Sadie Banner walks out on her husband and her newborn daughter and disappears for sixteen years in order to save her daughter from the Tall Man's clutches. Eighteen years later, Greta is making a documentary on Amber, Sadie's famous daughter, who has achieved notoriety as the accused in a grisly murder trial. Who is the Tall Man and why is this urban legend haunting the Banner family?

The Tall Man is a suspenseful and thoroughly creepy ride from start to finish. All the same, it is also a slow burn with the tension so effectively utilised to gradually mount towards an exciting and satisfying finale. Locke is skilled at moving between the four different timelines: Sadie as a child first introduced to the Tall Man legend, Sadie as a young pregnant woman and a new mother, sixteen years later when Sadie returns to Amber and Miles, and, lastly, the present day is told through Greta, a documentary maker focused on Amber, the brutal murder she stands accused of and the role played by the Tall Man. The continual move between timelines is perhaps what I was most impressed by as it was so well-done, putting the puzzle together perfectly whilst retaining a genuine intrigue about the Tall Man.

I must admit that I was left a bit disappointed that Locke did not delve further into the Tall Man myth, and instead principally employed the Tall Man as a background and atmospheric tool. I really thought there was unrealised potential there. Locke seemed more interested in examining why people believe in urban legends and the sometimes deadly consequences that can arise rather than the horror of the Tall Man itself. It makes sense, but I would have liked to have seen more resolution on the nature of the Tall Man.

Whilst I enjoyed the reading experience, I am not sure how well I will remember this read a few months down the line. I think this might be because I did struggle with the pacing in parts as I was not as interested in a lot of the flashbacks. I do greatly admire the handiwork that has gone into building this novel and integrating all the different timelines into the story but I think I might have enjoyed it more if it was only the later perspectives. Sadie's childhood arc was fascinating - so much so that I would have been interested in reading a novel solely on the subject matter of a child being drawn into the Tall Man legend... but it was not as effective as it should have been in many ways because there was so much going on in other timelines.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy to review.

An urban legend entering into folklore about a tall man that steals children. A young teenage girl found not guilty of murder. A film maker intent on making a documentary that would encapsulate and sensationalise all the explosive facts of the case. The story slowly unfolds through the eyes of the designated fact finder Greta, charged with interviewing Amber on and off camera in order to break down defences and reveal any and all sordid details related to the case. The reader, struggling to differentiate between fact and fiction, innocence and guilt, never knowing until the ultimate conclusion, who died, who was murdered and how and why. Slow uncoiling menace hovers over every page. Superstition, the super natural, fear of the unknown slowly reveals a tragedy with long term implications for all those involved and the generation of families that came after. A difficult story told in an unusual fashion moving effortlessly between decades and protagonists to reveal a harrowing if ultimately satisfactory conclusion to what was an incredibly difficult subject.

With such an attention grabbing premise, I thought The Tall Man would be everything I hoped it would be. Alas, I got rather bored very quickly, not to mention confused with the multiple timeframes and points of view.

What could have been a cracking thriller utilising an urban legend became a dull read, with nothing much happening until the end. Well written though, so I will check out the authors other work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It was really gripping and kept me reading and trying to figure out the truth the whole time I was reading it.

The characters were all interesting and even though some weren't that nice or likeable they were all still very belivealbe in the situation they were in.

As for the mystery conserning the tall man himself I'm still not sure if he really exsists or not or if it was all in the characters heads and they were just plain crazy. I'm leaning towards him being real due to that one small scene at the end but still can't be 100% sure on it.

All in all I'd rec this book to all those that enjoy a good horror/mystery/crime novels.

Fabulously well-written and gripping - the ending genuinely took me by surprise. Would highly recommend to all psychological thriller fans.

Wow. I really couldn't call anything that happened in this book at all. I suspected Amber's victim to be anyone apart from the actual victim, I suspected Billie's mum to be anyone except for who she ended up to be.

It can be a bit slow at times, but the tension building is really great in these parts and so helps you to overlook that fact. I also couldn't stand Amber at first and I thought she was going to really ruin the story for me with how snotty she is, but in actual fact as you go on you see that she has a big exterior in place and underneath she is much more vulnerable than you think. I think the introduction of the true crime crew was definitely a major saver for the book, as without them I don't think Amber would have been able to redeem herself for me. Sadie, on the other hand, redeemed herself and then lost all respect for me once again by the end. The lengths she goes to to protect her daughter are admirable, but when you find out the entirety of what she did to summon The Tall Man in the first place, it's much harder to feel sorry for her.

One point that confused me is why are Sadie and Amber so angry with Miles at the end? Like, yes, he knew something he shouldn't have known the whole time, but was he really the person in the wrong? Anyone else in his position would have ran a mile.

I love that The Tall Man plays such a huge part in your thoughts, even after the book is over. Was he real, or not? I guess it's up to the individual reader to decide.

WOW I didn’t just like this book I loved it and devoured it practically in one sitting!! Glad I read this in the day as it is spine tingling creepy!!!

Definitely not a book that is easy to forget, the Tall Man comes and steals daughters, is he an urban myth or is he real?

Told over several timelines, we are introduced to Sadie, Amber and Miles. Sadie makes a decision after Amber is born and that decision will change the course of all their lives.

All I can say is read this book, the tall man makes the boogey man seem like Father Christmas!!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This story is about the Tall Man and having played the Slenderman game and read online stories, I looked forward to reading this. The story was creepy as I had hoped though I struggled a little with the narrative.

No, this did not work for me at all. The plot is full of holes and ludicruous, not to mention that it has been done a lot of other times before. It's not original, not well written (I found it very amateurish and melodramatic) and the characters are all stereotypes, cardboard cuts. Also, dialogues were painful and there is no room for the reader here; it's all tell, no show. The whole thing was really embarassing for me.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange of my honest review.

;The Tall Man' was completely spellbinding in a 'skin shrinking on your backbone,goosebumps' type of way. It is the story of the urban legend of the Tall Man, who supposedly comes for girls and makes them special..
The narrative switches between now, where the focus is Amber, a teenage possible murderer who has been acquitted of this crime although there are very cleverly no allusions to who she may have murdered. and the late 90's /early 2000's where one of the girls who was involved in the Tall Man ritual has had, and abandoned her baby in the belief that she is cursed.

You are never quite sure whether Sadie, Amber's mother had postnatal depression and left her husband and daughter because of this. The childhood scenes that she is in shows a vulnerable girl who is willing to believe what the older children tell her of The Tall Man. The older Sadie falling pregnant unexpectedly, having to leave college and being despised by her in-laws for trapping their son...all of this is enough to paint a picture of a young mum under enormous strain.

But then Sadie comes back when Amber turns 16, ostensibly under the impression that the threat of the curse on Amber has passed...but has it? Was there ever a curse? Phoebe Locke plays with your perceptions of reality and I am sure everyone who read this will have cast their minds back to their childhoods and the urban legends that scared them silly after dark, the days when we could go exploring abandoned orphanages and WW2 shelters as we did, are long gone which is where the Slender man and internet based urban legends such as Creepy Pasta creates are now taking their place.

I thought that Phoebe Locke envisages a time, in the 90's that I remember all too well and evokes an image of innocence lost, and in the 'now' of the murder trial where Amber is social media star, it encourages the reader to examine what is meant by 'celebrity' who really is culpable of these crimes and what is the appropriate punishment. Her descriptions are so resonant and I felt myself reacting to, and caring about every character in it.
Thank you so much Netgalley and Wildfire Books for letting me read this in return for an honest review.

Creepy and unsettling The Tall Man tells the story of Sadie and her daughter Amber. Part of the story is Sadie's childhood, when she and her friends were obsessed with a legend called The Tall Man, a mythical boogeyman who killed his own daughter and now takes daughters. The other parts tell of Sadie's return to her family after her disappearance when Amber was only a baby and then also from the perspective of a documentary film team who are making a film about Amber after a trial for an unnamed but obviously infamous crime. It's neatly told, always only revealing just enough and never offering explanations. It's a wonderfully implicit story that lets the reader draw their own conclusions. If you like mysteries and supernatural stories this should be the book for you.

It's no coincidence that this novel has been published just as Hollywood releases a film surrounding the Slender Man legend. It centres on Sadie Banner, who, as a child, is introduced to the legend of a sinister figure known as 'the Tall Man' by a group of older girls. Justine, the ringleader, explains that the Tall Man can make his acolytes 'special' if they prove their devotion to him – but he also 'takes daughters'...

There's a lot going on, and it's to the author's credit that these multiple entangled threads don't become confusing.

While Locke handles the supernatural element with impressive subtlety, she never really delves into the potential it offers. As a result, there's something lacking here. Something a bit... soulless, perhaps. The idea is great, and it’s difficult to put a finger on anything specifically wrong with the writing; it just feels, when you come to the end, like an empty shell of a story.

At the beginning I loved the creepiness of this book. What child hasn't imagined a dark shadowy figure lurking in the woods, ready to pounce on them? The story cleverly jumps from 1999 to 2018 regularly, building up a picture of things that happened to a curious group of young frightened children and the repercussions in their later lives. The story held my attention throughout but I found the ending confusing and disappointing. I felt as if I had missed something but re-reading the last few chapters did not provide any answers for me.. A truly good read but it has left me slightly bemused..

Creepy! Found the narrative slightly confusing. Characters were believable Good read. Would recommend to others.

A good debut, told in 3 timelines, (Which isnt my favorite as I find it confusing) but it didnt detract from the story for me.

Very clever and creepy, I loved how it followed the investigative documentary format, giving you hints here and there, then slowly building up the fear and tension. Would highly recommend and will tell my customers about it.

For a thriller this wasn't very thrilling. Highly disappointing actually. I kept going because I hoped there would be more.

The writing was decent but the plot was seriously lacking, I think it may have been better as a novella, it was a lot of talk with not a lot of action. Most of the characters is the present day sections were very under-developed and I didn't really care about them. Or any of the characters really. I wanted to know more about the Tall Man and how it started. The ending was also weak compared to how much it was built up.

It is not often a book frightens me but this one did!. Creepy and chilling. Enjoyed very much. Thanks for the ARC.

Erie, chilling, and compelling. I nearly stopped reading this book a few times as I found it so frightening but the plot line lured me along and I kept reading. I recommend that you keep all the lights on and stay near people you trust the entire time you are reading this book.

Fairly average psychological horror. Tries it's best to throw twists and turns at the reader but fails.