The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man
by C.J. Tudor
To be Published: Jan 2018

Reminiscent of Stand By Me (/The Body) this whodunnit centers on a group of 12 year olds and the unsolved  mystery that plagues their small town. Flashing between 1986 and 2016, we piece together events from their childish misadventures leading up to their discovery of a brutal murder and the resurrection of the mystery decades later.

3 of 5 stars : Definitely a page-turner, it has a good pace, solid story and a satisfying conclusion.** I unintentionally breezed through the book over the holiday weekend thanks to some cold and gloomy book-friendly weather! Without treading into spoiler territory, let's just say, not impressed overall. Ending every chapter on a cliffhanger really brought me back to my Goosebumps / Fear Street days, so maybe the overarching "meh" feeling comes from it feeling a bit YA fic. Which isn't a terrible thing in and of itself - just not my cuppa anymore. One thing I did really enjoy was the occasional asides on existence and memory - never forget kids, deep down we're all unreliable narrators.

**that said I'm still left with some questions and I can't decide whether this was sloppy, intentional or I'm just dense. Usually the latter so *shrugs*

PS: Found a nice summary video from C.J. Tudor herself: