(AUGUST 2015 UPDATE: Filmmaker Ron Howard has purchased the film rights to Black Chalk.) "Black Chalk" is an odd novel. For example, it took more than sixty pages just to figure out who the narrator is. And more than halfway through the story, you still won’t know why it’s called “Black Chalk.” CHRISTOPHER J. YATES podcast excerpt: "At Oxford, the famous secret society is called the Bullingdon Club. The current Prime Minister, David Cameron, was in the Bullingdon Club. The current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was in the Bullingdon Club. It's a club for rich boys. They're famous for going to restaurants, ordering a ton of wine, and then, at the end of the meal, they trash the restaurant. But then, they're so rich, they just pay the restaurant owner for the damages. This fed a lot into my book, Black Chalk. Tallest, Middle and Shortest could be members of this club." And yet – and isn’t this the sign of something good? – you’re going to be hard-pressed to put down the adventures of Jolyon, Chad, Emilia, Dee, Mark and Jack. Oh, and I shouldn’t leave out Tallest, Middle and Shortest. If you’re fascinated with games and gamesmanship, Black Chalk is probably the book for you. Author Christopher J. Yates – once interested in law in his native England, but more recently the UK’s representative at the World Puzzle Championships and now a freelance journalist and puzzles editor - has written a unique and twisted thriller that you’ll find difficult to put down. Christopher J. Yates • •