to seeing what the author publishes in the future, as I did really enjoy The Chalk Man.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.

4.5 stars
Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this compelling book. It is a gripping read; part mystery, part psychological thriller and including a vast amount of horror and a touch of the supernatural.

Joe Thorne is a flawed individual, difficult to like. However, the author has made him entertaining by writing clever dialogue. He tends to be sarcastic and has a snarky inner voice. He returns to his hometown, Arnhill, an old mining village very much in decline. There is a history of misfortune events involving the mines, its workers and some village children. Joe owes a large gambling debt to the ‘Fatman’. He has faked references from the previous school where he taught and is now employed as a teacher in his former high school. Unable to pay his gambling debts, he has a scheme to blackmail a former acquaintance. A hit woman, Gloria, is intent on enforcing payback for the gambling debt by violence.

Joe’s past history in the village is a disturbing one. His beloved eight-year-old sister, Annie, disappeared. After two days she returned, but with unpleasant, frightening changes. She died soon after in a car accident. He belonged to a gang run by the school bully, Stephen Hurst. Joe is an unreliable witness to the past. It was uncertain how much was due to repressed memories or deliberate lies. He is resented by members of the old school gang, and in return, he holds old grudges.

Due to his lack of funds, Joe moves into a cold, damp house. A female teacher violently bludgeoned her son to death in this house and then committed suicide. On the wall was written in blood, “not my son”. As Joe soon learns, the well-behaved boy had run away and returned completely changed. It seems that the event which surrounded the unfortunate Annie is now being repeated. The house seems haunted. Joe is bothered by eerie sounds and bad odours permeating the creepy house.

At school, he confronts one of his students for bullying. The bully happens to be the son of Joe’s old gang leader and troublemaker, Stephen Hurst. He is now a wealthy, manipulative, and powerful man. Using his position on the school board to protect his son from punishments, he shows no hesitation in trying to have a Joe dismissed from his teaching position. Stephen has married Marie, a girl with whom Joe had a crush on back in his schooldays. She is now dying from cancer.

Frequently in pain from old injuries, he now suffers beatings from Stephen’s henchmen and gambling debt collector, Gloria. Much of the plot revolves around a pit at the old mine which seems to attract teenaged vandals and fascinates younger children. Joe seems compelled to return to the pit where dreadful things happened when he explored it with Stephen and several others while in high school.

What happened to Annie? What caused the murder/suicide in the House Joe now rents? Was a member of the gang to which Joe once belonged murdered or did he commit suicide? Can Joe find a way to repay his gambling debt before something terrible happens to him? I was left wondering where Joe went after the story ended and what he was doing. Maybe that is for another book?

Recommended for anyone looking for a twisty, entertaining horror story with an intriguing mystery, interesting but mainly unsympathetic characters, and a bit of the supernatural.

C.J. Tudor's new novel is, for me, a combination of a thriller and a spooky supernatural tale. The setting is an old mining town in England. Joe Thorne grew up in Arnhill and left as soon as he got out of school. Now, in his thirties, Joe returns to his hometown and takes a job teaching English. He rents a dilapidated cottage where two deaths have recently taken place. Things do not get off to a great start.

Joe makes friends with one other teacher, Beth and he learns much about the history of the school and the village that fills the gap since he left. His students comprise some children of old friends, like Hurst, the son of his best friend. The son is as nasty as the father was and still is but now a rich man who seems to control everything that goes on in the small town.

Joe lost his sister, Annie when she was quite young, and it is clear that Joe has returned both to get revenge and hide from people to whom he owes money. Gloria, a woman, with a gun frequently shows up to warn him about his debts and Hurst's thugs beat him up, telling him to leave town.

There are many questions and very creepy stuff in this novel, and it was an unusual read for me. Other readers compare it to Stephen King novels. I have not read any of King's, so I was a novice at this one. I am glad I read the story, but I think I'll remain a novice when it comes to this genre.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

I’d heard a lot of hype about The Chalk Man, which I haven’t read, so I was excited to check this book out. Based on the description, I was expecting a huge creep factor. Sadly, I didn’t find it.

There’s a lot of promise to the story, and I was actively engaged for part of the book. However, as it went along, it didn’t develop as well as it could have. There was a supernatural feel to it, which I wasn’t expecting. Some points of the book reminded me of King’s Pet Sematary, though not as well done. The kids’ stories were interesting, but I wanted a bit more. At times, there seemed to be too much going on, so some points were left unresolved. When reading a suspense story, I prefer a bit more of a wrap up at the end than is provided with this book. There are some attempts at humor that fall a bit flat and definitely go against any attempts the book may have had at being creepy.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

Joe Thorne returns to his hometown of Arnhill to teach high school English in his former high school where he was bullied before joining the head bully's gang and bullying other students. This school seems to have a bullying problem and the head bully now is Joe's former bully's son. Sound confusing?? There are a lot of plots and subplots going on as well as a lot of characters, which does make this book a little confusing at times, but everything gets tied in very nicely in the end. I thought this was going to be a thriller but then it turned into a supernatural and then finally into more of a horror story. I don't usually read supernatural or horror stories (except for Stephen King occasionally) but I was really drawn to this book from the very beginning and I did really enjoy it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this very dark and creepy read which I thoroughly enjoyed.