First Line: From the flat roof of the kitchen Patch looked out through serried pin oaks and white pine to the loom of the St. Francois Mountains that pressed the small town of Monta Clare into its shade no matter the season.
It's 1975, and in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges a thirteen-year-old local boy called Patch, who saves the girl at great cost to himself.
Little does Patch know that this is merely the beginning of an obsession that will take him years to resolve.
~
In 2021, Chris Whitaker's We Begin at the End became one of my Best Reads of the year, and he's repeated himself with All the Colors of the Dark. Whitaker has a talent for creating compelling stories featuring exceptional thirteen-year-old outsiders. In this book, it's Joseph "Patch" Macauley, a boy who loves pirates, and his best friend, Saint Brown, who convinces her grandmother that she wants to become a beekeeper.
All the Colors of the Dark begins with Patch's traumatic rescue of a young girl being attacked by a serial killer and follows Patch, Saint, and others through to 2001. I think what grabs me most about Whitaker's writing is that he has such a gift for making me feel all the emotions of his characters, and sometimes that is exhausting.
I want to talk about this book for pages and pages, but I don't want to risk spoiling anything for anyone else. All the Colors of the Dark is part missing persons mystery, part serial killer thriller (in which the serial killer is more shadow than substance), and part love story. It's a tale of obsession, and-- above all-- a tale of hope.
Read it.
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
eISBN: 9780593798881
Crown Publishing © 2024
eBook, 608 pages
Literary Mystery, Standalone
Rating: A+
Source: Net Galley
I'm so glad you enjoyed this as much as you did, Cathy. And I couldn't agree more about how great it is when an author makes you feel what the characters do.
ReplyDeleteThat's the best way to keep me turning the pages.
DeleteSounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt is. So is We Begin at the End.
DeleteThis one sounds very, very good. And I can see it's a long one, but that's OK. Thanks for sharing about it. Don't think it's one I had come across as yet.
ReplyDeleteI know. I looked at the page count with a raised eyebrow, but after I'd read the book, I really couldn't see where it could be cut.
DeleteWell, I read We Begin at the End by Whitaker, which was excellent. And poignant and I cried a few times about the two children in the book. To give credit where credit is due, his spouse also helps in researching and other tasks involving his writing. Well, I will read this new one with tissues handy.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd remembered that you'd loved We Begin at the End, Kathy.
DeleteWhat a memory! Yes, I did like Whitaker's book and I do cry when children are hurt or animals. His plot and characters were so well-drawn I couldn't put the book down. And I expect to be pulled into this book.
DeleteYou will be.
DeleteAn A+ rating! Wow! A high recommendation indeed. And my reading list grows a little bit longer.
ReplyDeleteIt's a book when you're really in the mood to live inside the characters' skins.
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