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It’s not that C.J. Tudor’s writing is bad, it’s that she’s not coming up with any original plots. Both The Chalk Man and The Hiding Place have plots that are so close to Stephen King books and characters, that I just can’t rate this any higher. This is a gnarly, twist-infused thriller with elements of horror and the supernatural. The last part may not appeal to some readers, particularly as the supernatural aspect leaves loose ends. I presume the author is allowing the reader to make their mind up about the role of the unnatural versus the imagination in this novel. While I don’t like plot holes, a few flapping strings sometimes make a story more memorable, as in this case. WOW WOW WOW! CJ Tudor’s follow-up to her impressive debut is superbly chilling and delightfully creepy. Smartly written and brilliantly plotted, here is a book that crawls under your skin and hooks on until you reach that jaw-dropping ending." - C J Cooke
Joe Thorne grew up in Arnhill and has recently returned to fill an opening as an English teacher. He is kind of a quiet, mysterious guy with a multitude of secrets....and personal faults, and now on top of everything else, he must face....and relive his darkest memory of all....what happened to his beloved little eight year old sister. C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter. Tudor paces her story well and keeps the reader on edge, only pushing the final piece into place in time for the reader to catch their breath and end the intense novel. While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
Review
This book was a slower start, I think I was into 50% before the book took off for me. But I know this author and was willing to wait. I’m glad that I did. C.J. Tudor excels at character development. I feel as though I really know Joe and some of his old high school friends, Chris, Stephen, Marie. There are some great twists in this book but they come more from the characters than the plot, but that’s a good thing. It seems easier to turn a plot one way or another than to help us understand how people can hide their inner selves.
I could follow the gambling debt part of the story just fine but the horror story part of the book lost me. I have too many questions about almost every part of the mystery about the pit and what happens there. I won't say any more because it would be all questions. I think so much more could have been shared about what was happening and why it was happening and what is going to happen to Joe in the future.No one is as disappointed as I am that I’m having to write “that” review. I was sure this would be the easiest 5 stars given in 2018 (or 2019 based on publication), but unfortunately there were too many issues I couldn’t glance over. Between the unnecessary racism and prejudice of people on the spectrum that was added for “character development”, to the plot twist that anyone who has read a certain Stephen King book will find unnervingly familiar, it’s safe to say this one just wasn’t for me. I feel another round of editing to take away some of the choppy presentation might improve the overall quality as well. If you're wanting to go into this one blind, I would recommend you stop reading this review right here as I'll be discussing below in greater detail some of the things that worked and didn't work for me. Joe lies to get the job as a teacher, and he faces his old friends that no longer want anything to do with him and vice versa. The tragedies center around an abandoned mine. What happened to his sister, the secrets at Arnhill, and all that has changed Joe’s life are enclosed in the shadows of that mine, and Joe will have to confront them. The book is as much a horror story as a mystery. There are some particularly gruesome scenes. There are ghosts. There are creepy, crawly things that sent shivers up my spine. The story kept me engaged and I kept wanting to read just one more chapter. The ending had a few nice twists, even if it was a tad contrived.
Written with such skill it's hard to believe this is only her second book. It gives King a run for his money' James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover. You’ll like some of the characters in this book and hate others. I always love complicated characters in a book and The Hiding Place has this in spades.Tudor has that grown-up Scooby Doo vibe going in her books, which I love. All the gang getting together and solving a mystery. SO MUCH FUN!
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