all the COLORS OF THE DARK

By Chris Whitaker

At the end of the day, this all boils down to be a story of a pirate and the beekeeper that saved him.

The Ugly Truth:

This review will be unique to my page as there is so much to say and, quite frankly, unlike Chris Whitaker, I lack the words to say it all. All The Colors of the Dark is a haunting novel that plays with the thoughts of your brain and your heartstrings alike.

When you think of a mystery novel, the typical recipe is to have the climatic point be when the mystery is solved, someone is found, the day is saved, but very rarely does one ever think of the fall-out of the climax, of the minds of the characters who were involved, of the years that follow the torture or pain that they endured. This novel addresses that - the lost years, the in-between of knowing and growing, the unforgivingness of memories.

Like all good books, we start this one off with a friendship between a pirate and a beekeeper. Patch and Saint have found each other in a time where life is not kind to either of them, and money is tight for both of them. While they are navigating the crossroads of the typical teenage years, an atypical event occurs. Patch saves Misty Meyers’ life and is subsequently taken for an unknown amount of days by an unknown man. The first 30% of the book follows Saint’s search for her best friend, the uncertainty of acceptance, and introduces unique characters in the shape of the town sheriff, Nix, Saint’s grandmother, Norma, and Misty Meyers’ family.

It is after this first 30% that the real book begins. Patch struggles to rediscover who he is outside the dark room where he finally understands what fear and love are, sharing both deeply with a potential ghost of a girl, Grace. During this time of struggle, Patch finds peace in painting missing girls, each time hoping that one might just be the girl he knew all along. Whitaker uses these chapters to push the original characters, along with many new ones, on journies of self-discovery and change.

From years in jail, to being in the New York Times, from the FBI to pseudo-motherhood, from life to death, across borders and over rivers, the characters of Monta Clare never can escape what happened that fateful day, can never truly put down the paintbrush or close the book, each chasing an ending different from the other, but all with same idea of finding peace.

You will laugh, you will cry, and you will wonder when is enough truly enough. This book has a bit of everything, but do not ever forget that at its core, its roots, it is the story of friendship and the love that guides it all.