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A review by tracyt223
Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker
5.0
After reading, We Begin At The End last year, and then, All The Colors Of The Dark this Summer and absolutely loving them, I knew that I wanted to dive into his backlist titles too. And wow, did this one deliver also!!! Chris Whitaker is now 3 for 3 for me with 5 star reads!!!!!
This story takes place in Tall Oaks, California. It is a small town where nothing is quite as it seems, and everyone is hiding something and everyone knows each others business. The peace is shattered by the kidnapping of 3 year old little Harry Monroe. After a few months, with no clues, the town starts to move on, all except for his mother Jessica. She cannot let it go and goes door to door, hangs fliers and talks to the local Sheriff, Jim. He has known Jess for a long time, and just may want more with her, even though she is very broken and damaged. This town has quite the list of other memorable characters. One of my favorites is Manny, a teenage boy who is obsessed with the Rocky movies and is trying to be a gangster. He ropes in his best friend, Abe, a slightly nerdy Jewish boy, to go along with his plan. Manny provided many laugh out loud moments for me. The humor was a welcome addition to the phycological mystery part of the story which could get dark at times. Not sure how he manages this balance so perfectly, but Whitaker nails it! We also have Jerry, he's a really sad character with a controlling mother who is also dying. Jerry loves photography and works in the local Photo Max. So many characters that I could go on and on about. I think this is the magic of this author, he can create such different and interesting memorable people. They worm their way into your heart and you find yourself rooting for them all. A lot of the characters do have similar sounding names, which was a bit confusing at the beginning until you get them all straight. There's Jim, Jerry and Jared, all totally different, so once you get it, you're good to go. Whitaker's singular writing style is present here as well. You just have to settle in with it and let these wonderful characters tell their story. It's also hard to believe this author is from the UK. He writes small town America like no other.
The mystery of the boy's kidnapping is very compelling and most everyone in the town could be a suspect. His story was definitely sad and the outcome was a TOTAL shock and blew me away! There were many storylines too, and he managed to tie them all up and give a very satisfying ending. @chriswhitakerauthor is quickly becoming a favorite and I can't recommend his books enough. I will definitely be reading All The Wicked Girls soon, making me a Whitaker completist! And cannot wait for whatever he writes next, he's a true talent for our times!!!
This story takes place in Tall Oaks, California. It is a small town where nothing is quite as it seems, and everyone is hiding something and everyone knows each others business. The peace is shattered by the kidnapping of 3 year old little Harry Monroe. After a few months, with no clues, the town starts to move on, all except for his mother Jessica. She cannot let it go and goes door to door, hangs fliers and talks to the local Sheriff, Jim. He has known Jess for a long time, and just may want more with her, even though she is very broken and damaged. This town has quite the list of other memorable characters. One of my favorites is Manny, a teenage boy who is obsessed with the Rocky movies and is trying to be a gangster. He ropes in his best friend, Abe, a slightly nerdy Jewish boy, to go along with his plan. Manny provided many laugh out loud moments for me. The humor was a welcome addition to the phycological mystery part of the story which could get dark at times. Not sure how he manages this balance so perfectly, but Whitaker nails it! We also have Jerry, he's a really sad character with a controlling mother who is also dying. Jerry loves photography and works in the local Photo Max. So many characters that I could go on and on about. I think this is the magic of this author, he can create such different and interesting memorable people. They worm their way into your heart and you find yourself rooting for them all. A lot of the characters do have similar sounding names, which was a bit confusing at the beginning until you get them all straight. There's Jim, Jerry and Jared, all totally different, so once you get it, you're good to go. Whitaker's singular writing style is present here as well. You just have to settle in with it and let these wonderful characters tell their story. It's also hard to believe this author is from the UK. He writes small town America like no other.
The mystery of the boy's kidnapping is very compelling and most everyone in the town could be a suspect. His story was definitely sad and the outcome was a TOTAL shock and blew me away! There were many storylines too, and he managed to tie them all up and give a very satisfying ending. @chriswhitakerauthor is quickly becoming a favorite and I can't recommend his books enough. I will definitely be reading All The Wicked Girls soon, making me a Whitaker completist! And cannot wait for whatever he writes next, he's a true talent for our times!!!