Book Review: The Chalk Man

You can feel it in the woods, in the school and in the playground;
you can feel it in the houses and at the fairground. You can feel it in
most places in the small town of Anderbury . . . the fear that
something or someone is watching you.

It began back in 1986,
at the fair, on the day of the accident. That was when twelve-year-old
Eddie met Mr Halloran – the Chalk Man.

He gave Eddie the idea for
the drawings: a way to leave secret messages for his friends and it was
fun, until the chalk men led them to a body.

Thirty years later,
Ed believes the past is far behind him, until an envelope slips through
the letterbox. It contains a stick of chalk, and a drawing of a figure.

Is history going to repeat itself?

Was it ever really over?

Will this game only end in the same way?

Say hello to the book that wiped away an eight month long reading slump!

The day Eddie witnesses a horrific accident at the fair is also the day he meets Mr Halloran, shortly after strange things begin to happen in his small town. Then the mysterious chalk drawings lead Eddie and his friends to a body and things are never quite the same.

The book goes between 2016 and 1986 and I have to say the whole book  feels influenced by Stephen King, I found the characters as they were in 1986 to very much be like the characters from It. This isn’t a criticism from me, but some Stephen King fans may find the lack of originality in this a little grating. 

I was completely gripped by C.J. Tudor’s debut novel. A gritty, page-turner of thriller that sent me hurtling out of my seemingly never-ending reading slump. I devoured the book in record time and struggled to put it down each evening. I enjoyed how the stories of each character weaved together to create tension and mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I also enjoyed how the story was told through Eddie in the modern day and flashbacks to his childhood. 

There were plenty of twists in the novel that I didn’t see coming and it was nice to read a book influenced by others before it but that still felt new and fresh. In short I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a gripping read.

Rating: ★★★★★