This was my first foray into the writings of Chris Whitaker. If ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is an example of his work then it certainly won’t be my last.

What can I say about ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK without giving away too much of the plot? Suffice it to say the dialog is crisp, at times even humorous, which is remarkable since the tone of the story is rather dark. Simply stated ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is about a serial killer. Girls are going missing. Since the start of the book was in the seventies investigative tools are still rather primitive. Following leads seems like an impossible task, even for the most well-meaning investigator. Chalkboards, corkboards, and the like were systematically employed to gather whatever evidence possible. And the evidence seemed sparse.

Local authorities oversaw crimes. Most didn’t capture the attention of the FBI. And so missing people stayed missing.

But we are now in the small town of Monta Clare in Missouri. The towns’ inhabitants run the gamut of those who have and those who don’t. As in all towns, there are families that fall into extreme poverty. Joseph Patch Macauley and his mother fall into the latter.

Saint Brown lives with her grandmother Norma. They make do with what Norma makes as a cigar-smoking bus driver. Saint has always had a soft spot for Patch and there’s no denying that Saint is under his watchful eye.

In ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK Chris Whitaker reminds us that evil exists everywhere, even in small towns. When a teenager Misty is abducted Patch is on the trail. His heroics put him in the sights of the killer. And that’s how we are introduced to the fact that Misty’s abduction may not have been the first in their neck of the woods.

There are numerous literary treasures spouted in this book. The bad are few, but often they shout louder than the many. Don’t mistake silence for weakness. Good people do bad things too. Evil has a name.

Saint and her tenacity kept her pirate friend Patch alive in her heart and in her inability to give up the search.

We follow the excruciating search that haunts Saint throughout her teens to adulthood. Saint does not know how to give up, and we are the audience rooting her on.

Chris Whitaker provides us with lots of facts and clues along the way. Some will only become evident at the end, the ah-ha moment. I can’t recall how many times I uttered OMG.

I would love to pick out momentous conversations between these characters, but the entourage is part of the plot and so suffice it to say the lineup is amazing. The dialog is spot-on and catchy. ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is a book worth reading more than once. I guarantee you will thumb back to find a reference thought to be inane or insignificant.

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is the book to read this season. The story is riveting and the writing is amazing. There will be mixed feelings about this book as it covers a rather dark topic. Chris Whitaker has a rather unusual technique when constructing the book. More than six hundred pages with scads of chapters, some only a single page long. It sets a fast pace for this story.