The Chalk Man

By C. J. Tudor,

Book cover of The Chalk Man

Book description

'IF YOU LIKE MY STUFF, YOU'LL LIKE THIS' STEPHEN KING

'WONDERFULLY CREEPY - LIKE A COLD BLADE ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK' LEE CHILD
____________

SOON TO BE A MAJOR BBC DRAMA

It was only meant to be a game . . .

None of us ever agreed on…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Chalk Man as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

With a creepy cover and an endorsement from Stephen King, this novel immediately grabbed my attention.

I’d say this was a psychological thriller with a crime element and a dose of horror and that mix really drew me into this book and kept me trapped within its pages. Together with the nostalgic 80s thread, this read is down as one of my all-time favourites.

The seemingly innocent chalk stick figures the kids leave for each other like a secret game only they can decode, begin to appear on their own with a more sinister message. A bone-chilling read!

In 1986, four friends follow chalk pictures of a hanged man to a dismembered body; in 2016 they start getting pictures again… I love this book because of its brilliantly curated tension, ramping up through the book. The two timelines work because they are distinct, the past full of cultural references and even behaviours that are different from 2016. We see through Eddie’s point of view, from a twelve-year-old fascinated and repelled by a dead girl, to a forty-something teacher. Each friend has grown in a different direction, and it’s difficult to maintain the friendship, so much so that one…

From Rebecca's list on where past and present collide.

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