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| (Thank you to Blogging for Books for providing me with a copy of this book!) |
A riveting and relentlessly compelling psychological suspense debut that weaves a mystery about a childhood game gone dangerously awry, and will keep readers guessing right up to the shocking ending
In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.
In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he’s put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.
That’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.
Expertly alternating between flashbacks and the present day, The Chalk Man is the very best kind of suspense novel, one where every character is wonderfully fleshed out and compelling, where every mystery has a satisfying payoff, and where the twists will shock even the savviest reader.
my thoughts:
What a thrilling read! I LOVED The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor. Such a captivating story!
Its 2016 and Eddie has just received a "blast from the past" in the form of a letter with the drawing of a chalk man on it. Seems that someone wants to remind him that the past can't stay buried forever. Creepy, eh? Well, it seems that growing up in the 80s meant being so bored out of your skull that you decide to draw chalk figures. Yep, Eddie and his gang use a bucket of chalk to communicate with one another. Each kid has their own color and each symbol means something different. Its a secret way to tell one another when its time to meet up to hang out or where they want to meet up at. Its a pretty cool idea, until their secret form of communication gets discovered by the town bully. Seems that his little brother (who happens to be a part of Eddie's crew) couldn't keep his mouth shut and told him all about the chalk drawings. Let's just say Eddie has an unforgettable and traumatizing day at the park as a result. Unfortunately, that's not the only horrifying thing that happens that summer in 1986. Fast forward to 2016 and Eddie is thrown back into his past with mini-reunions, petty squabbles, unresolved issues, dark secrets, and the death of a friend. So much to unravel and uncover in this suspense-filled mystery - I couldn't help but fall in deep.
I would happily recommend The Chalk Man to fans of mystery-thrillers and anyone looking for their next great read.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
2 comments:
The idea of being lead to a dismembered body gives me chills!! It could be because my office is a meat locker right now. LOL. Who didn't pay the heating bill?? Seriously I can't even type.
In my youth and the weird childhood I had, I stumbled upon THREE dead bodies so that one visual of a kid walking up to that immediately brought it all back.
Ti, I know - super creepy! OMG! That is definitely three too many for you to have stumbled upon. Wow! Talk about "stranger things". I can only imagine how it would bring it all back - how could it not? I'm sorry that even had to happen to you, let alone all of those times. Cripes, you are one strong chica. And maybe you should skip this one then.
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