Dust jacket illustration by David Palumbo.

“Want to read something good? You won't find it on the front bestseller table at your bookstore, but it's new, and will be there. The Chalk Man, by C. J. Tudor. If you like my stuff, you'll like this.” -—Stephen King

About the Book:

It’s 1986 in the small town of Anderbury in England, and 12-year-old Eddie and his group of friends—Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Hoppo, and Nicky—are just normal kids, the kind who get into minor trouble by accident, out of boredom. When a new teacher, Mr. Halloran, gives Eddie the idea of using an unwanted birthday gift of a tub of chalks as a way for his friends to leave each other messages around town in their own secret code, all is fun and games. That is, until a chalk drawing leads them straight to a dismembered body in the woods.

Thirty years later, in 2016, Eddie is all grown up and a teacher himself when an envelope containing a chalk drawing of a stick figure shows up at his house. He’s in no hurry to revisit the horrors of the past, but it seems all his friends got the same letter. Mickey insists he knows who really murdered the girl whose body was found so long ago. And when a new body appears, there is no choice except to confront the past if Eddie wants to stay alive.

Alternating between the past and the present, C. J. Tudor’s The Chalk Man is a riveting novel of suspense that reads like a cross between Stephen King and Michael Marshall Smith, and introduces an incredibly compelling new voice.

The Subterranean Press limited edition includes an exclusive introduction by the author, as well as an alternate, never-before-published ending.

Limited: 300 signed numbered hardcover copies

Lettered: 26 signed leatherbound copies, housed in a custom traycase

From Publishers Weekly:

“[A] promising debut…with the nightmarish inevitability of the Grimmest of tales…her storytelling prowess is undeniable.”

From Kirkus Reviews:

“Readers will undoubtedly be reminded of the kids of Stand by Me and even IT…[the] first-person narration alternates between past and present, taking full advantage of chapter-ending cliffhangers. A swift, cleverly plotted debut novel that ably captures the insular, slightly sinister feel of a small village. Children of the 1980s will enjoy the nostalgia.”