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.

🏴‍☠️ What an epic, sweeping saga that had me wrapped up for days on end. Thank you so much to @crownpublishing & @netgalley for the early look at this. It’s out in June, and you’re definitely going to want to add it to your TBR.

🏴‍☠️ I loved ‘We Begin At The End’ and so I requested this the moment I saw @chriswhitaker had a new book out— and this one was even better!

🏴‍☠️ At just over 600 pages, this story plays out slowly over the course of decades. I savored much of the book, enjoying its well-paced build up. My heart warming to, and breaking for, our main characters Patch & Saint. Praising them at times, cursing them at others— but always, always rooting for them.

🏴‍☠️ And then, the big crescendo. The last 20% of this book — I could not put it down. I literally read it until my eyes closed against my will, and then immediately picked it back up in the morning to finish. I HAD to know what happened. And it was fantastic.

🏴‍☠️ This story is so thoughtful. Every character, every scene adds to the beauty and pain of what is happening here. I can’t say enough good things about this. It was all too easy to give it 5⭐️: no notes. I hope you all decide to pick it up too!

The writing in this story is the best part. It did drag a little but the writing is what made me keep going!

Honestly, I struggled with the first 200 pages of this novel. The story started strong but fell flat and dragged on with very little added to the plot until about 200 pages in. However, from there the story took off, and I’m so glad I stuck with it! The mystery came together perfectly and kept me interested with quite the satisfying ending. If you feel like this story isn’t going anywhere, stick with it! You’ll be glad you did!

Publication date: June 25, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read an electronic ARC copy in return for my honest review.

This book is a rare combination of mystery and literary that keeps the pages turning with action and the reader’s heart in their throat with emotion. The arc of friendship between Saint and Patch was the thread that carried this novel forty years across time. If you love a missing person’s story, a story of redemption, spunky children and a lots of secrets, you will love this novel. The ending was excellent and the losses that happened throughout the book were felt deeply.

as good as I thought Chris Whitaker's last book was, this one is even better. it's layered and nuanced, with introspective character moments and a winding narrative that just doesn't let go. Whitaker will make you fall in love with a beekeeper and a pirate and then make your heart break all the more for loving them. what really makes the book sing is the quiet moments and details, and Whitaker's ability to bring objects to life alongside the people who use/wield them... highly recommended.


I received a free arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read over 700 books, and I can confidently say that Chris Whitaker's latest offering is nothing short of phenomenal. In my literary journey, few works have left such an impression, firmly securing its place among my top 5 books of all time. Brace yourself for a narrative that promises to grip your soul and refuse to let go. In this sprawling incredible novel, Whitaker demonstrates his mastery of tragedy, weaving a tale that will linger long after the final page is turned. It's 1975, and we are transported to a small town in Missouri, where the disappearance of young girls casts a shadow over the community. Yet, amidst the darkness, Whitaker finds beauty in the most heart-wrenching stories, crafting characters whose mistakes are as redeemable as they are tragic. Spanning over 600 pages, this story is a testament to Whitaker's prowess as a storyteller. The intricate web of plotlines, spanning decades, is executed with finesse, leaving readers breathless (I kid you not) as they navigate the twists and turns of fate. From pulse-pounding action to tender romance, from psychological thrills to heartrending drama, this book effortlessly moves across my favourite genres and tropes (crime fiction, thriller, romance, drama, coming-of-age, cat and mouse, etc.) The narrative unfolds through short, engaging chapters, each ending with a cliffhanger that compels readers to press on, long into the night. Personally, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster, my nerves frayed and my mind racing as I journeyed alongside the characters.
But amidst the chaos, Whitaker's narrative never loses sight of its core themes: loyalty, sacrifice, revenge, and love. It's a tale of righting wrongs and seeking justice, a poignant exploration of the human condition in all its flawed glory. In his previous book 'We Begin At The End", Duchess swiftly ascended to become one of my all-time favorite characters, but now Charlotte, Patch, and Saint have joined the ranks of the greatest.

In closing, I can only offer my highest praise for this remarkable work. Whitaker has created an exceptional work, making a lasting impression on anyone who takes this unforgettable journey.