All the Colours of the Dark

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All the Colours of the Dark

Chris Whitaker

581 pages, Paperback, Published 25 June 2024

All the Colours of the Dark was a revelation of read, for I was not expecting what would happen. The story centres on 'Patch', a young man missing an eye, who we first meet in his early teens. The opening paragraph tells you that something substantial is going to happen to Patch and it sure does. Patch witnesses and intervenes in the attempted abduction of Misty Meyer. Whereas Misty is able to escape, Patch becomes the substitute victim. As the police begin the search for Patch, his friend Saint, will not let the police slow down or forget about Patch. It is through her efforts that Patch is located. If that was not enough of a premise for an interesting story, Chris Whitaker dials it up several notches. For this is a story that spans generations, spans the trauma of being a survivor, the guilt of being a survivor and the continual search to find other victims and survivors. It is the story of individuals as they forge different paths to deal with their own personal trauma.

You would think that this would make the novel, heavy, unwieldy to read, it is not. Whitaker's skill is that you easily become fixated on the personal arcs of all the characters, you need to know how they will move and if they will succeed in the future. It is a long book but the chapters are short, you switch between characters and you are never lost. Whitaker is a great story teller.

This is a mystery but not about a serial killer, it is about people, how they deal with situations that are exceptional and how they find the motivation to keep striving. There is humour, there is horror, there is hope and there is plenty to enjoy with this wonderfully crafted novel.


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