Meredith (Trying to catch up!)'s Reviews > The Chalk Man

“NEVER ASSUME. QUESTION everything. Always look beyond the obvious.”

Creepy psychological thriller about a group of teenagers who find a dead body buried in the woods in 1986. While the killer was apprehended, all was not as it seemed.

When they were 12 years old, Eddie, Hoppo, Metal Mickey, Fat Gav, and Nicky were playing in the woods when they notice drawings of chalk men. The drawings lead them to make a gruesome discovery. This event haunts them for the rest of their lives.

In 2016,“Chalk Man” drawings begin to appear once again, causing a great deal of unease amongst the former group of friends. Events are shared from Eddie’s POV, flashing back and forth between 1986 & 2016. Secrets are slowly uncovered and friendships are tested, as Eddie tries to unearth the identity of “The Chalk Man.”

This is a well-written, multilayered thriller with an element of mystery that slowly unravels. I loved reading about the complicated dynamics of the friendships between the group, especially when they were young. The twisted ending and the strong writing is what took The Chalk Man to the next level for me. The ending worked to undo all I thought I knew, leaving many questions about Eddie’s reliability as a narrator, causing me to question everything and look at the events that unfolded in a different light: “I suppose it felt, even though we had an ending, that it wasn’t the right one.”

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.