The Hiding Place

December 1, 2018
When Joe Thorne takes a teaching job in the small English village of his youth, he soon realizes the darkness he's tried to forget certainly hasn't forgotten him.Returning to the tiny mining village of Arnhill wasn't English teacher Joe Thorne's first choice, and teaching at Arnhill Academy, which he attended as a boy, is the furthest thing from a dream job. But his choices are limited. A gambling problem has put him in debt to a man who will break his kneecaps, or worse, if he doesn't get his money. Well, actually, he has a frightening woman named Gloria on hand to do that for him, and she's got her eye on Joe. But Joe has a plan. He moves into a cottage where an Arnhill teacher recently killed her young son and then herself, writing "NOT MY SON" in blood on the wall. But beggars can't be choosers, and Joe tries to settle in at Arnhill, where it's soon obvious that his old foes never left, and they don't want him in their village. Stephen Hurst, a bully Joe ran with as a kid, has a hold on the town, and his son Jeremy, an Arnhill student, is a chip off the old block. Unfortunately, Stephen shares a secret with Joe that involves Joe's beloved sister, Annie, who disappeared when she was 8 and was very different when she returned. The events leading up to her death soon after were very strange indeed, and everything leads back to a mine shaft that is the source of ghost stories and rumors that have persisted for hundreds of years. The past and present are about to collide in chilling fashion. With Joe, Tudor avoids going the way of the unreliable narrator: He doesn't lie to readers, even if he lies to others, and he has a snarky sense of humor that adds levity. Tudor maintains a tone of creeping dread throughout the book, of something lingering always in the background, coyly hiding its face while whispering promises of very bad things to come. In the last quarter, however, she goes for broke with outright horror, giving readers an effective jolt of adrenaline that will carry them all the way to the terrifying conclusion. Readers won't know what hit them.Tudor came out swinging with Chalk Man (2018), but this one puts her firmly on the map. Not to be missed.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2019

Something isn't right in Arnhill, a former mining town in England. Following the gruesome murder of a young boy by his mother, and her suicide by shotgun, the only clue left behind was "Not My Son," written in blood. English teacher Joe Thorne, who turned his back on Arnhill 25 years earlier, receives an anonymous email: "I know what happened to your sister. It's happening again." Joe returns reluctantly, intrigued by the email but also because he owes someone big money and needs a place to hide. He rents the cottage where the murder occurred, and shortly after moving in strange occurrences begin that stir memories of the disappearance and reappearance of his eight-year-old sister years ago. The house is telling him something, but the town and its inhabitants are determined to see him leave once again. One old friend in particular has his own reasons for wanting Joe gone. VERDICT Fasten your seat belts, for this book takes off in the first chapter and never lets go. Tudor (The Chalk Man) has written what begins as a mystery and ends up as something akin to a Stephen King thriller.--Susan Santa, Shelter Rock P.L., Albertson, NY

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2018
Joe Thorne hasn't returned to Arnhill, the gritty mining town where he grew up, since his father and sister died, but when he learns of the apparent murder-suicide of an Arnhill teacher and her son, Joe is gripped by the similarities to his family's story. Like Joe's sister, Annie, the supposedly murdered boy disappeared for 24 hours, returning drastically changed and unable to say where he'd been. Whatever forces took Annie appear to be back, and Joe resolves to confront them. He easily secures a teaching position at Arnhill's high school and agrees to rent the deceased teacher's home, made affordable by its barely dry crime scene. Once in Arnhill, however, things get complicated: his bullying childhood friend, Steve, is gunning for him; his bookie's sadistic enforcer is a constant threat; and he's finally forced to face his own role in Annie's disappearance. Joe's wisecracking is well-timed comic relief from Arnhill's pervasive darkness; Tudor has crafted another fantastic horror-tinged thriller (after The Chalk Man, 2018) in the vein of John Connolly and Brendan Duffy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)