The Taking of Annie Thorne by C.J. Tudor

From Goodreads

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. 

My thoughts

I've heard of C.J. Tudor and I am aware that she wrote a great debut novel called The Chalk Man, but I am yet to read that one. I have a copy somewhere, but when NetGalley accepted my request to read this one I couldn't help myself and jumped in with both feet - not literally obviously.

My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review. I gave this an 8/10 or 4 stars.

When recent occurrences begin to mirror things that happened in the past, Joe Thorne feels it his duty to return to where he grew up in the hope that he can put a stop to what is going on. Joe's sister disappeared one day and then reappeared some time later, but life was never the same for them all when she came back. No one really wants to return to the past especially if it holds too many secrets that are better left there, but for Joe it looks like he's not got too much choice.

Joe Thorne is not your typical hero, he's flawed, he's done things in the past that he regrets and his present life isn't that much better, he has troubles aplenty. Fate has other plans in store for him though and to find out what those plans are you'll have to grab a copy of this for yourself.

With publication day looming in February, 2019 this looks set to be as much of a success as The Chalk Man.

I found this to be a well written  character driven story that keeps the reader gripped as the story develops, it's a mix between a thriller and a horror story, as it has elements of both. To be honest it was right up my street and I look forward to watching this Author take off, as I feel she has a great future ahead of her.