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A BBC ‘BETWEEN THE COVERS’ BOOK CLUB PICK

A MISSING PERSONS MYSTERY, A SERIAL KILLER THRILLER, AND AN EPIC LOVE STORY. WITH A UNIQUE TWIST ON EACH…

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‘Hits like a sledgehammer. An absolutely must-read novel’ GILLIAN FLYNN

‘A wonderful book’ RICHARD OSMAN

‘Impeccably crafted, deeply emotional, entirely shattering’ BONNIE GARMUS

‘A brilliant work of art’ JODI PICOULT

‘A book to lose yourself in – a huge achievement’ ALEX MICHAELIDES

‘I’ve never read anything quite like it. This book will stay with you for a very long time’ LUCY FOLEY

‘Kept me frantically turning the pages’ KRISTIN HANNAH

‘An epic sweep … Ambitious, powerful and moving, this is a tour de force.’ GUARDIAN

‘It’s as good as everyone says. I have absolutely no doubt it’s the book of the year’ JENNIE GODFREY

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Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.

But when she does: it will break her heart.

Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room – until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.

But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.

Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories – and charts an epic search to find her.

As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey – on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them – and set free the only boy she ever loved.

Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever…

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‘A luminous and heartbreaking book – a crime novel, yes, but vaster and more moving than anything I expected.’
OBSERVER

‘The best thriller I’ve ever read … a multi-layered masterpiece with impeccable plotting.’ i NEWS

‘The instant classic … A poignant, powerful and unforgettable love story.’ HEAT

‘Breathtaking. I was gripped from the first page’ RUTH JONES

‘Amazing. Haunting. Unforgettable’ PATRICIA CORNWELL

‘A future modern classic … Will stay with you long after you read the final page’ WOMAN & HOME

‘A truly epic crime novel and love story. As beautiful as it is engrossing – with characters you’ll never forget’ WILL DEAN

‘A cinematic masterpiece … A future classic’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY

‘Vast yet intimate, tense yet tender’ ERIN KELLY

‘One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.’ PLATINUM

‘Beautiful, wise, heartbreaking and profound’ STUART TURTON

‘Epic in every sense of the word … Some of the best characters I’ve ever passed my time with’ ABIGAIL DEAN

‘A masterpiece, the sort of book that only comes along once in a decade’ ABIR MUKHERJEE

‘A stunning, bewitching novel with unforgettable characters. Achingly beautiful … A masterpiece’ ANDREA MARA

‘A masterpiece that drew me in from the first page … Mesmerising.’ PRIMA

‘Astonishing … Will capture the hearts of generations to come’ M. W. CRAVEN

‘A heartbreaking work of genius’ IMRAN MAHMOOD

‘A breathtaking literary thriller for fans of A Little Life’ RED

‘Simply stunning … Truly exceptional’ JOHN MARRS

‘Vast, yearning, and luminous’ VASEEM KHAN

‘A masterclass in storytelling’ MARI HANNAH

‘The book to read in 2024’ JO SPAIN

‘A once-in-a-generation classic … Might just be the best book I’ve ever read’ ADAM SIMCOX

‘A heartbreaking, life-affirming story of hope and loss … Beg, borrow or steal a copy’ CHARLOTTE PHILBY

‘A mystery wrapped in a love story that will break and then mend your heart’ HOLLY SEDDON

‘One of the best books that I’ve ever read’ LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON

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Publisher Review

Impeccably crafted, deeply emotional, entirely shattering. I was captivated from page one. * Bonnie Garmus * Taut, beguiling, and suspenseful, All the Colours of the Dark reveals the depth of a town’s loss when a young boy goes missing. * Nita Prose * Simply stunning. I cannot remember the last time I book sucked me in and didn’t let me out of its clutches like this did. A truly exceptional masterclass in storytelling. * John Marrs * Chris Whitaker’s latest novel is a book to lose yourself in. Beginning with a boy’s abduction in a small town and the obsession for justice it ignites in him and his best friend, this sprawling crime novel transcends its genre to become something epic in scope, haunting and ultimately deeply moving. A huge achievement. * Alex Michaelides * Chris Whitaker’s All Colours Of The Dark blew me away. A masterclass in storytelling. The writing is superb, the characters the best I’ve read. This one drew me in, every word, every page. This wonderful story will stay with me for a very long time. * Mari Hannah * Epic, heartfelt and all-encompassing. A mystery wrapped in a love story that will break and then mend your heart. I already miss these characters but I won’t ever forget them. * Holly Seddon * All The Colours of the Dark is a book unlike any I’ve read. It is, in fact, three books in one. An epic, cinematic tale of love and survival and grief and loss. And the generative power and destructive power of hope. It’s pure and incredibly poignant – with beauty that is startling in places and agonising in others. A heartbreaking work of genius. Has to win all the prizes. * Imran Mahmood * In All The Colours of the Dark Chris Whitaker masterfully draws the impact of a brutal crime on a small community. Humour and humanity shine out of the black in this heartbreaking, life-affirming story of hope and loss, good and evil, depravity and, redemption, and all the infinite shades between. Joel Dicker meets Barbara Kingsolverwith a hint of My Girl and something all of its own. Beg, borrow or steal a copy. * Charlotte Philby * A truly epic crime novel and love story. As beautiful as it is engrossing- with descriptions that’ll make you stop and smile and characters you’ll never forget. One of the finest storytellers working today. * Will Dean * Taut, layered, vast yet intimate, tense yet tender, All The Colours Of The Dark is another tour de forcefrom Whitaker. * Erin Kelly * All the Colours of the Dark is mesmerizing and intoxicating, Chris Whitaker is a poet who will leave you in breathless awe and suspense. Amazing. Haunting. Unforgettable. * Patricia Cornwell * What a book. A lyrical, moving, disturbing and compassionate novel following the lives of two characters in small-town USA. Crime, but not as you know it. * Anna Mazzola * All the Colours of the Dark is an elegiac tale that can be read as a crime novel, a dark bildungsroman, a star-crossed romance, and a paean to small town America. Travelling the decades – and thousands of miles across country – the book brings to vivid life a cast of indelible characters, their triumphs and tragedies, and – via a series of beautifully executed twists – their ultimate fates. Vast, yearning, and luminous. Quite possibly the first true epic of 2024 * Vaseem Khan * I didn’t think Chris Whitaker would be able to top We Begin at the End -one of my all-time favourite books – but he’s smashed it out of the park. All the Colours of the Dark is a stunning book. Ambitious, epic in scale yet strangely intimate, all Whitaker’s trademarks are present – humour, small town life, complex vividly painted characters you root for from page one – yet somehow it he’s ramped it up. Simply incredible. * M.W. Craven * From an author who creates brilliant after brilliant character, Patch and Saint are two of Chris Whitaker’s most intriguing, memorable duos. I didn’t want this thrilling, twisting story to end and it’s going to stay with me for a long time. The book to read in 2024. * Jo Spain * A stunning, bewitching novel with unforgettable characters. Achingly beautiful writing and a compelling, page-turning story; All The Colours of the Dark is a masterpiece. One of my favourite books of the year. * Andrea Mara * All the Colours of the Dark is a glorious literary crime novel: an astonishing achievement, beautifully, lyrically written, with two utterly vivid main characters, whose imperfections only make you love them more. Patch and Saint carry the reader through a dark and twisting plot, and yet all the colours of humanity and our capacity to love shine through. I read it in two days. People kept looking at me oddly because I couldn’t stop weeping (in the best way possible). This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. * Laura Sheperd-Robinson *