The Taking of Annie Thorne by CJ Tudor

The Taking of Annie Thorne
By CJ Tudor
Published by Michael Joseph (21 February 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher 

Publisher's description

Then...

One night, Annie went missing. Disappeared from her own bed. There were searches, appeals. Everyone thought the worst. And then, miraculously, after forty-eight hours, she came back. But she couldn't, or wouldn't, say what had happened to her.

Something happened to my sister. I can't explain what. I just know that when she came back, she wasn't the same. She wasn't my Annie. 

I didn't want to admit, even to myself, that sometimes I was scared to death of my own little sister.

Now... 

The email arrived in my inbox two months ago. I almost deleted it straight away, but then I clicked OPEN: 

I know what happened to your sister. It's happening again...

My verdict
The Taking of Annie Thorne is creepy crime fiction at its best, from its compelling characters and strong sense of place to its fast-moving plot and action-packed ending.

Centred around a small mining village, the book is chilling from the outset, told through the mesmerising and often humorous voice of teacher Joe Thorne, who has returned to the place of his childhood. His little sister, Annie, disappeared for 48 hours when she was eight and was never the same again.

Joe is flawed and unreliable with an underlying vulnerability, haunted by memories of his dead sister and a creepy doll called 'Abbie Eyes'. The book swings between his past and present, as old mistakes, teenage rebellion and unfinished business gradually bubble to the surface.

The Taking of Annie Thorne is dark, shocking, atmospheric and entertaining, filled with elements of supernatural, horror and psychological thrillers. This is a book you'll want to keep reading well into the early hours - though that may not be advisable if you ever want to sleep again!

It made me nostalgic for my teenage years, when I was addicted to Stephen King and James Herbert books. And very soon, I'll be re-reading those books again.

Looking forward to seeing what's next from CJ Tudor.

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BEST OF CRIME with C.J. Tudor

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

C.J. TUDOR

for her The Chalk Man blog tour

to share her BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

Tough to pick just one but I’ll plump for Harlan Coben. I’ve read every one of Mr Coben’s books. I love his twists, his humour and his colourful characters. 

... FILMS/MOVIES

Memento. I don’t watch many crime/thriller type films. I tend to avoid anything too serious – the last film I watched was Paddington with our little girl. I love Memento though. Surprising and clever. And I’m a big fan of tattoos! 

... TV DRAMAS

CSI (Vegas) – sorry, you can keep your serious, gritty British drama. Give me OTT, tongue-in-cheek stuff like this any day. The thing is with CSI, it’s actually very self-aware. Plus, the characterization is great and the plotting – although often outlandish - is spot on. I was gutted when it finished - I’m just about to start my box sets from the beginning. 

... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Has to be Hannibal Lecter. I like my killers charming, evil and partial to human flesh.

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 

Columbo. The raincoat, the stoop, the cigar. Plus, I love that Columbo turned crime drama on its head because you knew who had done it right from the start. You were just rooting for Columbo to prove it. Oh, and just one more thing . . . 

... MURDER WEAPONS

I always remember an episode of Tales of the Unexpected in which the wife killed her husband with a frozen joint of meat. Then she cooked it and served the ‘evidence’ to the detectives! Oh, and there was an episode of CSI where someone was killed with a bee. I kid you not. 

    

... DEATH SCENES

Hmmm. One that always stayed with me was when Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling dine on the Deputy Assistant Attorney General’s brain while he is still alive before Hannibal kills him with a crossbow. Euergh – still makes my stomach turn. 

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

I don’t really have a ‘go to’ site – I’m a bit of a Google magpie. When it comes to writing guidance I always turn to my well-thumbed copy of Stephen King’s On Writing. 

... WRITING TIPS

Write what you love – not what you think people want to read. Don’t submit too soon – let your ms rest a little. And my favourite from Mr King – enter the scene late. Leave it early! 

... WRITING SNACKS

Pre 7pm – tea, biccies, sweets

Post 7pm – Wine/G&T and crisps

About C.J. TUDOR

C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, waitress, radio scriptwriter, voiceover, television presenter, copywriter and dog walker.

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. Her English teacher once told her that if she didn’t become a successful author he would be ‘very disappointed.’

That was thirty years ago.

He may also have told her to turn her homework in on time.

Find C.J. Tudor on her Facebook page and on Twitter - @cjtudor

About THE CHALK MAN

Publisher's description

The Chalk man is a creepy coming-of-age murder mystery. It’s set in 2016 and 1986 - that’s when we first meet twelve-year-old Eddie and his friends. They invent a game: drawing chalk figures on the ground to pass secret messages. But the game turns sinister when the figures start to appear on their own and lead them to the body of a girl.

Thirty years later, Ed thinks the past is behind him Then he receives a letter containing just two things - a drawing of a stick figure and a piece of chalk . . .

Read a snippet of my review

'The Chalk Man reads like a timeless 'old school' classic with an '80s vibe, yet the hint of horror and supernatural flavour give it a definite contemporary feel.'

To read the rest of my review, click here.

The Chalk Man was published by Penguin on 11 January 2018.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

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The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor

The Chalk Man
By CJ Tudor
Published by Penguin (11 January 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning. 

Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own? 

Was it the terrible accident? 

Or when they found the first body?

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy little English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code; little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.

In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he's put his 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.

My verdict
The Chalk Man is a chilling murder mystery and an outstanding debut.

This twisty crime novel was really creepy and tense, in terms of both setting and premise. Mysterious notes lead narrator Eddie to think back to his adolescent years when he and his friends used little chalk men figures as their secret code and then discovered a dismembered body. The narration switches seamlessly between Eddie on the cusp of adolescence and Eddie as an adult in the present day.

The Chalk Man reads like a timeless 'old school' classic with an '80s vibe, yet the hint of horror and supernatural flavour give it a definite contemporary feel. I loved the '80s cultural references - I would be a similar age to Eddie and his friends if they were real (they felt it), so the nostalgia certainly took me back several decades. The writing was both atmospheric and vivid, getting right under my skin, and the dialogue was filled with dark humour.

The Chalk Man was a book that I couldn't put down easily and one that I really enjoyed, right until the surprising and somewhat disturbing ending. Now I don't think I'll ever view a chalk man hastily scribbled on a pavement in quite the same way again.