All The Wicked Girls

Chris Whitaker is leading the pack of hungry young crime writers by a long mile. He writes like a dark angel, conjuring characters and places so memorable you'll ache when it's over. A very real, very rare talent * Sarah Hilary * A novel you swallow whole because you can't help yourself, and then go back a second time to savour what you missed. Wonderful * M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts * Riveting read. A psychological thriller that stands out from the mass - stylishly written, with a slick command of language and location, and a great 'missing girl' mystery at its core. Great stuff! * Vaseem Khan * This book blew me away. Extraordinarily good. Gripping and heartbreaking * Deborah O'Connor * Phenomenal * Jo Spain * BOOK OF THE MONTH - Chris Whitaker's stunning debut Tall Oaks featured a quirky mix of poignancy and humour that sticks hard in my memory and his rapid follow-up offers much of the same, but with the comedic elements gently muted: tortured souls, a police officer who can't disentangle the personal from the professional, missing persons, the oppressive background of small-town America and a merciless journey through every stage of personal grief. Despite the outward similarities, it's a major achievement. Following the disappearance of her much-loved model sister Summer in the wake of five other church-attending young women from the area similarly gone missing, misfit Raine seeks out the truth and uncovers layers of secrets and everyday evil in her Alabama town. Bleak, involving, a delicately sketched portrait of bigotry and prejudice and human emotions dancing the light fantastic, this renews a tired genre with a dose of heart and empathy which appears to be becoming Whitaker's forte -- Maxim Jakubowski * Crimetime * All the Wicked Girls is impossibly good. And beautiful. And melancholy, utterly compelling and difficult to describe. I love this book . . . All the Wicked Girls is in my top ten books I've read ever let alone this year. And trust me that's a lot of competition to overcome . . . Chris Whitaker is annoyingly talented. I won't say highly recommended it seems inadequate. Pure magic on the page * Liz Loves Books * I loved it SO much. Chris is so amazing. He just has this real knack of creating characters that you're completely engaged with . . . I was hooked by his beautiful prose and by the end I was absolutely ruined by the heartbreaking storyline. If only he could write ten books a year * Lisa Hall * Stunning * Michelle Davies * A remarkable book that made me blub * Mike Thomas * I was savouring each page/chapter and character . . . because each page is a literal work of art. Chris Whitaker has the ability to pick up the reader and transport them into the fictional small town of Grace, swelter in the heat, feel the fear and tension amongst the town folk and connect with the characters . . . A beautifully written story of love, friendship, beliefs, fear, passion and I'm not embarrassed to say I cried at the end * Compulsive Readers * This is a crime novel, a love story of sisters, a family torn apart. The story is told by each of the sisters in turn . . . Once started, it's a fast read. The characters are skilfully written, so it's easy to get lost in their lives . . . * Strong Book Reviews * Those missing Manny will warm to wannabe teenage policeman Noah, his sidekick Purv and Summer's sister Raine, who take the search into their hands with black humour and laugh out loud moments as well as real poignancy. There is a great bond which develops between these three damaged outsiders. I marvel at how authentic this British author's creation of small town America feels, in terms of speech, the environment, their cultural references and lives. The prejudices and obsessions of a small community are so effectively conveyed. It's a great read. Tall Oaks showed the potential but this is the Real

Chris Whitaker is the award-winning author of adult fiction Tall Oaks, All the Wicked Girls and We Begin at the End. Tall Oaks was the winner of the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award and We Begin At The End was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, a New York Times bestseller, a Der Spiegel bestseller, an international #1 bestseller and winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the Ned Kelly Best International Crime Award, and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.