THE TAKING OF ANNIE THORNE

C.J. Tudor (Michael Joseph/Penguin)

Crime meets psychological suspense meets out-and-out horror in The Taking Of Annie Thorne, C.J. Tudor’s follow-up to the best-selling The Chalk Man. Joe Thorne returns to the small town where, when he was a boy, his sister Annie vanished, then returned a few days later, never quite the person she was before. Now, a mysterious email pops up in his inbox, hinting that the same thing could happen again. Meanwhile, a single mother murders her son then shoots herself. Joe fears that a bogeyman is haunting the streets he grew up in, only to flee when he could no longer bear to be there or relive that time. From the stomachchurning first chapter to the grand guignol ending that is as shocking as it is surprising, Tudor racks up the nastiness, like thumbscrews being tightened until bones snap. Another hit, I think.

words Mark Timlin 

Price: £12.99 Info: www.penguin.co.uk