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Book Summary and Reviews of The Hiding Place by C. J. Tudor

The Hiding Place by C. J. Tudor

The Hiding Place

by C. J. Tudor

  • Critics' Consensus (9):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Feb 2019, 288 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

The thrilling second novel from the author of The Chalk Man, about a teacher with a hidden agenda who returns to settle scores at a school he once attended, only to uncover a darker secret than he could have imagined.

Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang - the betrayal, the suicide, the murder - and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn't have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe's sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town - while avoiding the enemies he's made in the years since - is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn't the day his sister went missing.

It was the day she came back.

With the same virtuosic command of character and pacing she displayed in The Chalk Man, C. J. Tudor has once again crafted an extraordinary novel that brilliantly blends harrowing psychological suspense, a devilishly puzzling mystery, and enough shocks and thrills to satisfy even the most seasoned reader.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Joe's dark humor may balance the grim plot, but the epilogue is the stuff of nightmares. Tudor casts a searing light on the long-term damage wrought by grief, guilt, and regret." - Publishers Weekly

"Tudor has crafted another fantastic horror-tinged thriller (after The Chalk Man, 2018) in the vein of John Connolly and Brendan Duffy." - Booklist

"Readers won't know what hit them. Tudor came out swinging with The Chalk Man, but this one puts her firmly on the map. Not to be missed." - Kirkus

"Some writers have it, and some don't.  CJ Tudor has it big time - The Hiding Place is terrific in every way." – Lee Child

"With The Hiding Place, CJ Tudor has proven that she is a true master at creating perfectly dark, highly propulsive, and tightly coiled mysteries that are utterly impossible to put down. From page one, the reader is pulled in with a gathering sense of dread, and taken on an addictive, thrilling ride to the very last page." - Aimee Molloy, New York Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Mother

"Dark, gothic and utterly compelling, The Hiding Place pulls off a rare combination – an atmosphere of unsettling evil along with richly nuanced characterisation." - JP Delaney

"Deliciously creepy, impeccably plotted and laced with both wicked humor and genuine shocks, The Hiding Place is the kind of read-under-the-covers thriller you didn't think people wrote anymore. Lucky for us, C.J. Tudor still does. An absolute corker of a book." - Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied

"Gripping and dark, The Hiding Place descends like its very own mine shaft, getting creepier the further you go. You'll race to the finish." – Roz Nay, internationally bestselling author of Our Little Secret

"Razor-sharp writing and masterful plotting drive this dark story about a small town, buried secrets, and ghosts from the past. Witty and compelling all at once, The Hiding Place is a must read page-turner!" – Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten

"Delicious in every way. A deliciously creepy story, deliciously told. Storytelling like a siren's song: your hair will prickle and stand on end but you won't be able to tear your eyes from the page." – Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger

"Wow Wow Wow! CJ Tudor's follow-up to her impressive debut is superbly chilling and delightfully creepy. Smartly written and brilliantly plotted, here is a book that crawls under your skin and hooks on until you reach that jaw-dropping ending." – CJ Cooke, author of I Know My Name

This information about The Hiding Place was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Rae

My book review
The Hiding Place is a novel written by C.J. Tudor, where Joe is the main character. Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill after the way things ended with his old gang- with all the betrayal, the suicide, the murder. When his sister went missing, the last thing he ever wanted to do was go back to the place he grew up, Arnhill, but he doesn't have a choice. Judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe's sister, Annie, is happening again. Joe is the only one who knows who's at fault, which is one of his old buddies, Stephen Hurst. By lying his way into his new job at his old high school, he is facing off with old friends, who aren't too happy that he's back. But, the hardest part for Joe was to return to the abandoned mine where he and his friends went years ago. It was also the place where Annie was. The worst moment of his life wasn't the day his sister went missing, it was the day she came back.

Sandi W.

Authors second book...
For those unaware, this book has a second title - The Taking of Annie Thorne.

This is the second book written by C. J. Tudor. I was very quick to secure a copy of it because I liked The Chalk Man so well. Sadly, I must say that the two books are very dissimilar.

I liked this book up to and a bit beyond the half way mark. Then, for me, it just kind of fluttered out. Although it was starting to answer questions from the first half, the rest of the book, in my opinion, remained just mediocre. I felt a build up, then a let down.

I try not to compare books, even by the same author, but... this book did not give me near the satisfaction that Chalk Man did. I think that if you are not an exceptional author then the alternating story line is hard to pull off with any glowing reaction. In this case, I would much rather have read the story of the children, then moved on to the adult story line. I had become invested in the characters, but the story was not up to the level of keeping the characters most interesting. Premise was there, but, for me, the story line faltered, even with the twists at the end.

This novel was not so bad that I will not read Tudor again, I just will not be jumping on her next book quite as quickly. I am hoping that this book was the rushed and stressed follow up to Chalk Man, and that her next book will maintain the level of mastery that she previously proved she has the ability to put forth.

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Author Information

C. J. Tudor Author Biography

Photo: Bill Waters

C. J. Tudor is the author of The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers award for Best First Novel and the Strand Magazine Award for Best Debut Novel. Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voice-over artist, and dog walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn't miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much. She lives in England with her partner and daughter.

Author Interview

Other books by C. J. Tudor at BookBrowse
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More Recommendations

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