We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker

 

New novel by Chris Whitaker released by Zaffre Books in April 2020

For some people, trouble just finds them.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Review
Whitaker does a great job of writing a thriller that reaches for the heights of American novella, the dual narrative structure of each chapter which takes us into the point of view of wither Walk (Chief Walker), the local sheriff who seeks to find answers to another murder in Cape Haven and the other side of the coin is the story of Duchess being displaced in Montana following the murder of her mother, Star.

Walk is one of those great American idealists like Atticus Finch and others, someone who seeks to do the hard work but overshadowed by past errors and the ill health that is befalling him at this vital stage of his investigation.

Duchess is written as a tough cookie of a young girl, who will not take any rubbish from anyone to fight her corner and protect her brother Robin, like her Mum, Star, did for them.

You have this contrast of a coming of age novel, and for Walk a coming to the end which is a unique take on two different paths for two lead protagonists.

This book was a pleasant one to read, the swiftness and nimbleness of the plot pays off dividends once the action is ramped up. The utilisation of Montana and the grandfather, Hal, who portrays the stillness of that landscape in contrast to the mayhem of California.

Whitaker paints a world that is both of now and from a timeless period - the Montana scenes read like something from a Richard Ford novel while the murkiness of California reads like a Michael Connolly story.  All the more staggering considering that Whitaker was born in London, he writes of America as good as any author I can recall.

Recommended for those who require to be whisked away from this mad mad world.

We Begin At The End is published by Zaffre Books on 2nd April.
My thanks to Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to review on the blogtour.