REVIEW: The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man
Author: C.J. Tudor

Eddie and his friends -- Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Nicky and Hoppo -- do everything together. Summer break in 1986 is filled with bike rides, innocent mischief, and playing. All the things 12 year olds enjoy. They even draw secret code messages in chalk to each other. But then the chalk drawings turn much darker.....someone leaves a message that leads to a dead body in the woods. Flash forward to 2016....much has happened in their lives. Then Eddie, now a teacher, receives a letter in the mail. The only thing on the paper is one figure drawn in chalk. Turns out, they all received the same letter.  Eddie starts dredging up old memories and investigating to see if he can finally uncover exactly what happened that summer 30 years before. The summer of The Chalk Man.

A great suspense story has moments that totally catch a reader by surprise. For me, this book had several of those surprising moments. I really wasn't expecting this story to be this good. I am always wary of books that have a lot of hype.....I get all excited, looking forward to really being wowed....only to usually feel disappointed when the story doesn't' match the hype. This time, I am glad to report that the book totally lives up to the hype and great reviews. I was totally taken in by this story from the beginning....and it had shocks in store for me clear up to the very last page. Normally I don't like novels that jump around in time. It just becomes too confusing. This book manages to leap back and forth from 1986 to 2016 with ease. It never became confusing, but added to the suspense of the story. The writing and the story are just top notch! The Chalk Man is an awesomely chilling and creepy story! Great debut  novel! I can't wait to read more by this author!

To learn more about the author, check out her facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/CJTudorOfficial/?ref=br_rs

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Crown Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**