Synopsis: In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy 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.
Review:Â I see this novel almost everywhere, and the rather positive reviews made me want to discover more about the story. That’s why I was delighted to see the French release!
In this story, two times alternate, 1986 and 2016, the childhood of our hero and his adult life. The mix was really well done by the author, although I confess that I was frustrated to go back to the past or the future at each end of chapter. Yes, because each end ends with a capital element and I wanted more. We thus follow the childhood of a group of 4 children, 3 boys and a girl, a childhood that will make them rub shoulders with things that will not be simple for them, even if they do not sometimes realize the gravity of the events. In 2016, we find some of these now grown-up children who have to deal with what happened when they were younger, and it is Eddie who will try to discover the truth. Yet he did not expect to discover such secrets, to discover that each one carries his/her own guilt secret.
The novel was very well built and I was really curious to really understand what had happened years ago. As I said nothing is simple and we discover little by little the truth about each of the characters. It’s a pretty dark story, terrible things have been done and yet while everyone thought they knew who the culprit was, it looked like there was more.
The author offers us a very good thriller here and I am happy to have discovered and to have seen these children evolve.
ShootingStarsMag
You know I loved this one, so I’m happy to see you enjoyed it too. I thought the back and forth was done really well and a TON is revealed throughout.
-Lauren
Melliane
I agree about that!
Kim @ Book Swoon
I haven’t read a really good mystery in a while so I’m definitely going to keep this one in mind. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer
I really enjoyed this one and I am glad you did as well. It did get dark and creepy.
Melliane
right?
Lisa @TenaciousReader
I really want to read this one!
Heidi
I am so excited to read this one. I keep reading all these positive reviews for it.
blodeuedd
Ohh cool
Mary Kirkland
That sounds really good. I like dark stories like this one.
Lover Of Romance
WOW this book sounds so fascinating and deep too!! I love that it goes from two time periods of seeing them as kids and then adults. Glad to see you enjoyed it so much.
Carole @ Carole's Random Life in Books
I am so happy to see that you enjoyed this one. I loved it and loved how the two timelines came together.
Melliane
it was really well done
Carole Rae
I’m glad it ended up good!
Sophia Rose
Yes! Seeing it everywhere has made me want to pick it up and read it, too. Glad you found the French version and it was just as good as you were anticipating, Melliane. 🙂
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
This was a great thriller, I enjoyed this very much too!
Greg
This sounds great, I love dual timelines if they’re done right, and sounds like it was a bit of a dark read too. Nice review, I’m thinking of getting this one!
Melliane
I’m sure you could like it
LilyElement Book Reviews
Yay I try one or two thrillers a year this one I’ll check the library for!!
Vanessa
Ohh, sounds really exciting.
Jenea's Book Obsession
Yay, I’m glad you enjoyed this one. I did too!
Melanie Simmons
I’ve seen this book round a lot too. I think I’m going to have try it. So many of my blogger friends have enjoyed it. I will say that I like the cover you used for the French review better than this one.
Melliane
I prefer it as well
Nadene @Totally Addicted to Reading
I have heard good things about this one.