The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

So, I am actually a little disappointed in this book and have had a hard time writing a review for it. On paper, The Chalk Man has everything I could want in a book: the 80's, a group of rag tag friends, creepy chalk stick figures, and a headless, dismembered body. Really, what more can I ask for? Apparently, a lot.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are in the awkward stage of being kids and teenagers; they are beginning to pull apart, but desperately want to stay together. They develop a code of chalk stick figures that they leave for each other, each having their own color. But what they never expected was that these figures would be used by someone else to lead them to the body of a dismembered girl. Her head is never found, and while the case is considered solved, there are holes in the narrative that are never filled in. Now in 2016, Eddie thinks that those days of stick figures are long behind him, until each of his friends end up getting one in the mail. And then one ends up dead. Eddie knows that the only way to save himself and his childhood friend and really put the past behind him, he must find out what happened to that girl 30 years ago. But will he be okay with what he finds?

So if you are thinking this sounds like IT by Stephen King, you and I are on the same page. While I cannot back this up with hard evidence, I would not be surprised to find out that Tudor is a King fan. The gang of kids in The Chalk Man are really similar to the kids of The Loser's Club. They are all a little dorky or weird or just do not fit in with the other kids in the neighborhood. Tudor does a great job of building back stories for the characters, and you find yourself resonating with different aspects of them. I really enjoyed the parts of the story from 1986 more so than the parts from 2016 for this reason. I kind of felt like they all grew up to be kind of annoying and forgettable. But as in IT, the kids reunite as adults to solve the mystery of who killed their former friend in 2016 and the girl back in 1986. For being the pinnacle of all the action, this moment was a little anti-climactic. Yes, there is a huge fight going on and so it is not like they can have a joyful reunion, but the reunion is brief and had very little impact on the story. I mean, they could have at least gone out for pizza after everything went down.

I'm about to drop some spoilers, so read with caution.

(Source: Giphy)

Now the big question, who is the murderer? I don't know. I really honestly don't know. The girl who was murdered in 1986 was Elisa, although Eddie refers to her constantly as Waltzer Girl throughout the book which annoyed the hell out of me. She had developed a relationship with a teacher, Mr. Halloran, after an almost deadly accident at the waltzer carriage, hence the name. While she was 17, it was not appropriate and he lost his job. They planned to run away together, but instead, she was murdered. When he committed suicide, it was decided they had a lovers quarrel and he accidentally killed her. However, you end up finding out that her friend was having an affair with the local pastor and had gotten pregnant. He wanted her to have an abortion and she refused. One night, he came across Elisa, who had recently changed her appearance and looked more like her friend, and the pastor mistakenly murdered Elisa, and then to cover his tracks, dismembered her. But the part that is weird as fuck and makes no sense: Eddie supposedly found Elisa's body before he found it with his friends, and took her head which is why they never found it. WHAT?! Not only did I find this beyond disturbing, but he still has it as an adult and has "solved" her murder. Honestly, I could have done without that and it kind of muddies the water, in my humble opinion.

(Source: Giphy)

So what happened to the friend in 2016. There are even more holes here. The group consists of Eddie, Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Hoppo, and Nicky. In their teens, Mickey was the driver in an accident that resulted in Gav being paralyzed, officially breaking him from the group. When Mickey came back into town after all these years, he ends up murdered almost immediately. The assumption is his drunk self fell into the river. But Eddie believes that Hoppo attacked him. When he questions Hoppo about it, you just get a let sleeping dogs lie comment. Supposedly Hoppo was so upset about all of the shit Mickey did as a kid that after all these years, he just had not forgiven him. Not to say that Mickey wasn't a shitty friend, but I feel that this was just a bit too bizarre to be believable.

There are a lot of questions I have about different parts of the plot that are never answered. Tudor drops little tidbits of information here and there with a "we'll come back to this later" way of writing, and never follows up. He also adds bits of information that just don't add anything to the story, like his dads Alzheimer's and how he is worried that it will be his fate too. Yes, at the very end, he forgets the word for mail slot and it becomes clear he has the disease that slowly ate away at his father, but it does nothing for the plot. Then you've got the part about taking the head. It really is just unnecessary information that leaves you more confused than anything.

I really feel like there is a good book in here, it just needs some de-cluttering. With it being Tudor's first book, I would definitely read more by her, especially with the King influences. As I often say, never judge an author by their first book.

(Source: Giphy)

Rating: 5/10
Author: C.J. Tudor
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Dates Read: September 4-10, 2019