Chris Whitaker

From the flat roof of the kitchen Patch looked out through serried pin oaks and white pine to the loom of St. Francois Mountains that pressed the small town of Monta Clare into its shade no matter the season. At thirteen he believed entirely that there was gold beyond the Ozark Plateau. That there was a brighter world just waiting for him.

Though later that morning when he lay dying in the woodland, he'd take that morning still and purse it till the colors ran because he knew it could not show more have been so beautiful. That nothing was ever so beautiful in his life.

So begins this literary crime novel about a boy victimized by a serial killer and how the entire town is affected. His best friend, Saint, cannot accept that he is dead. She hounds the town police chief, who had also tried to protect the boy. His mother spirals further down her already drunken path, while the girl Patch was trying to protect is told to move on with her scripted life. From Saint's grandmother to the town's doctor, everyone is impacted and no one will be the same.

I never read crime novels, especially ones with serial killers, so when my book club chose this novel, I debated whether to skip this month. But I bit the bullet, so to speak, and began reading. The first 150 pages had some tough parts, but because the book is primarily about how the missing affect those left behind, it was not gruesome in the way I expected. Instead it's a book about trying to find a way through trauma, how to continue living when you lose someone you love, about holding on and letting go. I was completely taken with the characters and flew through the second half. Whitaker knows how to write, and how to construct a compelling story. So it ended up checking many boxes for me: people, prose, plot. I'm looking forward to discussing this with my book club. show less

This writer reminded me a lot of John Hart, with his coming-of-age books about families that get broken after a tragic event, and then deal with questions of revenge, justice, and the mournful seeking of redemption.

Set in a small coastal town in California, the story begins as Walk, 15, discovers the body of seven-year-old Sissy Radley. It then moves forward thirty years, when Vincent King is about to be released from prison for Sissy's death. Walk, now Chief of Cape Haven Police, goes to show more pick Vincent up from prison. Walk still considers Vincent his best friend, and repeatedly tried to reach out to him when he was in prison. But Vincent is a broken man who doesn’t want help; doesn’t want “saving.” But Walk, he can’t help but try.

Over the years, Walk has looked out for Star Radley, Sissy’s big sister and a friend of Walk’s from the days when they would double date - Walk and Martha May, and Vincent and Star. These days, Star is often out late at bars, drinking and picking up men, and Walk tries to do what he can for her illegitimate children, 13-year-old Duchess and 6-year-old Robin. It falls to Duchess to mother Robin, and she does so devotedly, in spite of her resentment over it.

Duchess is hard, old before her time, and all but consumed by her anger. She copes by imagining herself to be an outlaw, as was apparently one of her distant ancestors, and that fantasy makes her brave as well as aggressive and confrontational. She acts out against anyone trying to help, but the people who know her can’t help but see her pain, and they are patient, absorbing her blows.

Vincent’s return shakes everything up, and a new tragedy rips everyone apart again.

Discussion: The story explores larger themes, such as when revenge is justified and when it is counter-productive; what would lead even the best of us compromise our values; and the fluid ways in which family can be defined. When is the path to forgiveness just too strewn with obstacles? What will it take, after the worst of circumstances, to start down the road to redemption?

Evaluation: This gritty story is not only a murder mystery, but also very much a coming of age book highlighting the bonds of family and friendship. There is a great deal of sadness, injustice, and the tragedy of wretched circumstances, but there is also eventually a measure of redemption, at least for some of the characters. To get there, however, the reader must navigate an impressive labyrinth of plot twists and turns as the story resolves. show less

I am a huge fan of Chris Whitaker's debut novel, Tall Oaks, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard that he was bringing a new book out. Where Tall Oaks was filled with humour and Twin Peaks style weirdness, All The Wicked Girls is so completely different and so very very dark. With two very different style novels, Chris Whitaker has certainly shown that he is a natural writer and can turn his hand to absolutely anything, or anythin' as they'd say in Grace.

The god-fearing townspeople show more of Grace, Alabama are shocked when one of their girls go missing...and she's not the first missing girl in the area. Summer Ryan is a talented young musician, the light to her twin sister's dark. Her twin, Raine, doesn't believe that Summer has run away so she gathers together her friends to look for Summer. They are a bit like the scooby gang with Noah, who wants to follow in his Dad's footsteps and join the police, and Noah's friend, hilariously named Purv.

Every other chapter is told from Summer's perspective and we find out that she is not as pure and unblemished as we thought. It's odd when you read a chapter from a character's perspective as you think of them as alive when you know the chances of a happy ending are slim. The whole book is so vivid, but I felt as if Summer's chapters were almost talking to me. She really got under my skin as I got into her head and I could hear her thoughts and words along with the smooth, mournful tone of her cello. Summer also has a fabulous first chapter that really could only have been created by the ingenious and wacky mind of Chris Whitaker...let's just say that they don't just catch fish in the river in Grace.

With a cast of such eclectic characters, absolutely anything could happen so prepare for a mystery with shocks and surprises. I found my mind racing over the words as I discovered deeply buried secrets and I thought nothing was quite what it seemed. It took me a little while to get into the southern dialect, which was great as it added so much authenticity to the book, but once the book started to speak to me it became second nature.

All The Wicked Girls didn't quite topple Tall Oaks off the pedestal I'd put it on, but that's not to say it isn't a fantastic book in its own right. It's certainly a book to immerse yourself in and I was surprised how moved I was by the whole dang thing. With his unique writing style and quirky stories, Chris Whitaker is definitely an author to watch out for.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less

I ordered a copy of All the Colors of the Dark from the library and was quite surprised when I picked it up. I was expecting a regular length mystery book of about 300 pages not the 600 plus pages that I received. Looking back now, I wish it had been double that length as this was a book that I never wanted to end. I believe that I may have just finished my best book of the year.

Beautifully written, this book took me on an emotional journey and was both uplifting and heartbreaking in equal show more measure. The feelings this book implanted were absorbing, moving and unforgettable. Hard to define, the book is a coming-of-age, mystery, suspense and literary novel. Opening in 1975 in a small town in Missouri we meet one-eyed Patch and Saint, two kids who are outcasts but have found each other and are best friends. Unfortunately girls are going missing and Patch stumbles on the girl who is his major crush being grabbed. He interrupts and saves Misty, but he is stabbed and taken. Everyone thinks he is dead, everyone except his friend Saint. She continues to search for him. As the years go by Saint grows up to become a police officer and then joins the FBI. Patch has a much more complicated story, as he spends his life in searching for the girl that shared his dark prison.

A beautiful book with a grim theme, we follow along with Patch on his quest. In All the Colors of the Dark the author gives us an in-depth look at his characters, their motivations and why they take the actions that they do. He has created a compelling, complex story that captivated me and will long be remembered. show less