Really enjoyed this engrossing murder mystery. It reminded me somewhat of some of Stephen King's works involving a group of young people coming of age and running into very strange occurrences. The novel takes place in Britain and is written from two different points in time, 1986, when the group of kids were about 12, and 2016, when they are grown. This is similar to King's IT which also tells the story from two different times. The main protagonist, Eddie, tells the story and how it started in 1986. He is one of a group of five who hang out together and try to be there for each other. After Eddie meets with a somewhat strange teacher, Mr. Halloran, who uses pastels to draw beautiful art pieces, Eddie and the group start using chalk men to send coded messages to each other. Halloran is an albino and is also called "The Chalk Man". At one point during the summer, they witness a horrible accident at the fair where a young girl gets mutilated by a park ride called a Waltzer (I had never heard of this ride but found out online that it is a British ride consisting of a number of cars which spin freely while rotating around a central point). The girl survives but is later found murdered in the woods by Eddie and his friends. Crudely drawn chalk men were drawn pointing the way to the body. But who drew these men and how is Halloran involved? The mystery remains unanswered for years until events in 2016 lead to what really happened.
I liked how the two different time lines are used in the novel to tell the story. There were several twists along the way and I was surprised by the ending. Overall, I thought this was very good thriller with some tinges of horror thrown in. Recommend it...
I liked how the two different time lines are used in the novel to tell the story. There were several twists along the way and I was surprised by the ending. Overall, I thought this was very good thriller with some tinges of horror thrown in. Recommend it...
