Cover Image: The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man

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Member Reviews

An amazing thriller that had me gripped from the first page. A compelling read I couldn't put down. Love Tudor's writing and can't wait for the next one! A total sleep stealer I'll be recommending to everyone.

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The chalk man by C.J. Tudor was so good I ended up reading it in one sitting thanks for my long flight. I found this book very refreshing but creepy and I loved it. Brilliant book for the flight as it kept my mind of the bumps pf the turbulence!

I highly recommend this book it was brilliant and a great start to my Far east Holiday.

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I honestly think this is a case of me and not the book as others have been really raving about this. This is the 3rd book I've tried by the author and they honestly just continue to fall flat for me so I think it's just personal taste. The characters aren't that likeable which makes it harder for me to keep interested, pair that with the at times slow nature and it just isn't for me unfortunately. It's OK but nothing more than that.

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The opening was brilliant and had me hooked. Great characters supported the thrilling plot and I couldn't put it down.
Highly recommend

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Best book I have read in a long time. I could not put it down. The Chalk Man has everything you need if you’re looking for an outstanding read. Scary, thrilling and mesmerising.

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Brilliant characters, a pacy plot and exquisite writing - The Chalk Man delivered and more! C J Tudor is quickly becoming one of my favourite crime novelists.

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I imagine that this book will go out to many of our regular crime readers and might entice some new ones. It wasn’t for me and I quite struggled waiting for the storyline to really hook me but that didn’t happen.

However I can completely see how others may really enjoy it!

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#TheChalkMan #NetGalley

I haven't read such type of book in my life.
The Chalk Man is coming . . .

'None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning. Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own? Was it the terrible accident? Or when they found the first body?'
Characters and dialogues are brilliant. It's a powerful debut.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for giving me an advance copy.

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This was a really enjoyable spooky thriller with a nice few juicy twists. I enjoyed the story was told over 2 different time spans and it was good to see the characters development and connections. 3.5/4

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Enjoyable read, bit of a shocker at the end though! Really enjoyed how the story flicked back to the past and then to the present and it was all wrapped up really well at the conclusion.

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The Chalk Man was definitely a page turner. I really liked the unreliable and complicated plots. Only bad part was i didn't learn all the answers. Overall it was a really good mystery book. 3.5/5

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A slower paced novel but I'm glad I stuck with it, overall it made of a really good read. I wasn't sure with all the hype that on with it but it was well worth it in the end, definitely worth a read.

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I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher on Netgalley.

At the beginning of the book, a group of friends stumbles on to something and throughout the rest of the books we see how that impacted their lives. The dual timeline was a great way to show us how the different boys were affected by the event and how they dealt with it as grown ups.I

I liked the complexity of the characters. They had really rich backgrounds.
The author does a great job of keeping us on our toes in reagards to who the bad guy is. A few times I thought I had things figured out, but I was wrong.

I didn't find the book to be too thrilling or scary at all, which disappointed me a bit. The pace was slow. I have heard this book compared to Stephen King, and while I would not go that far, I have to agree that it was a solid read and fans of the genre should definitely pick it up.

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This book had me gripped from beginning to end! The slightly gruesome opening had me hooked and I remained on tenterhooks until the end. Suspense was built brilliantly, characters were all developed well and a perfectly paced plot. Even flicking between 1986 and the present was done well- just enough to keep you guessing!

Would recommend to those who enjoy mystery/thriller.

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Th boo is told over two time periods, the 1980s and he present day.

There has been a murder and it is up to ed, the main character, to solve the crime.

The book was a good read and had me guessing motives and suspects

I enjoyed the book and it kept me guessing to the end

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Although widely reviewed and praised already, C. J. Tudor- The Chalk Man, was as brilliant as everyone has proclaimed so far. With its split timeline, shades of Stephen King, and one of the best endings I have read for some time, this was a real almost in one sitting job. I loved the authenticity of the character’s voices as youngsters, and Tudor’s building of suspense and tension was just nerve shredding. An absolute dream for booksellers across the land to recommend, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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The Chalk Man is coming . . .

'None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning. Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own? Was it the terrible accident? Or when they found the first body?'

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm a huge thriller fan so always impressed when writing me makes me terrified! I did not want to put this down and read it in super speedy time. Genuinely chilling with echoes of IT. The focus on a childhood game going wrong is probably what lends the added creepiness and I also liked the different time eras used to move the story along. Well worth a read.

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This debut novel spans the late 80's to the present day, weaving a web of intrigue and deceit in equal measure in an exciting thriller that you won't want to put down!

In 1986, Eddie, along with his group of friends Hoppo, Fat Gav, Metal Mickey and Nicky are twelve-year-olds without a care in the world, until a trail of chalk drawings leads to a dismembered body in the woods.

When, thirty years later, the chalk drawings reappear, Eddie is drawn back into the mystery and is determined to try and uncover the truth.

The novel touches on the topical issues of the time, with Eddie's mother caught up in a storm for performing abortions at her clinic, which attracts negative attention not only from local residents, but also from the church community and lends an interesting narrative to the story.

Anderbury, the town where all of the action takes place, is portrayed as a haven of secrets, lies and bitterness, which adds to the tension and drama of the storyline.

Tudor succeeds in creating a thriller which has you on the edge of your seat until the final climax which adds a definite twist to the tale! Highly recommended!

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There’s a lot of hype surrounding this book, and I’m so sorry to say that I have not gotten swept up in it. 2.5 stars.

Initially this book sounded like an interesting and unique story, but in reality it came across as a rehashing of Stephen King’s IT. The parallels between these two books are numerous, far too many for it to be considered a coincidence.

For anyone who hasn’t read IT, this book is probably much more appealing. But for me, I kept waiting for Pennywise to appear, and for the Loser Club to win the day, actually I was waiting for something...anything...to happen, I got my wish with about 20 pages left in the book, but by then it was too little, too late.

Some elements were quite interesting, and surprising, particularly the unexpected consequences of certain character’s actions. And the ending is what got my rating another half star. But mostly I was disappointed, I struggled to warm to any of the characters, and some of the minor plot elements seemed pointless, and contributed nothing to the main story. Such a shame.

Thank you to C.J. Tudor, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Well, consider my mind well and truly fucked. What a fantastic debut novel!
The prologue immediately sucked me right into this strangely atmospheric thriller and I just couldn’t put this down even if I wanted to. I expected the constant switching between past and present to be off-putting, but in this case both timelines were very skillfully interwoven and definitely contributed to the nailbiting cliffhangers!

I’m pretty sure Gillian Flynn fans are going to love this. The dynamic between the characters and the whole atmosphere even gave me an almost Stranger Things-like vibe. I didn’t like nor dislike Eddie, which I think was the point, and the last few sentences actually gave me the chills!

I think it’s best that you go into this unprepared, unspoiled and completely blind like I did, so I’m going to end this here!

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