All the Colors of the Dark is an epic story spanning decades that is a small town mystery, coming of age tale, serial killer thriller, and love story all rolled into one. That’s all I think you need to know - don’t read the jacket copy.

The first 100 pages of this have so. much. action. But know that will slow down and the book will feel a bit different. It then becomes much more about the characters and Saint and Patch are two of my favorite characters I’ve read in quite some time. It’s clear Chris Whitaker can write a likeable young person as these two were just as great as Duchess from We Begin at the End.

I wish I could say I loved this entirely and absolutely, but it wasn’t a five star read for me. Every single chapter, and there 261 of them, ends with a melodramatic one liner. These could have been more effective if used only when we needed a real gut punch. Some plot points also felt a bit cheap and commercially sad, but not deeply sad, if that makes any sense at all.

That being said, I liked this a whole lot. The chapters are quick and I couldn’t stop reading this book as I HAD to know the fates of our leads. The 600 pages flew. People are declaring this a likely favorite of the year and I get it!

This is the kind of book that makes you forget others exist. All of the characters and the story and the writing are so well developed you look forward to spending time with them. It’s the kind of book that I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about and just jumped back into reading it. Definitely a top read of 2024 for me, possibly top read of all time. I will be telling everyone I know about this book and gifting it. Impossibly beautiful and enchanting and life changing. I’ve preorder my copy and I can’t wait yo hold
The physical copy in my hands and dive back into reading it! A masterpiece !!!’

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC of All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This has the circular gut punch power of John Irving's novels which I think is the highest compliment I can pay any book. I read the first 30% of the book over 2 nights, and on the 3rd night I couldn't put it down until the last page at 1am, and then I sat up for another 30 minutes crying trying to reflect on all that happened across the decades with Patch and Saint.

If We Begin at the End showed us one thing, it's that Whitaker can drop you into a story at any point and run the story in threads around you masterfully - so even when you think you know the story he will take you deeper into the characters and the subplots and all the machinations that set everything in its trajectory. He does the same here - within the first two chapters we are dropped into Patch being stabbed and disappeared after trying to save Misty, the wealthy town beauty, from a man attempting to assault and abduct her. The next 20% of the book his best friend, Saint, uses every possible resource available to a 13 year old brilliant girl in 1975 as she tries to find him against all odds.

As the decades move on from there, we grow with Patch and Saint and the townspeople and their families, through both the bad and the good. It's so hard to say much without spoiling any of the decades or the way the pieces fall together at the end, but Patch wears himself to nothing time and time again for those who have a lost girl nationwide, as Saint takes on a career trying to find the lost girls from the side of the law. Their lives are inextricably linked, even when they could not seem farther away from each other. The one girl haunting both of them, Grace, the one held with Patch, is the driving force, if she was not just a figment of Patch's tortured psyche being held in the dark for 307 days.

The story has so many elements for intrigue: mystery/missing person, serial killers, wisps of Shawshank Redemption esque motifs, bank heists, and more while also digging deeper into the way the 1970s shaped the cultural perception of religion, abortion, abducted kids, and domestic violence. Patch is fractured from his time in the dark and his life yo-yos in ways that are saddening, disheartening, cruel, hopeful, beautiful, and terrible - and all meant with his own interpretation of love. Saint narrows her own trajectory in life to save Patch and others - she is strong, fierce, and while legally she may at times be in the wrong, morally she is always in the right.

Seeing both characters and their loved ones and missing ones alter and change over the decades just sort of digs in how much we lose and gain in a lifetime. Whitaker also does an excellent job showing the sacrifices their parents and friends made in life that also had trickle down effects on Patch and Saint. Whitaker brilliantly shows the tiny happenstances that set off a butterfly effect through time in all its glory, and some of its sadness.

Just read it. Some spaces do have lulls, but don't get settled, stick with it through every decade, and then come to the last page and take some more time to think it through. There is so much in here that reminds us how to hope and dream and love and protect and try to be a better version of ourselves and how that impact can be a light to those we connect with, even if briefly.

This is without a doubt the best book I’ve ever read. Ever. It had everything from pirates to best friends to serial killers to surprises. Lord it was good.

Chris Whitaker is back after 3 years with a beautifully written mystery that turns the genre on its head. Set during 1979 in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, young girls are disappearing. The daughter of a wealthy family is targeted but an unlikely hero comes to her rescue, a poor troublesome boy from town named Patch. Not sure if he acted impetuously or heroically, Patch’s life and those that love him will be changed by this event in ways that reverberate for generations.

What unfolds is both a serial killer mystery and a touching love story. The author’s writing is beautifully scripted and transports the reader over the course of thirty years in this tragic small town. With a quick plot and writing that just keeps getting better with each book, Whitaker spins the mystery thriller into an epic heartfelt love story.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title before its release.

This epic thriller/love story is both heart wrenching and beautifully written. It is one of those books that left me spent and emotionally raw, but eager to recommend to the right reader. I would say, read the trigger warnings and make sure you’re in the right head space before reading this one. It’s long at 608 pages and DARK.

All the Colors of the Dark is the story of Patch, a teenager in Missouri, who saves a young girl from a serial killer, and in doing so, changes his life and the lives of everyone who loves him in unexpected ways that reverberate for generations. It’s a unique take on a missing persons mystery, a serial killer thriller, and a tragic love story. All of the ancillary characters are so well developed that I can’t stop thinking of them. This one is definitely going to stick with me for a long time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Pub date: 6/24/24

Thank you to Net galley for this arc! We move a character driven book, and this story did not disappoint. Reminiscent of his past work where the end felt a liiiittle excessive but in the best way. I was so invested in Patch from the jump, and everyone that reads this will be too!

A Big Novel disguised as a mystery-thriller -- and to largely favorable results. Whitaker's opening bid is riveting and thrilling, keeping you turning pages for the first third or so. Then it settles down into a different rhythm of love, longing and obsession, evoking the best instincts of John Irving. Okay, it gets maudlin and convenient -- good people are unbearably good and bad people are two dimensionally bad, and the plot clears inconvenient players off the board at convenient moments -- but even when you're being manipulated, the tight prose and quick plot movement keeps you on for the ride.

It's only when he starts wrapping up the plot that the swings get a little ridiculously wild, the action kind of contrived, and the end moves pretty predictable. But I found myself unable to stop reading, and thoroughly invested through the last pages. I can't say that it's a perfect novel -- or even one I'd reread -- but damn did I enjoy the journey.

I'd give it 4.75 stars in a different rating system.

Fans of the authors previous work will be satisfied! Character driven and slow moving, but filled with suspense, mystery, love… all the makings of a great story!

I've been waiting for another book by Chris Whitaker for three years and the wait was certainly well worth it! I love All the Colors of the Dark just as much as We Begin at the End. All The Colors is a beautifully written (although the writing style might not be for everyone), heart wrenching story the begins in the 1970"s with a young Patch and Saint, and spans more than thirty years. There is a mystery at the center of the story (a missing person, a serial killer), but this book is so much more than that. At the heart of the novel is an epic love story. Highly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC.

There are authors who write average stories, and then there are truly gifted writers who create magic every time they put their pen to paper. Chris Whitaker is definitely one of the latter. He is now easily one of my auto-buy authors.

All the Colors of the Dark is a beautifully written story which touched my heart in both good ways and bad. Sometimes I just felt deeply sad while reading it, and some may ask why read it then? But you can only feel sad when the characters become so real to you that you feel everything they are going through as if it’s happening to you, and you read on with hope in your heart. I grew to love so many characters in this book, and I will never forget them.

So, yes it’s a character driven book, but it’s also a mystery done so brilliantly that as you read along more puzzle pieces float around in your brain until you have a million puzzle pieces getting closer and closer but not quite fitting together yet. Then bam!!! The ending hits you and all I can say is WOW!!! Absolutely brilliant!

I finished this book a few days ago but had to think it through before writing a review. The story and characters are imprinted on my brain and heart, and I can’t stop thinking about it. The story starts in the mid-70s with two incredibly unique and interesting characters. Both don’t fit in their small town in Missouri, but they fit together.

Saint Brown lives with her grandmother and decides she wants to keep bees. When she invites others to sample the honey and learn about bees, only Joseph “Patch” Macauley shows up. Patch was born with only one eye and wears an eyepatch. He tells people he is a pirate and learns everything about pirate history.

These two and other characters start a wonderful narrative. But what stands out is Whitaker’s writing. His prose is lyrical and beautiful – there are several paragraphs I had to read twice because they were so lovely.

As we get to know Patch and Saint, a tragic thing happens, which is the pivotal event of the story. Patch stumbles upon an attack of a classmate named Misty, the most popular girl in school. Acting either heroically or impetuously, he intervenes and becomes the victim. This sets off the narrative for the rest of the book.

I really want to go into detail about what happens and the consequences, but I’d be giving too much away. The book is long, and there was a brief moment when I thought it was too long. But with all of the twists and turns, I realized that it was exactly as long as it needed to be. When the end came, I felt a wave of sadness that I wouldn’t know any more about Patch and Saint.

I have read all of his books and loved each one. His writing just keeps getting better, which is a tough task because it was beautiful to begin with. As someone who has experienced great loss, Whitaker seems to get grief. He doesn’t downplay the long strands of emotion that will never end. But there is always hope, potential, and a future in his writing.

If you haven't read any of his books, in the words of Donna Meagle, "Treat yo self!"

I don’t know how any book will top this one for 2024. Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing an ARC.

Absolutely stunning in every possible way. Whitaker takes us on a poetic journey of life's choices and consequences. It ties with The Stand as my favorite book of all time. Yes, you read that right. All time.

When I finished this one I just sat there and cried. It's a tale of pirates, bees, misfits, of choice and consequence, and the bonds of friendship. This is a story of cause and effect. The story of how decisions we make in life not only effect our future, but intertwine with and change the course of the future of all those we love.

The characters in this will stick with you long after you turn the last page. Patch, Grace, Saint, Norma, Tooms, Nix, and Sammy I am so honored to know you. Thank you, Whitaker, for writing one of the best books I've ever read.

A few years ago, I read Chris Whitaker’s book We Begin At The End, and I liked it a LOT, so I was happy to receive a copy of his new book All The Colors of the Dark, which I received from NetGalley and Crown Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

It is SO good! It starts in 1975 and focuses on two young people whose “outcast” status helps bring them together in the small town in Missouri, where they live. One of them is a young boy named Patch, born with only one eye and known as a pirate. Why? “His mother peddled the romance of a cutlass and eye patch because often for kids like him the flair of fiction dulled a reality too severe.” The other outcast is his best (only?) friend, a girl named Saint, and together they try to come to understand the reason why young girls have been disappearing in their town. Patch is somewhat obsessed with a beautiful girl from a rich family, and after he helps stop a crime and saves her, he disappears from the town, Saint is completely lost without him and spends the next thirty years searching for him.

The book is beautifully written, and although it spends over 600 pages to uncover the stories behind the mysteries that unfold, the story moves quickly. Many of the chapters end with a sort of cliff hanger and TBH it’s hard to put down. Whitaker has quite a vocabulary, and I had to look up a number of words (vadouvan, boutade, and satiating among them).

I loved this book. Highly recommended. Five stars.

Get ready for an unforgettable story that will linger in your mind well after you finish the last page. Well done, Chris Whitaker! This will be published on June 25, 2024. Until then, read some of his backlist. ‘We Begin at the End’ would be a good start!

Thank you Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced e-copy!

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is a MUST read for summer. Incredible characters, intense plot and stirring dialogue. Don't miss this one!

I missed more than a couple nights of sleep while reading this book, because I just couldn't put it down, and weeks later I'm still thinking about it. This is definitely a book I would purchase in hardcover or paperback format when it's released and read again.

I wish it hadn't been hyped as a mystery thriller though, because I don't think that's accurate. There is a lot of action and excitement in the first 20% of the book, but beyond that, it's more like an epic saga that explored the characters and relationships over the course of decades. I won't give away too much of the plot, but if you love reading well-developed characters, this story is all about that and the unique and amazing relationship between Saint and Patch. The unusual communication between the two of them over the many years, sometimes just through voicemail, was just so beautifully written. It is sometimes slow moving in parts, but there was so much content and no word was wasted. I did not want this story to end (and it is a long book, more than 600 pages).

You will fall in love with both Saint and Patch, along with Grandma Norma, Chief Nix, Mrs. Meyer, not to mention the outrageous and unlikely father-figure, Sammy, who was truly my favorite character, with the most humorous and shocking comments throughout the book (of any passages that I highlighted while I was reading, I would say 90% involved Sammy). I would sure love to see this adapted for film!

I think it's definitely worth noting that Whitaker writes the most amazing female characters, which
I think has to be hard for a male author, and so many miss the mark. If you haven't already read and fallen in love with the outlaw Duchess from "We Begin at the End", it's a must read too.

I think my only criticism of the book was that there were a couple of key moments that felt a little rushed. One point early on in the book where Saint finds the cabin, at about 15%, I had to go back and re-read a couple chapters because it was a major turning point and it just seemed a little subtle, like I almost missed it. But otherwise, so much wonderful detail and character development, I loved it all.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reading e-copy in exchange for my review. Please send me all the Chris Whitaker books!

“To love and be loved is more than can ever be expected, more than enough for a thousand ordinary lifetimes.”

This is not your typical mystery. It’s a story full of heart and heartbreak, disturbing and breathtaking in tandem. It’s been a long while since I’ve been so completely immersed in a story, I breathed when the characters breathe, I felt the visceral fear and utter disparity alongside them. It was so perfect and intense that I would binge chapter after chapter then make myself stop so I could slowly ruminate on every word i read. I honestly can’t do justice to just how much I felt, or how much I loved this book. Do yourself a favor and add this to your list immediately!

This is the second book I’ve read by Whitaker (We Begin at the End was my favorite book of 2022) and i am in awe of his story telling capabilities. Phenomenal doesn’t even come close to describing how I felt about this book, it will quite possibly be my favorite of 2024!

“Sometime ordinary is more than enough.”

Thank you Crown Publishing for the arc via Netgalley!

*quotes from advanced copies may not be in the final copy. I just loved these so much I had to share.

Wow…Storytelling at its best. Beautifully written. Mystery but so much more. Unforgettable characters, secrets and an amazing ending. 5 plus ⭐️

5+ ⭐️
I honestly don’t even know how to review this one. It’s perfect. All the Colors of the Dark has moved to my list of ALL TIME favorites.

Sometimes I know I’m reading a 5 star book because of how quickly I devour it and can’t put it down. But I know I’m reading a next level 5 star by how slowly I read it, savoring every page. This book became ritualistic for me. I could only read it in the evening when it was dark. It took me multiple weeks to finish because I found myself constantly rereading paragraphs, pages, and even entire chapters. I couldn’t get enough of Chris Whitaker’s writing and didn’t want the book to end.

I don’t want to give anything away but this is a MUST READ. A thriller that spans 30 years, with deeply flawed lovable characters, set in a small town with a community that will never stop surprising you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and Chris Whitaker for providing an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.