The author also put together a decent plot and uses the technique of flipping back and forth between 19 effectively. The author skillfully develops his character as well as those of his friends and the adults in young Eddie’s life, with a few exceptions discussed below. His adult self is an empty, lonely shell just going through the motions of living. His life is full of examples in which he didn’t defend a friend, stand by someone who cared about him or choose the tough right over the easy wrong. This would be one of the rare times Eddie has done the right thing. There are clearly loose ends and injustices that need to be resolved and Eddie takes it upon himself to do just that. The past is returning with a disturbing vengeance. Eddie begins having alcohol-induced nightmares about the murder. One of the five wants to write a book about that long ago summer. The five friends all receive threatening letters consisting of chalk drawn stick figures in hangman’s nooses. It’s exciting for awhile, until someone uses the chalk code to lead them to a body in the woods, the body of someone Eddie knows.įast forward 30 years. Some of the pack members were struggling with issues at home, there was tension with group dynamics, and there was just an overall feeling that things weren’t quite right.īored with their usual activities, the kids devised a method of leaving messages for each other in chalk. They built forts in the woods, rode their bikes to the park and looked forward to the local fair. Twelve-year-old Eddie and his four friends roamed their small town like typical kids.

Thirty years later, the terrible events of that summer seem to be resurfacing. In 1986, five young friends experience a grimly life altering summer, culminating in their discovery of a dismembered corpse.

The chalk man book review