Black Chalk

Written by Christopher J. Yates

Narrated by Peter Brooke

One game. Six students. Five survivors.

It was only ever meant to be a game.

A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results.

Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Sep 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781473500273

Christopher J. Yates

CHRISTOPHER J. YATES was born and raised in Kent and studied law at Oxford University before working as a puzzle editor in London. He now lives in New York City with his wife and dog. 'Black Chalk' is his debut novel.

Reviews for Black Chalk

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars. Six college students in England decide they should play a game of high stakes. Things start off simply enough - you accept a "consequence," which kind of works like a dare. They range from being silly to embarrassing to life-changing. The consequences are supposed to make people drop out until there is only one winner, but the game doesn't end while everyone's still in school - it won't end until 14 years later, which is when the bulk of the book takes place. It's told through flashbacks, as one of the students, now 34 years old, is writing about that year of college. There is a lot of foreshadowing, but the payoff isn't that great, so I didn't really feel all the ominous talk was warranted. I also think I read it too close to Lauren Oliver's Panic, which has a similar premise but way more suspense. I'd recommend that one, if suspense is what you're looking for.

[bibliobeck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brilliantly intelligent read about the recklessness of youth and its long term consequences. The mysterious Games Soc. lead by three shadowy figures oversees 'The Game', a game of consequences devised by a group of friends at Oxford University. The decision to participate made during Fresher's Week has serious consequences for all of them which lasts into their future. A gripping read about loyalty, divisiveness and the ultimate in one-upmanship.

[fhudnell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book of psychological suspense about six friends in their first year at Oxford. The four male and two female students invent a game, under the sponsorship of a mysterious club. In this diabolical game, the participants must perform increasingly more embarrassing (but not illegal or dangerous) acts. If they fail or withdraw from the game they forfeit their cash deposits. The ultimate winner takes the entire prize. These people are not after the prize however. It is the "win" that drives them.The narration is told in chapters that alternate between the story of the game at Oxford 14 years ago and the present day story of some of the game players."Black Chalk" is a clever, imaginative and well written book and is almost compulsively readable. However I can't say that I really enjoyed reading it. That is because the participants in the game were uniformly mean spirited, narcissistic, sociopathic bullies. They were completely selfish and felt superior to everyone else. It wasn't enough that they only tormented each other, but each challenge in the game had to be performed in public and thus involve non-participants in their game. I was not happy while in the company of these people. It isn't necessary that I find characters in a book to be likable, but their unrelenting meanness wore me down.I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher.

[johnfishlock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful characters and a brilliant in-depth story.

[piemouth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Light reading after the previous book I read, (Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity). College kids set up a game with humiliating consequences for the losers of each round. PoV alternates with that time and the present in which the narrator is clearly disturbed and probably not who he seems. It was entertaining and kept me hooked but ultimately meh. Several big secrets weren't that big or satisfying.Also, it throws me out of a story when characters have odd names (unless it's taking place in a foreign culture or on Mars or something) so "Jolyon" always gave me a bit of a jolt.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although touted as compulsively readable, I found Black Chalk by Christoper J. Yates a struggle. This story is told in flashbacks fourteen years after six university students agree to play an elaborate game of dares with escalating consequences. The book started slowly and it took me a while to figure out what exactly I was reading about. I was hoping for a book filled with suspense but for me the story fell flat.I forced myself to keep reading when I should have given up. I kept hoping that the ending would redeem the story, but no, it did not. The ingredients to this book look good on paper – college, games, friends, mysterious death, but unfortunately the final result was a total miss.

[mamelotti-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received an electronic copy of this book to review, but in no way does that have an impact on my views and opinion.

First things first, we need to take a moment for the cover...moment over. The main reason I chose this novel was because of the cover. Now I know what you're all thinking, "Meredith, don't judge a book by its cover!" *wags finger in my direction* To my defense, this time it was different! I fell in love with the cover, because it seemed so mysterious, dark, and twisted. I will admit I was confused about the tower, but it gets explained towards the end of the novel. In other words, don't strain something trying to figure out the meaning of the tower.

Also, I wouldn't recommend this novel for the younger people out there. This novel is definitely made for adults due to its obscenities and the density of the information that is given.

One aspect of the novel I highly enjoyed was how the chapters would alternate between the past and the present day. Most of the story takes place in the past, and in the past is where you meet all the characters. You also learn about how the Game came to be, and how it ended. The chapters written in the present portrayed how the events during the Game psychologically affected one of the main instigators for the Game.

Three characters' development throughout the novel stuck out to me. Jolyon was known by everybody on campus, and was the clear leader of the pack. However, you come to realize and take notice of how his mind deteriorates due to resulting events caused by the Game. He just wants to be free from the whole thing. Chad is a shy, book smart, and socially awkward boy who befriends Jolyon on the first day on campus. As the game progresses his mind can only think of the Game. He only cares about what is next for the Game, and anything else that isn't the Game doesn't matter. He becomes stronger, and refuses to be walked all over. Dee is another friend who takes part in the Game. In the beginning stages of the story we learn that after she writes 500 poems she wants to commit suicide. After her college days, she does a 360 with herself. She stops wearing the black clothing and dyes her hair blond. She plays a major role in the present day chapters of the book, especially towards the end of the novel. I'm not her number one fan for decisions she made in the chapters that took place in the present. I was and still am questioning if the decisions that she made were decided correctly.

My heart was heavy with boredom, light and happy with the action, shattered when unexpected events and truths came out, and finally patched with hope for the futures of the remaining characters. I have never had a novel affect me psychologically as much as this one did. I felt like I was right there with the characters experiencing the same distress. I highly recommend this novel to everyone, especially from college and up, who are in search for a book that will tear you apart, confuse you, and then gather up the pieces to soldier on to the end with the characters.

[janarose1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When six college friends begin to play a game with embarrassing consequences, it begins as just fun. As contestants drop out and the field narrows, the consequences become increasingly embarrassing.Although I thought this book had an interesting premise, I thought the modern day narrator was extremely boring. I was much more interested in the passages dealing with the past. I always wish that the author had told us more about Game Soc. Overall, not something I will reread.

[grammarchick · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A group of college students in England come up with what is basically a pretentious version of "truth or dare" minus the truth. Three strangers who call themselves the Game Soc (short for 'society') back them financially and brood around while the game is being played. This was just a bunch of kids at uni desperate to be liked, irritated when they realized what was so unlikeable about themselves and just generally taking the piss at each other. If there was something sinister, it never showed up. The Game Soc appears to be connected all over the world at one point, but theyu're not evil minions or somesuch. Overhyped but with a cleaner, more eventual storyline, could have turned into something excellent.

[kappadeemom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Six friends at Oxford decide to play a Game. The Game starts out as very innocent - a series of dares that go from being just a bit embarrassing to quickly progressing into psychological nightmares. This novel was like peeling an onion. The more you read the more you learn about the psychological strength and makeup of these friends. Loved this twisty novel, and I could barely put it down.

[kraaivrouw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First things first - I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't get enough of it and I mourned when it ended. It hit all my high points - a close-knit group of friends, a fictional college at Oxford University, an intricate psychological game with unforeseen consequences. It is intelligent, literary, and intricate - revealing itself in bits and pieces that don't truly come together until they are all collected and the heart of the story is revealed.In the beginning one of the group is reflecting back to the game as it played out fourteen years earlier. We don't know who this person is for quite awhile, but we do get a sense of the characters in the flashbacks: Jolyon, interesting, complicated, and fascinating; Chad, the ugly American; Jack, always offensive, mildly funny; Mark, the physics genius who can't stop sleeping; Emilia, an object of desire for reasons that aren't clear; and Dee, a poet writing five hundred poems. It is a constellation of friendship such as occurs at college when you meet someone the first day and then meet others and there at the pub or the cafeteria you're thrown intensely together. Then, there is the Game Society, a small group that funds the game and who remain dark and mysterious, moving in the shadows.The game is a complicated version of Truth or Dare and it quickly becomes as serious as a heartbeat with consequences that feel predictable, but because of the nature of the writing never are. Mr. Yates, the author, is a puzzle master, and his skill shows in the way the game is put together, but perhaps even more in the way the story is put together. It's like a Russian nesting doll if a Russian nesting doll was also an thousands of pieces puzzle that may have some crucial pieces missing.Black Chalk is a compelling read - it caught me in its web instantly and I could not put it down. I found its mysteries compelling and its suspense excruciating. Another one of the best books I've read this year. If you liked The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals (I did) you'll love this book although the details are stunningly original and the payoff mindblowing. This is a book I plan to read again to learn what I missed - it's so rich I know there are things I haven't figured out yet. Read this book!

[drewsof · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just had a blast with this. It takes some of the best traits of stories like The Secret History, Gone Girl, The Game, and stirs them all up into a speedball of thrill. This is a smart, gripping novel that not only delivers on plot but brings along memorable and genuine characters to boot. With every reveal, I was pulled deeper into the story and nearly every single one paid off with dividends. Christopher J. Yates has pulled off a masterful debut.

More on 7/29:

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Original, twisting, and suspenseful, this is one of those novels that pulls you in and keeps hold of your imagination until the end. Built from memorable characters and too-believable twists, the book itself is a beautifully structured game of intrigue that weaves together past and present in a graceful give-and-take of information, emotion, and fear.My only critique of the book is that it may be too suspenseful--Yates builds up the pressure of the plot masterfully, but the torturous suspense reaches such a level that nearly any end would be anticlimactic. As a result, while I enjoyed every moment of the suspense, I had a feeling early on that whatever was coming couldn't quite live up to the dangerous tone of the novel. Along the same lines, I have to say that there may be too much ambiguity in the way things are wrapped up. I hesitate to say that Yates got lazy in finishing out rationales and plotlines, but then again, I did expect more closure since there's no indication (from what I see) that there'll be a sequel.On the whole, this was an engaging and suspenseful read, well worth the time, and the humor sprinkled throughout the work made it that much more addictive. Without a doubt, I'd pick up the next work by Yates, and I'm glad I managed to snag this one out of the GoodReads First Reader Giveaways.Recommended.

[twink_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Black Chalk is Christopher J. Yates's debut novel. "It was only ever meant to be a game. A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results." Black Chalk opens in present day with an unnamed narrator remembering his first days at Oxford and the beginning of the game. The narrative flips between then and now....fourteen years later when we know something has gone horribly wrong. Our narrator is not mentally stable, rarely ventures outside, doesn't open his curtains and has an elaborate system to remind himself to eat and drink. He begins to write down his memories of that time - but are they reliable? I was quite sure I knew which of the six was the narrator, then found I was mistaken - and that my assumptions about the path the book would take were all quite wrong. Yates drops little hints throughout via small offhand comments or bits of foreshadowing that had me constantly guessing as to who the survivor be. Reading Black Chalk was like watching a frightening film - you know, that creepy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know characters are making decisions that can't end well. And yet, you can't stop watching (reading) until you know how it ends. And Black Chalk was frightening. Although Yates has penned a fictional work, I think the origins of it are based in truth. As I read, I thought of hazings gone wrong at schools, the desire to 'fit in', to be the 'winner'. But at what cost? And who decides to 'up the stakes'? "And none of them seemed for even a moment to consider that, for the Game to end, they would have to subject one another to greater and greater humiliations. It couldn't remain light-hearted forever." And it doesn't. Yates takes his characters and plot to some dark places. Black Chalk is a twisting labyrinth of a tale with something terrible waiting at the centre. My only quibble is the ending - I found it a bit unsatisfying. But I think it's just my desire for all threads to be neatly tied up and resolved.

[ohsillytwigg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a fan of books with unreliable narrators. You don't even find out who is telling the story for quite a while. And then you learn that the book you're reading has been manipulated. So what can you trust? The biggest issue I've had with this book is that the characters don't have a chance to develop outside the game. I kept mixing up Chad, Mark, and Jack. It's hard to get in to a book when you can't differentiate between half of the characters. The game really isn't explained. All we know is that it's truth or dare with dice and a deck of cards. We read about several consequences that the players have to preform but none of them were really that bad. They're humiliating but not life ruining. It's not a bad book but it hasn't earned the buildup and the end is completely lacking.

[dokfintong · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Christopher Yates worked hard plotting this book out and if I had not read so many Iain Banks books and others similar, I would probably have finished Black Chalk and enjoyed it. However, by the time I broke off at 40%, I was thinking only of Maurice Ravel's description of Boléro as "one very long, gradual crescendo. ...no contrasts, and practically no invention except the plan and the manner of execution". Just as Boléro is pleasing when you are in the right mood, so probably is "Black Chalk." I like Banks better, though.I received a review copy of Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates (Random House UK - North America) through Netgalley.com