BLURB
For fans of Twin Peaks and The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, this brilliant debut is dark yet hilarious, suspenseful but full of joy.
"I always know when a book has completely blown me away - as a reader, I want to weep because I've finished it and I will never again get to experience it for the first time, and as a writer, it makes me want to weep because I wish I had written it myself. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS."
Lisa Hall, author of the No.1 Bestseller Between You and Me
When three-year-old Harry goes missing, the whole of America turns its attention to one small town.
Everyone is eager to help. Everyone is a suspect.
Desperate mother Jess, whose grief is driving her to extreme measures.
Newcomer Jared, with an easy charm and a string of broken hearts in his wake.
Photographer Jerry, who's determined to break away from his controlling mother once and for all.
And, investigating them all, a police chief with a hidden obsession of his own . . .
In Chris Whitaker's brilliant and original debut novel, missing persons, secret identities and dangerous lies abound in a town as idiosyncratic as its inhabitants.
MY THOUGHTS
Tall Oaks is an
exceptional debut by Chris Whittaker that I found myself completely sucked
into. I have never felt myself immersed by so many different characters in one
book which gave the story a very Broadchurch feel but American style.
At the heart of Tall
Oaks is the investigation into the disappearance of three-year-old Harry. The
book opens with Harry’s mother describing how her son disappeared. The
descriptions of the clown gave me chills.
In one moment, America
turns its attention on this seemingly quiet, crime free neighbourhood. Jim, the
detective investigating Harry’s disappearance, is desperate for a breakthrough
in the case and to reunite Harry with his mother, Jess. How could such a thing
have happened here? Is the person behind Harry’s disappearance one of them,
someone who they see and talk to every day?
As well as the
investigation into Harry’s disappearance, Tall Oaks focuses on a small, close
knit community as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened in
their neighbourhood and try to move on with their lives even though the person
who took Harry is still at large. Chris Whittaker takes us inside their lives
which he has woven intricately with excellent detail. Each person had their own
well developed character and reading more about them and their lives kept me
turning the pages.
One character who I
think deserves a special mention is Manny, a teenager who is desperate to be
known as a gangster. Manny had me in stitches throughout the book; I loved the
dialogue in the scenes he took part in, particularly with his best friend Abe
and mother, Elena. He was definitely one of my favourite characters from Tall
Oaks.
There was one twist in
Tall Oaks which particularly left me gasping. This was a real knock out moment
but it makes so much sense when I look back on the story now. And then there
was that killer ending, a final twist that I certainly didn’t see coming. Chris
did a really clever job of weaving everything together in the end to a very
neat and satisfying conclusion. I feel that I’m really going to miss all the
characters in Tall Oaks and I know that I won’t be forgetting about them
anytime soon.
I don’t want to say
anything more about the plot as I don’t want to spoil the story for future
readers, but I can’t recommend Tall Oaks highly enough, it’s one of the best
books I’ve read this year.
Publisher: Twenty7
Print length: 368 pages
Publication date: 8th September 2016
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