Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures or when they started to appear on their own?
Was it a terrible accident?
Or when they found the first body?
We have just had a wonderfully sunny May Bank Holiday and it was the perfect excuse to sit in the garden and read. This was the perfect book for that as it is an easy to engage with crime novel that I got through in a couple of sittings.
The story is told from the perspective of the main character, Ed, who is now middle aged and looks back to a time leading up to an event when he was young. The narrative switches back and forth between the past and present and I liked the fact that it is easy to tell the difference in voice between the young and mature Ed.
The plot was well handled and the characters fully fleshed and, therefore, totally believable on both counts. There was a distinct creepiness throughout which kept me turning the pages. I did not anticipate the outcome and there was a twist right at the very end which sent a little shiver down my spine and which was a marvellous note to finish on.
As a debut novel this was fantastic and Ms. Tudor is very much an author to watch and has a clear gift for story telling. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
ISBN: 978 0718187439
Publisher: Michael Joseph
C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.
Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert. Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, dog walker, radio scriptwriter, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author. The Chalk Man is her first novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment