Michael Joseph | January 2018 | 352 pgs
Source: Purchased
This debut novel by C.J. Tudor is part coming of age, part psychological suspense which had me captivated from the beginning till the end.
Told from a first person perspective and with two time frames shifting back and forth (1986 and 2016), at its core this is a story about a past event which had affected the lives of five teenagers and how it comes back to haunt them when they are adults.
Eddie Adams and his friends are twelve when they first stumble upon a body in the woods in their neighbourhood in Anderbury. To be precise, the body is dismembered and they didn't really find it accidentally. Directions marked by chalk lead them into the woods and before that, they have had fun conjuring secret codes using chalk and each of them has their own coloured chalk to indicate their identity but none of them is white. So who is this Chalk Man and most of all, why them?
Back to the present, Eddie is now a teacher and when he receives a letter with drawing of a chalk figure, he knew what happened in the past isn't over and it is finding its way back to the group of five childhood friends who used to be close together. Years and circumstances have distanced them, but Eddie still keep in touch with Gavin (Fat Gav) and David (Hoppo) occasionally. The mystery gets more obscuring when one of the group, Mickey, turns up at Eddie's house and make a proposition of writing a book of the events happened back then in 1986 and then it is like they are back in their teens when the chalk figures start appearing again. This time around it leaves them with more questions instead of answers and it gets creepier as the truth starts unravelling.
Foreboding and filled with twists and turns, The Chalk Man will satisfy readers who love a good suspense and characters development. Well crafted and well written, the story had captured the emotional and struggles of the characters as they grow from teenagers to adults and Eddie's voice is both addictive and compelling (and oh, what an ending!) A great debut and a new author to look out for.
Before ending this post, I'd like to thank Lark for this buddy read (please also check out Lark's review and the Q&A here). Below is some questions from Lark to me regarding the book:
1) What did you like best about the way C.J. Tudor wrote this book?
Foreboding, unpredictable and a cast of intriguing characters. Truth be told, I'd no idea where the story is leading and it was so much fun watching the story unfolds. The author has also captured the teenaged life of the characters beautifully; in fact the flashbacks are the draw for me in this book not only it is the beginning of the series of consequences which would happen later but also they capture the voice and the innocence of each teenager's mind.
2) If you were going to give Eddie and his friends new nicknames, knowing what you know about them now, what names would you give them?
Hmm... that's a tricky one. I'm bad in naming names so I've absolutely no idea what to name them. However, I think Gavin's nickname (Fat Gav) is the most fitting among all given his build.
Told from a first person perspective and with two time frames shifting back and forth (1986 and 2016), at its core this is a story about a past event which had affected the lives of five teenagers and how it comes back to haunt them when they are adults.
Eddie Adams and his friends are twelve when they first stumble upon a body in the woods in their neighbourhood in Anderbury. To be precise, the body is dismembered and they didn't really find it accidentally. Directions marked by chalk lead them into the woods and before that, they have had fun conjuring secret codes using chalk and each of them has their own coloured chalk to indicate their identity but none of them is white. So who is this Chalk Man and most of all, why them?
Back to the present, Eddie is now a teacher and when he receives a letter with drawing of a chalk figure, he knew what happened in the past isn't over and it is finding its way back to the group of five childhood friends who used to be close together. Years and circumstances have distanced them, but Eddie still keep in touch with Gavin (Fat Gav) and David (Hoppo) occasionally. The mystery gets more obscuring when one of the group, Mickey, turns up at Eddie's house and make a proposition of writing a book of the events happened back then in 1986 and then it is like they are back in their teens when the chalk figures start appearing again. This time around it leaves them with more questions instead of answers and it gets creepier as the truth starts unravelling.
Foreboding and filled with twists and turns, The Chalk Man will satisfy readers who love a good suspense and characters development. Well crafted and well written, the story had captured the emotional and struggles of the characters as they grow from teenagers to adults and Eddie's voice is both addictive and compelling (and oh, what an ending!) A great debut and a new author to look out for.
Before ending this post, I'd like to thank Lark for this buddy read (please also check out Lark's review and the Q&A here). Below is some questions from Lark to me regarding the book:
1) What did you like best about the way C.J. Tudor wrote this book?
Foreboding, unpredictable and a cast of intriguing characters. Truth be told, I'd no idea where the story is leading and it was so much fun watching the story unfolds. The author has also captured the teenaged life of the characters beautifully; in fact the flashbacks are the draw for me in this book not only it is the beginning of the series of consequences which would happen later but also they capture the voice and the innocence of each teenager's mind.
2) If you were going to give Eddie and his friends new nicknames, knowing what you know about them now, what names would you give them?
Hmm... that's a tricky one. I'm bad in naming names so I've absolutely no idea what to name them. However, I think Gavin's nickname (Fat Gav) is the most fitting among all given his build.
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