{
    "id": 318991,
    "slug": "the-chalk-man-cj-tudor",
    "nstc": null,
    "title": "The Chalk man",
    "subtitle": "C. J. Tudor",
    "collection_title": null,
    "collection_part_number": null,
    "annotation": "<p>The Chalk Man is OUT NOW . . .<br />IF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS YEAR MAKE IT THIS ONE. SOME GAMES ONLY END IN ONE WAY . . .<br /><br />'There are shades of Stephen King when the reality bends into the sinister, and a deliciously creepy finale' Daily Mail<br />'A tense gripper with a leave-the-lights-on shock ending' Sunday Times<br />'Completely engrossing. Reminiscent of those unsettling Stephen King stories of childhood' John Boyne author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas<br />We all have fears we hide from. But in the end they will find us . . .<br /><br />None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning.<br />Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own?<br />Was it the terrible accident?<br />Or when they found the first body?<br /><br />'An intriguing puzzle with an engaging cast of characters . . . highly promising debut' Mail on Sunday, Thriller of the Week<br />'A striking debut' Sunday Times<br />'A must-read' Daily Express<br />'Deliciously creepy with a side order of Eighties nostalgia' Good Housekeeping<br />'[I] haven't had a sleepless night due to a book for a long time. The Chalk Man changed that. Many congrats C. J. Tudor' Fiona Barton, bestselling author of The Widow<br />'What a great book. A twisty thriller and downright creepy ending. 5 stars' Sarah Pinborough, the bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes</p>",
    "description": "<p>The must-read thriller of 2018, this riveting and relentlessly compelling psychological suspense debut will keep readers guessing right up to the shocking ending.</p>\n<p>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.</p>\n<p>Expertly alternating between flashbacks and the present day, The Chalk Man is the very best kind of suspense novel, one where every character is wonderfully fleshed out and compelling, where every mystery has a satisfying payoff, and where the twists will shock even the savviest reader.</p>",
    "imprint": null,
    "language_code": "eng",
    "original_language_code": null,
    "page_count": 352,
    "duration_seconds": null,
    "publication_date_first": "2018-01-22",
    "publication_date_latest": "2018-01-22",
    "cover_url": null,
    "editions": [
        {
            "isbn": "9780718187446",
            "product_form": "BC"
        },
        {
            "isbn": "9781405930956",
            "product_form": "BC"
        }
    ],
    "ratings_count": 0,
    "read_count": 0,
    "review_count": 0,
    "favorite_count": 0,
    "reading_status_read_count": 0,
    "reading_status_reading_count": 0,
    "reading_status_want_to_read_count": 0,
    "rating_average": null,
    "ratings_distribution": {
        "1": 0,
        "2": 0,
        "3": 0,
        "4": 0,
        "5": 0
    },
    "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:18:02+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2025-10-28T00:24:53+00:00",
    "publisher": {
        "id": 4704,
        "slug": "penguin",
        "name": "Penguin",
        "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:12:33+00:00",
        "updated_at": "2025-09-19T15:05:09+00:00"
    },
    "contributors": [
        {
            "id": 190589,
            "slug": "cj-tudor-2",
            "key_names": "Tudor",
            "names_before_key": "C.J.",
            "prefix_to_key": null,
            "contributor_role": "A01",
            "readable_contributor_role": "Author"
        }
    ],
    "genres": [],
    "subjects": [
        {
            "scheme_identifier": "32",
            "scheme_version": null,
            "main_subject": false,
            "subject_code": "300",
            "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:18:02+00:00",
            "updated_at": "2025-09-19T13:18:02+00:00"
        },
        {
            "scheme_identifier": "32",
            "scheme_version": null,
            "main_subject": false,
            "subject_code": "330",
            "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:18:02+00:00",
            "updated_at": "2025-09-19T13:18:02+00:00"
        }
    ]
}