Tag: The Chalk Man

The Taking of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

C J Tudor is another author that I immediately associate with October. I read ‘The Chalk Man’ this time last year, so when I saw that ‘The Taking of Annie Thorne’ was out, I had to add it to the October reading list.

C J Tudor certainly knows how to write an atmospheric thriller. This novel does not disappoint as a gripping page-turner, with quite some twists and turns. It is a novel woven from the past and present of the central character, Joe Thorne, as he is drawn back to his old home town and is forced to face up to the events of the past. Can he stop history from repeating itself?

For me, the only issue is it leaves a big question unanswered as reach the conclusion. I suppose that can add to the mystery of the novel, however as I am quite a fan of detective-style mysteries, I like a clean and finished story – not a question mark.

This does not take away from the fact that this is a brilliant book for these dark autumn nights. It will certainly chill and thrill you as you read it, and you will want to know what happened – past and present.

I do hope that there is more to come from the pen of C J Tudor, as I feel her novels need to be a regular feature of my October reading list.

The Chalk Man by C J Tudor

by Bookworm&TheatreMouse

So, I spotted that this was considered a must-read for autumn, which was the final little piece of encouragement I needed to pick up a copy – as, basically, I wanted to read it anyway – haha!

This is a brilliant thriller and I was genuinely surprised it was a debut novel. It is a clever and sophisticated plot with a twist on what seemed like every page. The tale is told in the past as well as the present – giving us the context around the strange events playing out, or almost, repeated in Eddie’s life. I genuinely can not say much about this book but I do not want to even hint at a spoiler for anyone who would want to pick it up. However, I would have liked a little bit more of the ‘spooky’ side of the tale – but this does not negatively impact the tale at all merely a personal preference.

I also could not believe the final chapter – it was not what I was expecting at all – maybe some of you would have spotted it, but I didn’t, so it was an excellent twist.

The Chalk Man – which works on more than one level in the story – is correctly identified as an excellent autumn/winter read. It is ideal for those dark nights when many of us like to be a little bit spooked.

Really excited to see what C J Tudor’s next book brings…