The Taking of Annie Thorne: 'Britain's female Stephen King' Daily Mail

Product Information

Yeah, we'd . . .' vandalize angels . . .'drink, smoke, other stuff. I probably shouldn't be telling you this.' The whole time, I was sure this would be one of those psychological thrillers, but it is actually a real, blood curling horror. Joe is not welcomed by the community with open arms, his former gang members and others project deeply held animosity and hostility and willing to express this violently. Stephen Hurst is now a powerful and wealthy man locally, on the school governing board, and makes it transparently clear he will do anything to ensure that Joe leaves. Stephen married Marie Gibson, now a dying woman suffering from cancer. Joe's problems have followed him to Arnhill with the appearance of Gloria, a hitwoman intent on ensuring that Joe pays his debts. Joe befriends the art teacher, Beth Scattergood, and becomes aware that little has changed at the school and in a community harbouring dark deeds. He is plagued by vibrantly vivid nightmares and the house is exhibiting some eerie and creepy vibes linked to the dreadful events that occurred there. As the past haunts the present, and the pressure piles up on Joe, we learn of what happened to Annie, and of an ancient evil that has dwelled in the area. This book was a slower start, I think I was into 50% before the book took off for me. But I know this author and was willing to wait. I’m glad that I did. C.J. Tudor excels at character development. I feel as though I really know Joe and some of his old high school friends, Chris, Stephen, Marie. There are some great twists in this book but they come more from the characters than the plot, but that’s a good thing. It seems easier to turn a plot one way or another than to help us understand how people can hide their inner selves.

I crossed from reading this on my kindle to listening to it on audio so that I could continue reading it yesterday in the car. Yes, I was hooked. C.J. Tudor has a remarkable writing style that snaps you up and brings you right in the midst of shifting sands. Just when you think you know......you most certainly don't. For those of you who have read The Chalk Man, you realize this full out. Shows that her excellent The Chalk Man was no one-off in matching Stephen King for creepiness' Sunday Express I know she’s got a good book in her. She just needs to come up with her own ideas for a plot and not regurgitate Stephen King books. EXCERPT: I glance around the graveyard again. 'You know, when I was a kid, we used to hang around here sometimes. 'This a complex, multilayered story with an unreliable narrator that peaked my curiosity from sentence one until the final period of the epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and C.J. Tudor for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.Despite that, I did kinda enjoy it. I wasn't too sure where the author was taking us for a while - we went around the virtual mulberry bush a few times before it all started to become clear. There are a couple of unexpected and interesting twists which kept me invested, and a creepy little epilogue. I awarded an extra half star for the unexpected ending. I like to look at the old graves,' he says. 'The people's names. I like to imagine what their lives were like.' Now Joe HAS to return to Arnhill. Something bad has happened to another student, all eerily similar to what happened to Joe’s sister. He’s the only one who can get to the bottom of what is happening because he knows the truth.

Every town, village and city has a history. There's the official history. The bone-dry version collated in textbooks and census reports, related verbatim in the classroom. Then there's the history that is passed down through generations... The secret history." If newspapers are the place where facts become stories, the Internet is the place where stories become conspiracy theories."The Second part of the book reminded me of two books by Stephen King. I get it, the Author is a big fan....but, I really want her to NOT remind me of Stephen King. When I read her books, I only want to think of HER books. Aside from that, the reader or shall I say the "constant reader" (Hey, even I can make nods to Stephen King!) will finally learn what happened to Annie, why Joe and his high school friends are friends no more, and learn the towns deep, dark secret. While I wasn't a fan of this one, I still wish the author all the success in the world and will be anxiously awaiting her next novel. But The Hiding Place absorbs the darkness surrounding it. It is on a far different plane than The Chalk Man. There was a true camaraderie of friends uplifting one another in her previous novel. This one dabbles in the dark underbelly of treacherous individuals engaging in treacherous acts. There's almost a Stephen King flavor added to this electrified punch. Quirky dialogue, topped with humor, always finds its way into Tudor's writing. She's a master. 'Nuff said. Now when I finally read a horror book, after years and years of pause (my last one (I think) was sth written by R.L. Stine, and we don’t count rereads here!), I want to read more. Joe Thorne grew up in Arnhill and has recently returned to fill an opening as an English teacher. He is kind of a quiet, mysterious guy with a multitude of secrets....and personal faults, and now on top of everything else, he must face....and relive his darkest memory of all....what happened to his beloved little eight year old sister.