Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and the First to Read program for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I read the premise of this novel and immediately knew it was for me. Now, I say this phrase a lot, and often times I find myself disappointed. That was not the case here. This was an amazing thriller, one that I will be recommending to many many people. Here is my full review:
In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids who love to bike around their English village, looking for something new and interesting to do in their sleepy little place. So when they discover that they can use chalk men – little stick men that they draw with chalk – as a code that only they can understand, it opens up a lot more doors for fun. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.
In 2016, Eddie is an adult and has done his best to leave the past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank–until one of them turns up dead. That’s when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.
This was such a good thriller. I am not even kidding when I say that this is one of my favorite thrillers and I would be hard-pressed to find another that can match up to it. I absolutely loved the plot. It was complex and kept the reader on their toes as it flitted from past and present. There’s murder and gossip and rumors and evil – but whether that evil is supernatural or man-made is something the reader has to figure out on their own. I was caught up in the revelations of the past more than the way things were coming together in the future, but this in no way took away from the story. I loved reading about the younger versions of all of the characters as well as how they grew up. There were so many twists and turns that this novel took, and it definitely brought all of the thrills. There were points when I was too scared to continue reading without the lights on! This was such an intricate and beautifully written piece of work, with a tense story line and the perfect characters and setting for such a disturbing tale. Anyone who loves thrillers would not be disappointed with this book! I will definitely be giving this a 5/5 stars and would recommend it to anyone and everyone! I can’t wait to see what this author will come up with next!
Happy reading ~