One of my favourite reads last year was The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor so I was incredibly excited to read the authors second book, The Taking of Annie Thorne. But would it live up to expectations?
My Review:
I have mulled over this review for some time now, and I have to admit that a big part of me didn’t want to write it. Why is that, you wonder? Well, it is because I really, really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t.
To me The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor was one of the best debut novels that I have read, I absolutely loved it and I have spent the last year and a bit telling people that they should read it. So when I got the chance to read The Taking of Annie Thorne (or The Hiding Place if you are in the US) I jumped at the chance and it didn’t cross my mind that I wouldn’t love it too.
At times I thought that it was all going well and I did enjoy reading it, it’s a twisty story that keeps you guessing and wondering and questioning what is going on.
The main character, Joe Thorne, is really rather unlikeable. He’s rude and unpleasant and although I often don’t like the characters in books that I read and find that perfectly ok, I really didn’t like Joe and found that I didn’t really care all that much about what was going to happen to him.
I’m not a fan of horror books, I used to be and loved Stephen King but as I’ve got older I just don’t want to be scared in the same way as I used to. I didn’t find this book scary though, but there is a lot of supernatural stuff going on. While there was an element of that in The Chalk Man in this book it is central.
There was also one scene in this book that I did not like reading one bit, it was so uncomfortable and just awful to read. I’m not quite sure how the author was able to write it.
But I did think that it was a clever story and there was a lot to like about it. I think that my expectations were so high after loving The Chalk Man so much.
The Taking Of Annie Thorne (or The Hiding Place) by CJ Tudor is well written and easy to read, it was just a little bit too ‘out there’ for me.
I received a copy of The Taking Of Annie Thorne by CJ Tudor from the publisher, Michael Joseph. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.
Blurb:
The new spine-tingling, sinister thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chalk Man . . .
_______________
One night, Annie went missing. Disappeared from her own bed. There were searches, appeals. Everyone thought the worst. And then, miraculously, after forty-eight hours, she came back. But she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, say what had happened to her.
Something happened to my sister. I can’t explain what. I just know that when she came back, she wasn’t the same. She wasn’t my Annie.
I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, that sometimes I was scared to death of my own little sister.
About The Author:
C. J. Tudor was born in Salisbury and grew up in Nottingham, where she still lives with her partner and young daughter.
She left school at sixteen and has had a variety of jobs over the years, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, shop assistant, ad agency copywriter and voiceover.
In the early nineties, she fell into a job as a television presenter for a show on Channel 4 called Moviewatch. Although a terrible presenter, she got to interview acting legends such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Douglas, Emma Thompson and Robin Williams. She also annoyed Tim Robbins by asking a question about Susan Sarandon’s breasts and was extremely flattered when Robert Downey Junior showed her his chest.
While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl.
She’s been writing since she was a child but only knuckled down to it properly in her thirties. Her English teacher once told her that if she ‘did not become Prime Minister or a best-selling author’ he would be ‘very disappointed.’
The Chalk Man was inspired by a tub of chalks a friend bought for her daughter’s second birthday. One afternoon they drew chalk figures all over the driveway. Later that night she opened the back door to be confronted by weird stick men everywhere. In the dark, they looked incredibly sinister. She called to her partner: ‘These chalk men look really creepy in the dark . . .’
She is never knowingly over-dressed. She has never owned a handbag and the last time she wore heels (twelve years ago) she broke a tooth.
She loves The Killers, Foo Fighters and Frank Turner. Her favourite venue is Rock City.
Her favourite films are Ghostbusters and The Lost Boys. Her favourite authors are Stephen King, Michael Marshall and Harlan Coben.
She is SO glad she was a teenager in the eighties.
She firmly believes that there are no finer meals than takeaway pizza and champagne, or chips with curry sauce after a night out.
Everyone calls her Caz.
If only I could read faster 
I enjoyed this book, but less than “The Chalk Man”. The supernatural elements lessened my enthusiasm, yet I sometimes don’t mind it.
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Pretty much the same for me. It will be interesting to see where she goes with book three.
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