A review by vineela0705
The Taking of Annie Thorne by C.J. Tudor

2.0

Set in a sleepy village with mines with terrible secrets, The Taking of Annie Thorne follows Joe Thorne, a jaded, deadbeat man with a hidden past who returns to his hometown in search of secrets. Sounds familiar. Is it [b:It|830502|It|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334416842l/830502._SY75_.jpg|150259], or some other Stephen King novel? Or [b:The Grownup|26025580|The Grownup|Gillian Flynn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441679582l/26025580._SY75_.jpg|45948939]? Could be any book in the market. Plot following an unsuccessful protagonist with a repressed past returning to dark, dull hometown are a dime to the dozen. Even the author's debut work, [b:The Chalk Man|35356382|The Chalk Man|C.J. Tudor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568852018l/35356382._SY75_.jpg|52592002] follows mostly the same storyline.

The story takes its sweet time in deciding to be a horror story. A bad one, at that. Creeping cold and crittering noises alone do not make a horror story. A pity, considering the gory prologue that first reeled me into reading the book. The mystery was tepid at best. It was fairly obvious that the mine/pit had something to do with all the tragedies.

The author seems to be inspired by Stephen King's work. Bullying teenagers, mysterious towns with a bad history, nothing original. I could have just read Stephen KIng's novels instead. At least they're much more creepy and dark.