The Chalk Man: The chilling and spine-tingling Sunday Times bestseller

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Sometimes you see a bunch of your Goodreads friends raving about a book, and you hope that you'll find it just as good as they did. In the case of C.J. Tudor's terrific debut thriller, The Chalk Man, that definitely was the case for me.

I don’t know how many times I’ll have to say this. Maybe infinitely. Maybe I’ll just have to keep saying this until I forget to say anything else and my lifelong mission will be to drill this into the minds of wannabe thriller writers everywhere: Thirty years later, Ed is still living in his childhood home. He'd like to think that he's put the events of that summer behind him, but the fact is, he's never been able to settle down into a relationship, he still spends time with Gav and Hoppo, and he teaches at his old school. When he gets an anonymous letter with a chalk man in it, it dredges up those memories, as does the return of an old friend who had seemingly gone away. And when he finds out that all of his friends received a similar letter, he realizes that perhaps not everything was tied up as neatly as they thought all those years ago. As well as being unputdownable, it was emotionally intelligent, touching and credible Emma Curtis, author of One Little Mistake

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That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago. For me, there was absolutely zero connection to any of the characters. The Chalk Man alternates between 1986, when Eddie and his friends leave coded messages in chalk for one another until a gruesome crime twists the symbols for a sinister purpose, and the present, in which Eddie and his friends start to receive little chalk man drawings once again. An unimaginable accident occurs when part of a fast-moving ride breaks loose and careens into seventeen year old Elisa. Eddie had just been admiring the young beautiful girl when the mayhem broke out. Mr. Halloran, just newly hired by the school system, grabs Eddie and the two of them try to stop the bleeding of Elisa's nearly amputated leg with Halloran's belt. Eddie turns away when he realizes what the impact did to Elisa's once lovely face. Thriller of the Week - an intriguing puzzle with an engaging cast of characters . . . a highly promising debut The Mail on Sunday Marshall, Michael (12 May 2021). "Cerne Abbas Giant may have been carved into hill over 1000 years ago". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021 . Retrieved 18 May 2021.

I absolutely loved The Chalk Man . . . It's a dark, mesmerising thriller with an ending that left me with goosebumps! Nuala Elwood, author of My Sister’s Bones It is hard to believe The Chalk Man is the debut novel from C J Tudor. The writing is sublime, and the ending is spine-tinglingly chilling The Sun Gripping, chilling . . . brilliant. As creepy as that house with dark windows we all knew as kids. I can't wait for the next one Luca Veste As kids in 1986, they live life freely: hanging out at the playground, riding bikes, sending coded messages to each other using different colored chalk. And then they discover something and it’s bad. It changes everything.There were a few creepy moments that were highlights, though most of them were dreams which took some of the thrill out. Eddie did nothing for me. His character was emotionally dry and it was strange how not a single one of his relationships seemed important - his friends, his mother, his lodger whom he had a crush on... experiencing things through Eddie's eyes made it difficult to care about anyone. I was detached from the characters. I was detached from the murders. I was detached from the whole story. C.J. Tudor was born in Salisbury but spent her childhood in Nottingham where she still resides with her loving partner and their young daughter. At the age of 16- Tudor quit school and took a variety of job over the next couple of years including radio scriptwriter, trainee reporter, ad agency assistant, shop assistant, and voiceover. In the early 1990’s, the author became a television presenter for a show that aired on Channel Four called Moviewatch. Even though Tudor was a terrible presenter, she made it into an interview with famous acting legends such as Emma Thompson, Michael Douglas, Robin Williams, and Sigourney Weaver. She also constantly annoyed Tim Robbins by asking myriads of questions about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely lionized when Robert Dowley Jr. showed her his chest. I really enjoyed the mysterious and puzzling references surrounding ‘the chalk man’ throughout this entire book. It was a unique and clever piece of the story. a b Simpson, Craig (12 May 2021). "Rebel baron undressed the Cerne Abbas giant to get a rise out of Oliver Cromwell". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021 . Retrieved 21 May 2021. The prose is punk, the pace fast and the plot sinewy. There are shades of Stephen King when the reality bends into the sinister, and a deliciously creepy finale . . . Daily Mail

So what else can I tell you? This is a suspense novel you absolutely MUST-READ. If you don’t, you are missing out on one of the best mysteries out there. Eddie and his mates devise a secret code made up of chalk messages in different colours - each colour being assigned to one of the gang, so they know exactly which one of them wrote each message. They leave messages at each other's homes, and it provides weeks of fun until the day they discover chalk figures leading them to a dead body, but none of the gang had left these messages! She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.Legg, Rodney, 1990, Cerne; Giant and Village Guide, Dorset Publishing Company, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0948699177. [4] A big thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and C. J. Tudor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Fast forward to 2016 and everyone is quite grown up. Eddie known known as Ed, (one of the kids who made the discovery) is a teacher, living in the house he grew up in. The past haunts him, as it does the rest of the friends who stayed behind, including Gav and Hoppo. If only the past stayed in the past. Yet bad things: they keep happening. And somehow, Chalk Men keep appearing and Ed can’t figure out how or why. He knows it means something. He and the gang have to figure it out even if it’s the last thing they want. And even if it spells trouble. The past rises from the chalk dust. A labyrinthine tale that kept me guessing right to the end VAL MCDERMID, The Mail on Sunday The storyline flits between 1986 and 2016, but how the events of 30 years earlier affect these friends in the present I'm not telling! But rest assured it's a completely riveting journey. There was a great mystery at the heart of it, with some chilling, heart stopping moments, and many twists and turns. The characters were perfect and the whole thing kept me on tenterhooks right the way through. C.J.Tudor has a talent for sure, and it's hard to believe this is her debut novel. Spooky, gripping, compelling! An August 2007 report, in the Dorset Echo said a man claiming to be the "Purple Phantom" had painted the Giant's penis purple. It was reported that the man was from Fathers 4 Justice, but the group denied any involvement and said they did not know who did it. [104] Vivian Vale, Patricia Vale, Book of Cerne Abbas: Abbey and After, Halsgrove Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1841140698

2. Long Man of Wilmington, East Sussex

A map referred to as the "1768 Survey Map of Cerne Abbas by Benjamin Pryce" is held at the Dorset History Centre, [46] though a record at the National Archives notes there is evidence the map may date to the 1790s. [47] By the following century the phallus was invariably omitted from depictions, either in line with the prevailing views on modesty at the time or as it had become grassed over; the figure seems to have become increasingly neglected and overgrown during the 19th century until in 1868 its owner Lord Rivers arranged to have the Giant restored "as near as possible to his original condition". [48] Stuart Piggott, "Notes and News: The name of the giant of Cerne", Antiquity, Vol. 6, No. 22, June 1932, pp.214–16.