The Chalk Man cover art

The Chalk Man

The chilling and spine-tingling Sunday Times bestseller

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor, read by Andrew Scott and Asa Butterfield.

None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning.

Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own?

Was it the terrible accident?

Or when they found the first body?

'If you like my stuff, you'll like this' STEPHEN KING

 Amateur Sleuths Crime Thrillers Fiction Mystery Psychological Thriller & Suspense Scary Crime Thriller Paranormal Exciting Suspense

Critic reviews

Wonderfully creepy - like a cold blade on the back of your neck (LEE CHILD)
The Chalk Man works, it's a lively and entertaining read . . . Tudor's got talent
This assured debut is very much in the Stephen King vein - creepy with plenty of menace
Hot damn C. J. Tudor's The Chalk Man is good. Very Stephen King-esque (Ruth Ware)
CJ Tudor's very clever, wrong-footing debut will leave you checking that doors and windows of your holiday cottage are secure . . .
A striking debut
A tense gripper with a leave-the-lights-on shock ending
You'll be gripped by this cracking debut novel . . . it will keep you up all night with all the lights on. This intriguing, satisfying thriller delivers a series of shocks . . . reminiscent of the master of horror Stephen King
If you like my stuff, you'll like this (STEPHEN KING)
It's a very clever story - you'll love it! (Joanna Cannon)
All stars
Most relevant
Whilst this was an interesting story it was ruined for me by the narration of the older Ed. It was monotone and frequently trailed off to an inaudible whisper so that I had to run back the recording too many times for me to enjoy the book. I did stick it out to the end though and whilst I'm glad I did, the ending to the story being superb I would not listen to another book read by this narrator nor could I recommend this one to others

Good story, narration not so good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you like most about The Chalk Man?

The flashbacks to the 1980s from the present day

What did you like best about this story?

The whole concept was great and it was a gripping story

Which character – as performed by Andrew Scott and Asa Butterfield – was your favourite?

I enjoyed all the characters - they worked so well together

Excellent debut book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it, listened on my commute to and from work. Actually looked forwards to going to work!

really enjoyed this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Story was good and moved along at a steady pace, I had no problem with the different timelines.

I didn't enjoy the narration of adult Eddie at all. Too many hesitations stopped the flow of the story, and the boring, whispery voice was off-putting. I don't think I will bother with anything else he narrates.

Overall worth a credit, but could have been better with a different narrator.

Good story, let down by poor narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you like best about The Chalk Man? What did you like least?

I really liked the overall story, there was a lot of suspense and intrigue and the flashbacks helped to keep that ticking along steadily.

Did Andrew Scott and Asa Butterfield do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

I found some issues with the 'present day' narrator as sometimes they spoke so quietly I couldn't hear what was being said. Other than that they both did a good job of narrating the story.

Good suspense

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews