The Chalk Man

When I finish a book the hardest thing might just be how to rate it. From a Christian perspective, I have always LOVED thrillers, mysteries, and the occasional horror novel because it is what led me to Christ in the first place. So with that being said, how to rate The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor, her first novel. Knowing how I have set up my personal rating scale this would garner a 3 out of 5, based on sexual content and profanity, but rating it as the world would I would give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I always ask myself the same question when novels are lowered on my own rating scale based on the subject matter that most people don't know about going into a novel. Will there be profanity, will there be adult or sexual content or will this be something dealing with violent graphic matters? Most importantly I ask myself, could the story stand alone on its own merits without those things being added for flavor perhaps.

In this case, the profanity could have easily been left out and the sexual content could have been toned down in a different way to enhance the warped sense of one character who really is evil personified, and in both cases a yes, helps me to rate a novel in a well-rounded manner. So if you're the author reading this, the answer is yes, in my opinion, profanity and sexual content did not need to be added to move this story line along. While I had my own guesses at the beginning of who I thought the chalk man was, I was sadly mistaken. To me, that is a sign of a brilliant writer's ability to carry the reader along a different perspective that has been there all along, only you simply didn't see it. Kinda of like The Sixth Sense, it isn't until you get to the end to see the revealing that has been there all along. Maybe we simply didn't want to see it.

The Chalk Man is a thriller based on two different time periods, one in 1986 and the other in 2016 both involving the same group of kids who grew up together and thus like most, have those found coming of age stories. Only in 1986, Eddie, one of five kids witnesses a terrible accident at a fair, that inevitably changes him without ever realizing it. He was forced to help deal with the outcome of a young girl who could have died without his help. It also bonded him to a mysterious new school teacher who dealt with an albino skin condition that rendered him a bit odd looking. The kids have an unusual method of communicating with one another, stick figures drawn in chalk of various colors to send secret messages. Only those same figures is also a way for a killer to move the children to discover a dismembered body and the possible killer, twenty years later. This is unlike most thrillers you've read before and one I thoroughly enjoyed because it definitely kept you wanting to read more to know if your guess is correct.

I received The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor compliments of Crown Publishing, a division of Penguin Random House Publishing Group. This is definitely going to be a writer to watch and can easily see this being made into a movie for the big screen. So many movies are being remade simply because they lack original ideas like this one. Think if it like the Goonies but only a bit darker with a sinister side that not all things are as they should be. Be prepared to look at things a bit differently because this writer is definitely a talent to watch. In my opinion, I would give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

For more information about The Chalk Man, C.J. Tudor or where you can preorder a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

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To read more reviews on The Chalk Man, please visit Penguin Random House's website.