ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK

 

 

 

 

By Margaret S. Hamilton     

 

At ten years old he [Patch] realized that people were born whole, and that the bad things peeled layers from the person you once were, thinning compassion and empathy and the ability to construct a future. At thirteen he knew those layers could sometimes be rebuilt when people loved you. When you loved. (ch 39, 16%).

 

Whitaker’s book is a tale of obsession, a hero’s quest, a missing girls mystery, and the hunt for a serial killer, bundled into six hundred pages of excellent (but not literary) prose, set between 1975 and 2001 in a rural Missouri farm town.

 

Patch Macauley is a bright, imaginative boy born with one eye. To help him compensate for his deformity, his mother makes distinctive eyepatches and a pirate outfit. Patch thrives on tales of pirates, and considers himself a pirate, albeit a landlocked Missouri one. Patch is a loveable, credible, and brave boy with artistic talent.

 

Saint Brown is his contemporary, like Patch a misfit. She’s academically successful, a talented pianist, and a beekeeper, raised by her nonconformist bus-driving grandmother.

 

As the book opens, Patch defends a local girl, Misty, from a potential serial killer. Misty escapes but Patch does not. He is locked for many months in an underground prison, alone except for visits from another captive, Grace. She entertains Patch with endless stories about ballet productions and places across America, including her unnamed hometown. Patch’s interior monologues and Grace’s descriptions are the best parts of the book.

 

Saint’s heroic actions lead to Patch’s escape and recovery from his trauma. Patch’s quest to find Grace (is she real or a figment of his traumatized imagination?) consumes the rest of the book, spanning his boyhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

 

Saint continues to be Patch’s close friend. She forgoes a college education to join the local police department and then the FBI. For most of her career, she protects and assists Patch while searching for the serial killer who had imprisoned him.

 

The ending of this twenty-six year saga touches every plot element, combining sadness with hope. The book is in development as a television series.

 

Readers and writers, do you enjoy or have you written a saga type of book?

 

Margaret S. Hamilton is the author of the first two books in the Jericho Mystery series, a novella, and forty published short stories.

 

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