I was totally seduced by this absolute masterpiece and cannot remember the last time I was so emotionally invested in a book, which makes it immensely difficult to review.

We Being at the End is a brilliant crime thriller, but it is so, so much more. It should come with a warning: you won’t want it to finish and 13-year-old outlaw, Duchess Radley, will work her way right into your heart. There’s so much to this absorbing and wonderful story, contained in such well-chosen words. Apart from murder, it’s about family, love, hate and growing up. It’s about disease and triumph. It’s also about justice, good and bad, and how they can all be blurred.

Chris Whitaker tells this beautiful yet often desperately sad story with such sophisticated simplicity that it’s more poetry than novel. Right from the off I knew this was a book to savour—so that the words could make magic in my head and the characters begin to inhabit me. There’s an emotional intensity that simply took my breath away.

I adored the wild, impetuous Duchess – such a child, yet in so many ways wise beyond her years. She carries wretched hatred deep down inside her which often explodes into ill thought-out action which wreaks havoc on herself and those around her. She’ll live on in my head for a long, long time.

Chief Walker (Walk) is also masterfully portrayed. He simply wants everyone else to be happy. He’s deep-down good and a major influence on Duchess, “It was Walk who kept her from doing something foolish, he anchored her to the good, he kept her aimed toward the future instead of the now.”

While Walk believes his childhood friend, Vincent King, is innocent and is determined to prove it, Duchess firmly believes he’s guilty and sets out to “right a lifetime of wrongs”.

The author lays human relationships bare and the bond between siblings Duchess and Robin Radley will break your heart with its strength and purity. Gutsy Duchess protects and mothers her little brother fiercely; in return, Robin keeps Duchess in check, often saving her from herself.

Whitaker uses nature to portray the relationship between Hal and his grandchildren. As the Montana winter creeps in, ironically there are hints of the beginning of a thaw in the relationship between Duchess and her grandfather. And while she and Hal look out over his land, “He watched out, trees and water and the nothing that was slowly becoming something to her.” The old man is so wise in his quiet way and so artful in his dealings with his rebellious granddaughter.

I highlighted so many passages on my Kindle for their sheer beauty and poetry. It’s tempting to record a whole lot of them here, but you’ll just have to read the book for yourself. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Please read it, you won’t regret it.

A new Chris Whitaker book is always something to get excited about and I didn't even read the synopsis of We Begin at the End before grabbing a copy. I really enjoyed his previous novels, Tall Oaks and All The Wicked Girls, but I absolutely LOVED We Begin at the End. This book is really something extraordinary! It left me speechless and I honestly don't know how any review I write will do it justice but I'll give it a go.

The story is very character driven and there's a small cast of broken characters for us to get to know in the small town setting of Cape Haven. Walk, the local police chief, is the glue that binds the strands of the story together as we read about his interaction with all of the main characters. Walk's childhood friend, Vincent King, has just been released from prison after serving time for killing Star Radley's sister and the town must cope with his return home. Star is perhaps the most broken character, struggling to make ends meet as a single parent to 13 year old Duchess and 6 year old Robin. I also have to mention a character called Milton who likes to think he's up with the police lingo (10-4 and all that) but he keeps getting them wrong and it made me laugh every single time!

It is Duchess who goes on to completely steal the show. What an absolutely brilliant character! She's tough, sassy, gutsy, prickly and cheeky but underneath that hard as nails outer shell is a caring, selfless young girl who gave up her childhood to look after her mother and brother. I loved her sense of humour and quick, witty answers when she got challenged. Duchess is such a well developed character that I felt as if I knew her and I was so completely invested in her story that I laughed and cried as events unfolded.

Chris Whitaker is such a talented author that We Begin at the End feels like an instant classic. The writing is as flawless as the characters are flawed and I felt completely stunned when I finished reading it. I love how Chris Whitaker writes a serious story but still manages to inject a bit of humour into his writing; Witty by name and witty by nature, obviously!

We Begin at the End is so flawless that I think Chris Whitaker may have written the perfect novel. When a 5 star rating doesn't seem adequate, you know you've read an awesome book. A stunning novel not to be missed and so very highly recommended.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

We Begin at the End is my first but certainly not my last read by this author. If his previous books have been as good as this then I’m definitely missing out on some great reads.

As soon as I started reading this I was addicted to the words. When I wasn’t reading about it I was thinking about it and wishing I was reading it.

This is a brilliantly written character driven story. A crime story like no other. A story that you need to read yourself. I’m definitely gonna be reading this authors previous books as well.

Let me start by saying – I really enjoyed it!

I will admit to being slightly thrown at the beginning because it wasn’t what I was expecting… I think I was expecting a run of the mill crime drama – an entertaining read, a page turner, but not the beautifully written literary drama that unfolded. From the very first page I knew it was something special and a book that I could easily see myself re-visiting again.

As an aspiring writer I often come across pages of prose that make me stop and re-read them, the words haven’t just served the story and characters well, but the words have stopped me in my track. And that happened time and time again while I was reading We begin at the end.

“They sat like that till stars leaned to first light, the moon forgot its place and held like a smear on a new day, a reminder of what had gone.”

The story was good, the plot read well and I didn’t guess the final twist that made me pause for a moment. But it was the characters that had me struggling to put the book down. Duchess, was still a child, but she was a 13 year old that had the world on her shoulders. She didn’t have a stable home life and she had a 6 year old brother and drunk mother to look after. Duchess was strong, confident and a fighter. She was an outlaw. She was an unhappy and emotionally stressed child. Her story was memorable.

And Walk, and Vincent and Star – All the characters are broken and emotionally damaged in their own ways. And as well as the characters Chris Whitaker also does a fantastic job at making the very American small-town setting stand out, I could picture it all. I almost feel like I need to read it again to pick up on everything, I’m sure it would be a great book club pick.

Details. For me, it was all the wonderful details that made it a great book. A stand-out book. A memorable read. And another book that makes me happy to be a reader. I can’t imagine my life without books like these that make me want to talk about them and share. Books are amazing and Chris Whitaker has created something very readable.

We begin at the end is an emotional, sad, dark, intense, and riveting read. I couldn’t put it down and I would be surprised if you could.

I will be buying and reading the rest of what Chris Whitaker has published as I eagerly await whatever he writes next.

Have you read any of his other books? Tall oaks and All the wicked girls? I’m not sure which to start with…

I received a copy of this wonderful book via NetGalley and the publisher, which was all arranged by the tour organiser – Thank you.

I have a little and rather embarrassing confession to make- yes yet another one. Although I have all of Chris' other books on my ever increasing 'to be read' mountain, I haven't actually read one...…..until now that is. I read the synopsis for 'We Begin At The End' and it certainly sounded like the kind of read I would enjoy. I wasn't wrong either because I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'We Begin At The End' but more about that in a bit.
It didn't take me long at all to get into this story. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first couple of chapters, I knew that I would find it extremely difficult to put the book to one side for any length of time. I picked the up book at the ideal time. I was feeling a little low and in need of a distraction and this book certainly distracted me and then some. I was intrigued by the characters and I wanted to see if the story turned out as I expected that it would. The pages started to turn increasingly quickly as my need to know what happened grew and grew. I seemed to race through the latter half of the story and then all too quickly I reached the end of the story, which I had mixed feelings about. Don't get me wrong, I was pleased to finish because it meant I knew how the story ended but I had been enjoying the storylines, the characters and the author's writing style so much that I just didn't want the book to end. I soon cheered up when I realised that I had Chris' other books to catch up on.
In my opinion, 'We Begin At The End' is extremely well written. The author has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. He certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and he draws you into the story. Chris writes so well and so convincingly that I really did feel as though I was a resident of Cape Haven myself and experiencing the same things that the residents of Cape Haven experienced. For me, the book is perfectly paced. It does start with a bang and then maintains a fairly fast pace throughout. The story gathered momentum and the tension steadily grew as the plot developed.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'We Begin At The End' and I would recommend it to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Chris' work in the future- starting with his other books that are still on my 'to be read' mountain. The score ont he Ginger Book Geek board has to be 4* out of 5*.

A very atmospheric book with odd but interesting characters. The plot seemed to take forever to develop for me and at Some points I wante£ to give up. However I did read to the end and my summary would be that the author has written a very different sort of thriller that will be a love it or leave it book

“She was Sissy Radley. Seven years old. Blond hair.”

“The shoe was small. Red and white leather. Gold-tone buckle… And then he saw her. He took a breath and raised his hand.”

Three decades on, Star Radley, Sissy’s sister, is still struggling with everything that has been thrown at her. Chief Walker, her old school friend, once again finds her on the couch, a bottle beside her not responding. It seems to have become a regular occurrence now, Walk turning up, finding Star in an unconscious state and rushing her to a hospital for treatment. He should phone social services, but he just can’t bring himself to do it. He does not want to be the one to take Duchess and Robin away from her after everything she has been through.

Vincent King, Walk’s best friend is doing time. Thirty years to be precise for the murder of Sissy Radley. He was just fifteen when he accidentally mowed the poor girl down after an evening out with Star. The problem is, rather than handing himself in, he runs away and for that reason, the judge decided to try and sentence him as an adult. He should have been out by now, living his life once again, however, he got into a fight inside, killed a man and refused to claim it was self-defense. Vincent, therefore, got a further sentence for that one.

It’s almost like he wants to stay in prison. Perhaps he feels like he doesn’t deserve any sort of life after what he did.

Chief Walker, or Walk to his friends, is no better off. It seems like he is living in the past, unable to move forward while his best friend rots in a prison cell and the love of his life left long ago. On top of that, the town is beginning to talk. People assume that Walk is addicted to something, alcohol probably, although some believe its pills. Does he really have an addiction though, or is there something else really going on there?

What is he hiding and why is he so fearful about confiding in someone?

Then with the release of Vincent, tragedy strikes the Radley house a second time when Star is murdered; a bullet to the heart and several broken ribs. The problem is that Vincent King is there when Walk arrives, making him the most likely suspect. Surely he wouldn’t want to hurt the one person he once loved?

The only hope Vincent has is his old friend, Walk. Can he find the true murderer? Or would his friend be sent to death row for something he didn’t do?

“Guilt is decided long before the act is committed.”

It seems like it wasn’t just Vincent’s life that was stolen thirty years ago, Walk and Star clearly couldn’t move on either, and now just when Walk feels he could start living with his friend by his side again, it appears he is going to lose him for a second time.

Will justice and truth win out? Will Walk finally be able to move on with his life rather than remaining firmly in the past? Will the little town of Cape Haven ever be able to get past the devastation caused by the death of Sissy Radley? Will any of the Radley family survive?

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

My Thoughts on We Begin at the End
As a reader, you have to wonder what the Radley family could have possibly done wrong for so much destruction to hit one family. Not one, but two daughters killed surely no parent should have to experience something like that.

What starts off as an unfortunate event in a sleepy seaside town, turns into a gripping crime story of murder, revenge, and retaliation. We Begin at the End is a well-crafted tale that grabs your attention early on and holds you in its clutches until it spits you out at the end. It is a novel that seizes your attention so that you can focus on nothing else until it reaches a conclusion. This is a criminal masterpiece that leaves you reeling at its revelations long after you have read it.

It is a novel that has already won many accolades with Jon Coates of the Sunday Express believing it could be the crime thriller of the year (2020) and Deborah O’Connor has stated that Chris’s writing is Booker Prize good. Chris has already won the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for his first novel, Tall Oaks and with such high praise for We Begin at the End, anyone that is a fan of crime writing will definitely need to pick up a copy of this one.

I am something of a Chris Whitaker novice having read none of his other books yet. I was so impressed with this outstanding literary mystery! The premise of the book beckoned to me and I knew that I had to read this novel.

In We Begin at the End, the reader gets the opportunity to meet Duchess Day Radley, just thirteen years old. Friendless Duchess is doing her best to look after her troubled single mother, Star, and is also ostensibly the sole carer for her beloved brother, Robin, aged six. Never giving an inch, Duchess copes with adversity by imagining and living with the persona of a Wild West outlaw with the result that many fear and avoid her.

Meanwhile, Thomas King, who at 15 was responsible for the death of 7 year old Sissy, the sister of Star, is being released from prison, returning to his home in Cape Haven. Chief of Police Walker (Walk) was King’s closest childhood friend and Walk's loyalty and belief in King has never wavered. Regardless of his deteriorating ability to do his job as illness takes its hold on him, he continues to watch out for Star and her children. Menacing property developer Dickie Darke has plans to develop Cape Haven but the property that stands in the way of Darke making a million from his ambitious business proposals belongs to King. Attempting to protect her troubled mother, Duchess unintentionally sets of a series of events that see the Radley children sent to Copper Falls, Montana and their estranged grandfather.

Chris Whitaker wowed me in this classy contemporary mystery with style and flair. The plot execution was tremendous, as was the characterisation, and pacing. There were no disappointments and I was completely gripped from the outset, loving the drama, secrets and lies. I couldn't help but get caught up in the each of the characters' lives.

In We Begin at the End, the lengths that people will go to in order to protect those that they love, and the ultimate sacrifices that they are willing to make for one another, are explored. With an amazing narrative packed with vivid description, I certainly wasn't prepared for the emotional impact I felt when the truth was finally exposed.

In essence, We Begin at the End is an immersive, captivating and satisfying piece of fiction, delivered with aplomb.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Bonnier Books UK/ Zaffre via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

‘We Begin At The End’ is a thriller, mystery and you’ll get that right from the start. We read about Vincent King, a guy who became a murderer thirty years ago, and is now released back to society. To the little town he lived in, the town where he became a killer. We also meet Duchess Radley, the thirteen year old kid of Vincent’s high school girlfriend Star. Duchess does whatever it takes to take care of her mother Star and her little brother.

This book was definitely very different than the other books I read lately. And it took me a while to really get into this story. This book starts right in the middle of it. At least that was how it felt like. Vincent King is being released from jail, and right from the start there is something mysterious about him and the thing that made him a murderer all those years ago. Right from the start I found myself wondering and thinking what was really going on. We go from different point of views pretty quickly, and this definitely made this a book interesting but also a bit hard at times. ‘We Begin At The End’ really isn’t a book you can read while tired, because you’ll have to concentrate. I sure had to.

What I loved about this book was the fact that it kept you guessing and thinking right to the end. I kept wondering about what happened all those years ago and what would happen now. The way Chris Whitaker writes is definitely impressive. There is something raw and intense about his writing that makes his characters very real. The characters are flawed, like we all are, and nothing is perfect, the way life rarely is.

I can definitely see that ‘We Begin At The End’ is a thrilling and good written story. But it wasn’t my kind of story. I had trouble concentrating on it at times, and I found the girl Duchess very disturbing and hard to read about.

With the biggest of thanks to blog tour supremo Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for my gifted ebook copy of 'We Begin At The End' by Chris Whitaker, welcome to the book which will break your heart.

There was massive buzz around this title which built to a crescendo over the course of 2019, and I totally bought into it as having read 'All The Wicked Girls', I knew us booklovers were in for something special. And oh boy did I underestimate the effect that this one had on me. By turns lyrical, haunting and desperately sad, it is underpinned by a thread of humanity, love and hope which keeps us all going, and seems relevant now, more than ever.

I started reading it as a crime novel- it begins, after all, with the police and community of Cape Haven looking for a missing girl. You don't need graphic details of a crime scene to realise the wrenching in your stomach of hopelessness, when it is so well portrayed by the finding of a small shoe.

Fast forward 30 years, and the killer of the little girl, Vincent King, is about to be released from prison. 30 years might as well have been 30 days for the resentment, anger and restlessness which swirls around this crime still resonantes. The main protagonist, Chief Walker -or Walk- has spent his time as a police officer keeping a close eye on the sister of the murdered girl, Star. With addiction issues and multiple suicide attempts under her belt, her 2 children -Duchess and Robin-are a fiercely loyal unit, bounded by tragedy.

Looked upon with pity, but very rarely helped, they stand out as both pariahs and reminders of their bloody history.

These 2 children will linger well after finishing the book, they jump under your skin as real, flesh and blood creations that are both older and younger than they should be due to experiences they should not have gone through.

Vinvent King, the man who killed their aunt Sissy, hits town like a hurricane. Picked up by childhood best friend Walk, he has to set foot again in a world that has spent 30 years building up a deep well of anger, resentment and blame as well as fending off offers to sell his house and land.

His innocence or guilt is not the focus of the story, what is is the exquisitely rendered portait of small town American life, the characters which inhabit it and the circuitous way that events play themselves out. The finding of the body is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of a ripple that like a pebble skimmed on a lake, extends way further than the thrower anticipates.

From the name of the town, Cape Haven, which should represent a place of safety, to the endlessly patient and world weary Walk,the hopelessly unreachable Star...even the character names are so conscientiously picked that you can see just how much work, how much love has gone into a book where the author knows the characters inside and out. They are not paper dolls, they are not stereotypes, they are fully fleshed and breathing people who, once you turn the first page, will stay with you for a lifetime.

A truly wonderful and remarkable book, I cannot recommend this any higher as a must-read for 2020.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Thirty years after (the then minor) Vincent King was imprisoned for killing a girl, he's released to a world he can only barely recognize. His childhood best friend, now Chief of Police, picks him up from prison to drive him back to the small coastal town they grew up in. Geographic changes, economic changes, societal drift, and other pressures have radically altered this community.

But some things remain—the high school jock who's athletic future was derailed by an injury still drives the car his father bought while he was in High School, and works to recapture the physical condition he was in then. Chief Walker—Walk—is still hung up on his high school sweetheart (who moved away not long after King was imprisoned). And Star Radley, Vincent's then-girlfriend, and sister of his victim, still lives in town, still shaped by the events of thirty years prior.

Star has two children—thirteen-year-old Duchess and her little brother, Robin. Duchess does most of the care-taking of Robin, feeding him, getting him ready for school, making sure he's sleeping. She's doing everything she can to raise Robin (and protect him from the world), and to keep her mother healthy for Robin's sake. On the eve of Vincent's return, Star tries to overdose on pills—and not for the first time.

Walk's a constant presence in the lives of Star, Duchess, and Robin—but not a necessarily welcome one. Still, he's the steadiest and most reliable adult in the children's lives (and in some way, Duchess does depend on him and look up to him).

That's the status quo that King's release upsets. What follows is a chain of heartbreak, calamity, tragedy, violence, vengeance, and depravity. There's a little glimmer of hope, too—but it's hard to find, and there's a lot of suffering surrounding it.

Whitaker delivers this in lean prose, without wasting a word. It's almost as if he took Leonard's rule to "leave out the parts that people skip," and dialed it up to 11. The prose matches the emotions, the characters—beauty, ornament, sentiment have no place in their lives, and it's largely empty from the novel. There's not a word out of place, each one carefully placed for maximum impact and effectiveness.

Each character has a depth that you don't always see. Whitaker doesn't explore the depth too much, doesn't explain it—but he shows that it's there. Duchess, in particular, is a character so well drawn that I can practically see her. I won't forget her anytime soon.

There are some problems, not many, but they're there. The text in the ARC (and perhaps this will be addressed in the final text) contains a couple of sloppy Britishisms—terms that would be commonplace in the UK, but have no place in a US character's mind. Particularly if they're a poorly educated child. Whitaker's language is so precise, so clear, that having something like that just takes me out of the text—ruining the spell.

Secondly, Whitaker's sparse style occasionally works against him. Every now and then the prose works against him, making a scene difficult to parse. Just a few more words (judiciously placed, obviously) to flesh things out could help.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book—I really do. But I didn't. I did fall under its spell, the stark, bleak outlook affected me (I wonder how I'd have reacted to a thing or two if Duchess's and Walk's plights weren't in the back of my mind the last couple of days). This is not your typical Crime Novel. It's not written in the typical fashion, with typical characters and motivations, with typical ends in mind. The terms "moody" and "atmospheric" seem like understatements. It is powerful, skillfully written—and will stay with you for quite a while.

Do yourself a favor, take the plunge.



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My thanks to Tracy Fenton and Compulsive Readers for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including a copy of the novel) provided via NetGalley.

Sissy Radley's death is just the start.

It's no secret that I adore Chris Whitaker's writing and will come as no surprise that I had probably unreasonably high expectations of We Begin At The End. Chris Whitaker has surpassed every one of those expectations, leaving me reeling and emotionally broken. At one point in my reading of We Begin At The End I genuinely had to pause because the tension was so great I was holding my breath and in danger of forgetting to exhale ever again.

Certainly, We Begin At The End is a flawlessly plotted crime thriller, with twists and turns that entertain and surprise, in a fast paced and totally absorbing fashion. I loved the attention to detail Chris Whitaker provides, making the landscape and setting just as much part of the story as the action. There's a wonderful balance between the claustrophobic Cape Haven and the wider skies of Montana that is so satisfying, transporting the reader completely. It's not possible to say too much about the plot without spoilers but I can't remember the last time I finished a book and simply wanted to read it again immediately because I couldn't quite grasp how brilliant it was.

However, We Begin At The End is so much more than one of the best thrillers I've read. I'm struggling to find vocabulary that expresses just how emotional it is to read We Begin At The End and how sublimely beautiful the prose is. Frequently, pared down sentences convey such depth of exquisite meaning that is almost physically painful to read, especially with regard to Duchess. It's no exaggeration to say that I think she might be the most affecting character I've ever encountered. Her relationships with the other people are so tenderly drawn and so desperately sad that I wasn't sure I'd be able to contain myself. My heart broke for her and I lost count of the times I wept for her too.

Indeed all the characters, regardless of their actions, are depicted as real, flawed and totally believable. What Chris Whitaker manages to achieve is such a blurring of good and evil, of right and wrong in the people of Cape Haven that I felt a tangible and palpable connection to every one of them. Walk in particular engendered such a range of responses in me as a reader from frustration and despair to admiration and pity that I felt I was no longer in control of my own reactions.

I've come to the conclusion that I am unable to do justice to We Begin At The End because there isn't a superfluous character, moment or word that mars a totally fantastic narrative. It is an absolute masterclass in perfect writing and I adored it. I've said elsewhere that I think Chris Whitaker's writing touches a reader's soul and in We Begin At The End he doesn't merely touch that soul. He captures it entirely.

This powerful and immersive story of love, death and retribution is haunting, full of regret and sorrow but also beauty. A fifteen-year-old boy accidentally kills his girlfriend’s little sister, a tragedy that rocks the small community and reverberates through the decades, destroying many lives in the process and leaving others touched in different ways, mostly but not always for the worst. The characters are very real, flawed but complex, and the overwhelming sense of the strength of love in all its forms is what lingers. The sense of place is wonderful and the central mystery is intriguing, and the end is satisfying, and ultimately hopeful. Recommended.

I received a free eARC of We Begin at the End but that has in no way influenced my review.

We Begin at the End is the most beautiful, captivating and exquisite book I have ever read. My heart broke. I cried big, ugly, snotty tears and I was left wanting to relive the whole experience, from beginning to end, again. This is a stunning piece of fiction and if you don't read it for yourself then you'll never know exactly how astonishing it is. Hell, if this book doesn't make it to the top of my best books of 2020 then we have been blessed with some truly incredible books this year.

The outlaw, Duchess Day Radley. The most perfect character to grace crime fiction. At only 13 years of age she has the guts and the intelligence to do things most adults wouldn't dream of. But she's also a 13 year old hot-headed kid who makes some pretty catastrophic mistakes. I adored her. I finished We Begin at the End a few weeks ago now but Duchess remains with me still. Her mother, Star, repeatedly tries and fails to be a good mom to her two kids. Which means Duchess has to step up and take charge. It's heart-breaking stuff, hence the big, fat, ugly tears. Duchess's relationship with her younger brother, Robin, was so touching, so beautiful. She's his protector, she looks out for him because their mother can't and does such an admirable job that every scene involving the pair of them tugged at my heart strings. When a caring, responsible adult eventually enters their lives in the form of their grandfather, it's an absolute joy to watch six-year-old Robin blossom. Duchess's wariness and her slow thaw towards grandfather Hal just made me admire her even more. But some people just aren't destined to find happiness and history has an unfortunate knack of repeating itself...

Before I go any further with this review I must mention Chief Walker, or Walk as he's known to the locals. Tragedy struck Cape Haven 30 years ago when Sissy Radley, sister to Star, was killed. Walk, who even then had aspirations to become the local police chief, was part of the search party. Walk's best friend, Vincent King, was accused of Sissy's murder. But Walk never gave up on Vincent and now, thirty years later, Vincent is due to be released from jail. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about Walk. Another beautifully drawn character who leaps from the pages of the book and into the reader's mind. When tragedy hits Cape Haven for a second time, Walk is pushed to the sidelines of the investigation. Before long, he decides that if the truth is to be found, then he's the man to uncover it. Such compelling reading and I lived every. single. moment.

Would I recommend this book? This book is perfection. I will be driving people crazy recommending We Begin at the End to them. It ticks so many boxes for me; set in small town America - tick, full of the most enchanting and interesting characters - tick, a devilish mystery at it's heart - tick, leaves me with the biggest emotional bookish hangover - tick. This book is a masterpiece and if you only buy one book this year based on my reviews then please, PLEASE make it this one. I really wish I had the words to convey what a stunning book this is. Absolutely outstanding.

I chose to read and review an eARC of We Begin at the End. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

I am such a huge fan of Chris Whitaker. I have read both his previous novels and count All The Wicked Girls as one of my favourite books of all time so I was extremely excited to read his latest – We Begin At The End. The story follows the Cape Haven Police Chief whose childhood best friend has just been released from prison after thirty years for killing his girlfriend’s sister. This is the starting point for a whole series of events primarily involving the young Duchess Radley, daughter of Star Radley, who begins a sequence of events that affects every character in this intense and unflinching book.

I don’t want to give much away about the story but what I can say is that I absolutely loved this book. My expectations were very high and they were exceeded. Whitaker is so talented at creating characters that will just grab you by the heart and not let go. I was so engrossed and invested in Duchess and her little brother, Robin, whose journey through everything that happens in We Begin at the End is heartbreaking and compelling. Duchess is a tough, uncompromising, often downright rude character and yet I was one hundred percent on her side at all times. Her life has been so challenging and frequently brutal and yet she has an unyielding love and loyalty for her little brother who she protects at all costs.

There is a lot of darkness in this book, it shows the pain and unfairness that is unfortunately present in too many lives. However there is also goodness and hope that some people just have innately within them which stops the gritty realism of the story from being completely overwhelming. Whitaker creates atmosphere in such a beautiful way in We Begin at the End and managed to surprise me with twists I absolutely did not see coming which then made total sense as they happened. This is a phenomenally good book which I can not recommend enough.

This is a brilliantly written story told with raw emotion. It is gritty and gripping and a compelling read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Sometimes you just pick up a book that hits you hard, the characters stay with you, even after finishing the book. This is one of those books.

Initially I found the pace of this very slow going, losing concentration, but as I continued it just grabs you. Setting the atmosphere in a small American town, Cape Haven, California, a place that has seen better days, along with characters you really want to care about.

Duchess Radley a thirteen year old girl, she calls herself an outlaw, she is old beyond her years, acting as parent, to her younger brother Robin and career for her mother Star who is either drunk or drugged up most of the time, but who’s sister Sissy, was killed thirty years earlier. The man convicted of her killing Vincent King is released from prison, and has returned to his home town. But Duchess is not worried about King being released she is more concerned about another figure who looms over her mother’s troubled life, Darke.

Walker, more commonly known as Walk is the Chief of Police, he was also a childhood friend of King’s, he picks him up from prison, still not understanding what happened the night Sissy died. But Vincent doesn’t want to talk of the past. Walk wants to know the truth. He believes his friend is innocent, he takes the reader through past and present, investigating the case that all had thought was solved many years ago, but at the same time protecting and watching out for Star, Duchess and Robin. He is a believable, endearing character, dedicated, determined and commendable.

At times you forget that Duchess is only thirteen years old, she has had to deal with far too much for her young years, she is tough, brave, and spiky. But the actions of Duchess start a chain of events that lead to tragic consequences. With some unexpected twists at the end this is a brilliantly written story. Atmospheric and heartbreaking.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Zaffre for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

Chris Whitaker’s latest novel “We Begin at the End” is his third novel, following his successes with “All the Wicked Girls” and “Tall Oaks”. This time his thriller is set in a small town called Cape Haven in California and features a rich, atmospheric narration and a deep, character driven theme.

Blurb - Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven. 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.

Foul mouthed, blunt and not frightened to offend, ‘outlaw’ Duchess Day Radley is arguably hard to like but as a mother myself, I totally endeared to her and truly felt her pain. Being a surrogate mother to her young brother and looking after her often drunk/drugged up mother must have been so hard for her and considering her young age herself did amazingly well to make sure her brother was suitably cared for. The character that intrigued me the most was Vincent King and I felt there could have been a bit more focus on him and his direct emotions.

Although this book is exceedingly descriptive which added to the already intense atmospheric location, it was perhaps a little too much for me and I found it dipped in places which caused my interest to wane. The plot is revealed very slowly which may not be to every readers liking and the twist in the tail is guessable if you can work out the logistics of it. A suitable ending created a well thought out denouement and conclusion to this interesting and emotional slow burn thriller, featuring fractured relationships, broken characters, love, loss and redemption.

2.5 stars purely due to the immense slowness of it.

Wow! Where to start with this absolutely stunning tale from Chris Whitaker.

There are so many superlatives for this wonderful story based around the police chief of a small town in America and the Radley family, primarily 13 year old Duchess Day Radley.

‘Walk’ or chief Walker is trying to police his small town, when a killer, released from prison, returns to the town, upsetting the equilibrium.

The Killer In question is Vincent King, having served 30 years, he returns to the town where he accidentally killed the sister of troubled Star Radley. The mother of Duchess and Robin.

When Duchess , a feisty , determined and worrying troubled teenager takes matters into her own hands she opens a can of worms that will ultimately change both her and the town forever.

This book is a spellbinding masterclass in storytelling. It’s Rich American based Crime Noir and it’s so much more.

The writing is mesmeric, the story is full of twists and turns and you will be shocked and overcome by the final tellings of this beautiful tale.

I laughed out out loud, I wanted to cry, I wanted so much for Duchess.

I could go on and on , but what more can I say than just go and buy this compelling, enchanting, astonishingly written tale of bravery and survival and much much more

Highest Recommendation

5🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I will edit with a blog tour link at a later date

I've read and enjoyed a couple of this author's previous books so I had high hopes for this one. I wasn't disappointed.
Decades ago, fifteen year old Thomas King was responsible for the death of seven year old Sissy and incarcerated. Fast forward 30 years and he's released and returns to his hometown of Cape Haven. His friend and current Chief of Police Walk is there to welcome him back but there are those who are not so warming to him, especially Star, Sissy's sister and single mother to Robin and Duchess. Throw in real estate mogul Dickie Darke who is going all in to try and buy King's childhood home to redevelop and what follow is an extremely well written, character driven story that weaves around and about itself, delivering shock after shock as it meanders towards its rather brutal conclusion.
There is so much going on in this book that nothing I write could ever do justice to the intricacies of the plotting. Everything is interconnected and also genre defying. We really do have a bit of everything in this book. Love, loss, betrayal, hardship. It's flawed society at its very best. But it's also all about compassion and making the best of things, despite all that life throws at you. It's equally heartwarming and harrowing. It chew me up and spat me out at the end, satisfied but spent.
I also can't praise the quality of writing enough. It's poetic where it needs to be and brief when need dictates. Pacing follows what is going on perfectly and the characters are very well described and all, major or minor, played their parts well.
All in all, another winner from an author who is now firmly cemented on my watch list. I really can't wait to see what's next from him. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.