we begin at the end review

1. NEW in Books @ RPL: “We Begin At The End” by Chris Whitaker (adult fiction)
2. Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End – Author Interview
3. We Begin at the End
4. Chris Whitaker, “We Begin At The End” | Moms Dont Have Time To Read Books
5. BOOK REVIEWS: Thrillers With Police Protagonists / We Begin At The End + More
6. Chris Whitaker talks about his latest book We Begin At The End
7. Fableds Book Club Discusses We Begin at the End with Author Chris Whitaker

NEW in Books @ RPL: “We Begin At The End” by Chris Whitaker (adult fiction)

hi im elizabeth at the radford public,library bringing you,whats new in books at the radford,public library,and a new title that we have in adult,fiction it just came out,march 2nd so its pretty hot off the,press the title is we begin,at the end and its written by chris,whitaker whos written two other novels,previously and we unfortunately dont,have,the other two here yet but they have,been ordered and those titles are,tall oaks and all the wicked girls tall,oaks won the cwa john creasy new blood,dagger award and this one his,third one is a fantastic book so far now,i have to admit that i havent read,all of it im only this far but i do,intend,to finish it within the next day or two,i already,like it very much i like the tone of it,the pace of it,i want to tell you just a few things,about it,which is that it does begin with a death,of a young girl,her body is found by a character named,walker or,walk and it starts in the past or as the,title,suggests it begins at the end it starts,in the past,where a girl is missing and walker as a,young boy,is part of the search party and finds,her and then we fast forward to 30 years,later,walker is the chief of police,and the person who was convicted of,this girls death is named vincent king,he was 15 years old when he was,convicted,and he was walkers best friend and so,30 years later after serving his time,hes being released from prison,and walker whos the chief of police is,there to welcome him home and so as the,reader im really trying to figure out,what happened and how and why and how,theyre still,possibly friends and its an interesting,and beautifully told,story so far that has me captivated,and so to tell you a few reviews,publishers weekly has said of this book,that,it is powered by extraordinary deep,character development,and an impressively intricate plot,this novel is simultaneously a murder,mystery,a love story and a heartbreaking tragedy,thats publishers weekly and kirkus says,whitaker crafts an absorbing plot around,crimes in the present,and secrets long buried springing,surprises to the very end so im looking,forward to those surprises,two other things that caught my eye,about this book that made me want to,read it in addition to the,gorgeous cover of this book are the,author reviews that it has for instance,kristin hannah who is the best-selling,author of the nightingale and the four,winds,of this book she says its a vibrant and,grossing,unput danable thriller that packs a,serious emotional punch,one of those rare books that surprise,you along the way,and then linger in your mind long after,youve finished,it and on the cover of the book luis,penny who,is certainly an established well-known,author that i have only just recently,read and who i really like she has,reviewed this book by saying this is a,book to be read and,re-read and an author to be celebrated,so im really excited to be reading this,and i do enjoy it so far,its one of those books that i cant,wait to get back to,and im looking forward to finishing it,it is whats new at the radford public,library and we hope to see you soon we,have it here if youd like to check this,out,and well get back to you soon with,something else new at the radford public,library,thanks for listening and take care

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End – Author Interview

[Music],welcome to book reporter talks to,where our guest today is chris whitaker,the author of we begin,at the end which is a number one indie,pick a barnes noble book club selection,and a book reporter betson pick i had,the pleasure of interviewing chris back,in september for a bookseller trade,event,and our conversation was so much fun,that ive been looking forward to,talking to him again since then,hes joining us today from outside,london where he lives with his wife and,three young children,thank you zoom for bringing us together,i,usually have an author start out by,telling me about his book,but chris you have this wonderful back,story on,how you became a writer and it starts,back when you were 17 or 18 the morning,after the night before and its a,crooked line from there,so lets start there okay okay,ive been looking forward to this as,well i just i must point that out,um so im going to take you all the way,back to school age me,um who was a bit um kind of got into a,lot of trouble,didnt take my study seriously didnt,apply myself thats what my parents,would say,um i was studying for my a levels,my kind of university entrance exams,over here,um and i got really drunk before my,economics exam,and got so drunk that i woke up in,hospital and missed the exam,and failed obviously you know because,they you know its not a valid excuse,my parents were very disappointed as,well at the time and they told me that,and um i get that,you know id worked two two years,towards this and kind of threw it all,away but,it didnt end up mattering that much,because i didnt know what i wanted to,do you know my friends,knew they wanted to go to university,knew what they wanted to study,they had a life plan i was without a,plan,i was aimless back then so,i left school bounced from job to job i,had some brilliant jobs actually i,worked in a bakery which i love that was,one of my favorite jobs,um because we got to take everything,home you know like the cakes and things,that didnt sell on the day,i just um took them home and ate them um,so i really enjoyed that and then i did,some bar work,sold some electrical cabling i just i,had so many jobs,um and then i was um working as an,estate agent a real estate agent,im kind of like an office junior and i,was out dropping leaflets through,peoples doors,um in london quiet morning and then,someone came up to me and asked to,borrow my phone,and um and my gut feeling was you know,this is a strange request i know how,this is going to go im a londoner,people get mugged all the time im going,to get mugged so then he asked my wallet,and um and i didnt want to give it,obviously because i was 19 and when,youre 19 youre,fearless and so i am put up a fight and,we kind of,we had a fight which was fairly evenly,matched for a while so i was doing okay,and then he pulled out a kitchen knife,and and stabbed me in the side a few,times,and it was really dif really hard,actually i didnt realize id been,stabbed actually i thought he was,punching me because you know,adrenalines going you dont really feel,the pain,until a few seconds afterwards and then,i saw the blood,kind of all over my shirt and everything,and i dropped my phone,dropped the wallet he picked up both and,ran off and,i got in my car there was no one around,actually at that time so i jumped in my,car and drove myself to hospital which,was really close there was a big,hospital right near,and they stitched me back together again,and,and and then then everything went wrong,you know i was um,i kind of was expect i dont know if i,was expected to get on with it but i was,kept being told that i was lucky you,know that it could have been worse,and which i know but you also dont feel,that lucky you know when youre in that,position,you feel like very unlucky actually you,feel like you know im just going about,my business,and um and thats the way life tends to,go sometimes isnt it you know youre,you know theres good people and theres,people that do bad things and,they seem to collide all the time and,and then everything went wrong and i,didnt know about ptsd,at the time and and so it was it was i,was shell shocked you know i thought,what,what the hell is going on why cant i,eat anything why cant i drink why cant,i,read a book why cant i watch tv you,know why cant i exercise why cant i do,anything at all just nothing,is helping nothing is working nothing is,the same as before you know im not the,same person,something has changed something you know,fundamental something critical has gone,wrong,inside me and and i didnt tell anyone,about it because im terrible at that,you know im terrible at asking for help,when i need help,i still dont do it now you know id,rather do everything myself,um im getting better at it my wife,encourages me you know she,keeps she continuously asked me if im,okay and things like that because i,think she,she worries but um so i took on all this,you know this kind of trauma myself and,told my parents i was fine so i told my,girlfriend at the time that i was fine,um but i wasnt fine and i it got to the,point where i started hoarding,painkillers,because i thought im going to take take,a load of them,and that will be my way out of this mess,you know at least i wont have to,get up every day and carry on kind of,living this life that i dont want to,live,so i sat down and i i was going to write,a note to my parents,i was going to tell them it wasnt like,an apology or anything i was just going,to say this is how it is,and its my life and i choose you know,not to live it anymore thats my choice,you cant live a life for someone else,you know because theyll be upset which,sounds callous but thats how i felt at,the time,and then i had got a book from the,library,and it talks about this this technique,that you can use where you take the,the traumatic incident and you write,down,you know you write down what happened,but you change the people involved to,fictional characters so you change,where it happened the outcome everything,everything gets changed so its not you,anymore,and and i wrote duchess the character,and we begin at the end,and that was um 19 years ago now,and she kind of appeared on the page,close to fully bombed you know i had,this strong strong idea of what she,looked like she was this small girl,vulnerable wearing old clothes wearing a,kind of cowboy hat she was just she,looked like a victim you know the sort,of kid that gets bullied,the sort of girl that has a lot of,problems and i started writing her and,and and i felt a bit better actually i,think i dont know if it was just,distraction,at the time you know just having,something else to focus on other than,the way i was feeling,so i went to bed that night and slept,for like six or seven hours which i,hadnt done since it had happened you,know,and thats sleep deprivation is a tough,thing it is,you know even when youve got a new baby,like weve got a seven month old and,just,you know a few days of no sleep and you,start to not feel like yourself,you know you cant concentrate on,anything so i was doing okay i,i carried on writing these it was,disjointed what i was writing it was,just scenes you know a scene that i,wanted to write so it might be a bar,scene where duchess,gets into trouble or is protecting her,mum or something nothing ran together,there was no,forethought or planning or i didnt,think this is going to be a story,you know it was just it was just therapy,and then i probably a year passed you,know just writing little bits and pieces,getting,myself back together again and before i,get some talk to what,what next and i knew i needed to find,something you know everyone had a career,at that point my friends were on their,paths,um and just by chance i picked up the,newspaper and saw an article about,stockbroker,and he had a ferrari and a beautiful,wife,and and he was living in them in spain,and marbella and it just looked like,paradise and i thought this is the life,for me this is,you know this is lovely so i went,into th

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We Begin at the End

hi and welcome to book talk tuesday at,book bound bookstore in blairsville,georgia,uh,uh we want to talk today about we begin,at the end by chris whitaker and because,of the title im going to kind of start,with the ending of the book,i did not expect it the ending i did not,see coming,so,it was an unbelievable book,to start with i had a hard time getting,into it,uh,at the beginning,but probably about,a third of the way through,it it got a lot better,um,but the characters in this book are,memorable um,you have walk who is the sheriff,and of the small town he has been there,all his life thats all he wanted ever,wanted to do was be a lawman and he grew,up with,star who is another resident of the town,and starr has a daughter,duchess,and a son robin,now star has had a difficult life and,she is,not exactly the best parent in the world,because of things that have happened to,her in the past,star ends up dead and duchess and robin,end up having to go live with their,grandfather,and then the novel goes through,twists and turns as to,who killed star,and what happened that particular night,it is also an emotional novel,duchess is a strong,very strong-willed 13-year-old,she,has had to deal with her mother and kind,of had to been the grown-up in the,situation uh through the years and has,robin her brother is six years old and,shes basically almost had to raise him,herself so,she is one tough little girl,and uh,all through the novel you just see her,determination you see her,toughness you see her anger at the way,life has treated her,and,by the time you get to the end you just,are really,heartbroken for her,but there is hope,um,and then walk walk has has his own,difficulties as well he has tried to,defend his friends,almost to a point of,self-destruction at times,and during this novel he has become ill,and this illness has kept him from doing,the job that he knows how to do and so,it becomes more and more difficult to,him,as well,so,if youre looking for a mystery,if youre looking for an emotional novel,uh if youre looking for strong,characters uh then this is what you want,um we begin at the end by chris whitaker,uh,like i said,it took me a little bit to get in,the only thing that i didnt like at the,beginning is sometimes these scenes,uh switched and it was difficult to for,me to tell which scene we were in,because there was not a smooth,transition from one scene to the other,but once i was able to get over that,then,like i said this this book got a whole,lot better and the ending was just,so much,not what i expected,so,hope you have a good day,bye

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Chris Whitaker, “We Begin At The End” | Moms Dont Have Time To Read Books

hi this is vivi owens and youre,listening to the award-winning podcast,moms dont have time to read books,im also the host of moms dont have,time to lose weight and im the editor,of the anthology which you should run,out and buy,called moms dont have time to a,quarantine anthology,all proceeds of that book go to copen19,vaccine research,and im the editor-in-chief of moms,dont have time to write a new,publication on medium,and were accepting submissions so,please send your personal essays there,and if all that isnt enough you can,follow me on instagram at zibyoens and,my website is zibbyowens.com,okay now back to this amazing podcast,welcome chris thanks for coming and moms,dont have time to read books,thank you for having me im very excited,so we begin at the end,but actually were going to begin at the,beginning today so well just uh,well just start right in by talking,about your amazing novel,um okay first of all tell listeners this,is your third novel,what this is about and what inspired you,to write it please,okay so the book we begin at the end um,its the story that follows,kind of the year and a year in the life,of a thirteen-year-old girl,named duchess um as she tries to protect,her family in the wake of a um,of a convicted killer moving back to the,small california town that she lives,in and um and kind of in doing so she,sets off this,this chain of events that kind of wreck,everything around her and,um and yeah its kind of like its hard,to describe but i,i describe it as a coming-of-age crime,story,um some people say its a mystery some,people say literary fiction,um its probably a book about its a,book about sacrifices,you know um that people make to for,those that they love and its about,making mistakes and learning how to move,on from them,its the book about life thats my pitch,that was a good one i like it,way to bring in a lot of different,things i cover all the bases yeah,who does that not appeal to now i mean,there you go,if youre interested in life you will,like my book yes,yeah im going to use that as a blurb,now,yeah there you go um so,how did you start writing to begin with,lets go back to that because i read,in your bio youre like youre in,finance right so how,i was in finance yeah so im gonna take,im gonna take you all the way back,good luck again right so i messed up at,school,didnt know what i wanted to do um,i was kind of always jealous of my like,my friends knew you know some wanted to,be doctors lawyers things like that and,i just had no idea what i was going to,do,but um the night before my economics,exam i got really drunk and,woke up in hospital so i missed the exam,so i completely wrecked all my chances,of,going to university and my parents were,thrilled about that,and um and then i bounced from job to,job you know i worked in a bakery and a,supermarket i loved,working in a bakery i worked in a,supermarket i sold electrical cable,i was working as an estate agent a real,estate agent,and i was out dropping leaflets through,peoples doors,and someone came up to me and asked if,they could borrow my phone,and you know when you kind of get a bad,feeling you know this is going to go,badly,and then they ask for my wallet and and,i put up a fight,yeah so i put up a fight because ive,always been a massive boxing fan so i,thought ill fight him,but um just because you watch boxing,doesnt mean you can box,as i found out but um he i kind of held,my own for a while,and then he pulled out a kitchen knife,and stabbed me in the side a few times,and yeah it was really bad and i dropped,the phone,dropped my wallet he picked up,everything and ran off and i was kind of,left,standing there bleeding and got myself,to the hospital they stitched me back,together again,and i was okay you know physically i,still got the scars and stuff i tell i,make up different stories to my kids,about what happened all the time like,shark fight and things like that,something really cool,and and then i i had a really tough time,after that you know i didnt know,anything about ptsd,and um my my kind of friends my dad,slapped me on the back,you know you did well it was a brave,thing to do and um i couldnt,couldnt kind of handle what happened,and so i went through a really tough,time and i remember like sitting down to,read a book,and being stuck on the same chapter at,the same page for hours on end,you know watching tv just couldnt focus,on anything id go out running and id,run so far that id have to get a bus,back home,um which you know its just it was this,really strange time and i wasnt eating,i wasnt sleeping,but i kind of projected that i was okay,because you know everyone expected me to,be okay,and and things got really bad and i,started um,i was just you know in you know when you,havent slept for ages and ages,and you kind of dont feel yourself so,you can be in a room full of people and,you just feel like youre not there,youre not connected to anyone and i,felt like that for ages,and i am and felt really depressed,id look in the mirror and not recognize,the person that i saw,you know i didnt want to be that person,and i started hoarding painkillers,and i thought im just gonna just take a,load you know just,end things and then i sat down,and i was gonna write a note to my,parents just to explain,like how i was feeling and what had,happened and um,i id read something about writing his,therapy um,how you can you can take the,thing that happened to you the dramatic,incident and you can change the,characters involved,and um and i gave it a try and i sat,down,that night and wrote and i wrote the,character of duchess,whos in we begin at the end um,obviously i didnt know she was duchess,i just wrote about this girl that,had kind of the weight of the world on,her shoulders everything was going wrong,for her she looked like a victim,and and then that night i slept for the,first time in ages,and and then i wrote some more the next,day,some more the next day and it was a long,process but,i felt a bit better you know and i was,able to to kind of deal and,deal with things and probably a year or,two,past of me just writing bits and pieces,though it was kind of disjointed it,wasnt the beginning of a book or,anything like that it was just,this girl and her life and her troubles,and things like that and i was kind of,projecting,everything that was happening to me onto,someone else and it helped,and then i read an article about a stock,broker,in the newspaper and there was a picture,of him and he had this ferrari and it,was like this dream life and i thought,im going to be a stock broker,which is ridiculous because im terrible,at maths,and i had no qualifications or anything,like that,so i i went into the city printed my cv,which was terrible marched into the city,managed to talk,my way into a job i dont know how i,think they took pity on me i really do i,think they looked at my cd,my cd and felt sorry for me so they,they gave me a job and i worked my way,up loved it loved working in the city i,was a stock broker for ages and but i,really wanted to be a trader i wanted to,work on a trading desk,and eventually so i was about 24,i am my boss called me and said were,gonna give you a chance on the trading,desk,but if you lose twenty thousand dollars,stop trading well talk about what went,wrong,so i said fine and then the next day i,came in and lost two million dollars,oh no i know i know i,didnt and i didnt tell anyone again,i know so one of my friends worked in,the back office and i said to him lets,dont tell anyone about this i will make,it back which is ridiculous again,because you know its two million,dollars i dont really know what im,doing,so i lost a bit more carried on trading,and,eventually got like i went into work one,morning and and the bosses were sitting,around the boardroom table with lawyers,and things like that and,and they sat me down and i started to,make money at this point you know so i,went on quite a good run,and they sat me down and said we know,whats happened

BOOK REVIEWS: Thrillers With Police Protagonists / We Begin At The End + More

hello and welcome to literary life so in,todays video im going to be sharing,with you my book reviews on three books,that were part of the literary journey,thrillers with police protagonists so,our main characters our narrators are,going to be,various levels and types of police,officers who are really taking us,through the thriller adventure now the,way my book reviews work is i give every,book one to five stars one star i did,not like the book probably didnt even,finish reading it two stars and then the,book was okay three stars good book i,liked it and i would recommend it to,some people four stars it was a great,book i loved it and im gonna recommend,it to a lot of people and five stars are,those more random books that just,absolutely blow my mind and i do want,everyone to read them alright so lets,get started um as always i do have links,below if you are interested in,purchasing any of the books and hit that,subscribe button and join us if you are,a fan of reading or just hearing about,books,okay first book this was a good book and,i ended up going on three stars for it,so bluebird bluebird by attica lock is,going to be set in texas,and our main character the police,protagonist is a texas ranger,he has a lot going on um he has a,tremendous amount of backstory and,history that has put him in a position,in his life and professional career,where things are kind of on the cusp of,falling apart and that is going to be,critical to how he proceeds through the,story,so he basically is going to in the midst,of everything hes dealing with in his,personal life hes going to get pulled,into,a small town double murder double,homicide the homicide victims are going,to be an african-american male who is,that they occurred in a very rural small,town in texas and the male is from the,chicago area or chicago itself,and then a white caucasian female,who is from the town where the murders,occurred,he is going to come to the town to,investigate and get caught up in a lot,of things that are happening in the town,i found the book to be engaging um there,is a lot going on with obviously racial,tensions theres um references to,white supremacist groups that are active,in the town,i did find that some of the information,i was so floored by what i was reading,um any extremist group i think is very,interesting but i did find that some of,the information when i was looking it up,to say wow is this actually true was not,so i just want to flag for people even,though there are some non-fiction,um groups that are cited in here some of,their initiation practices for example,are definitely fictionalized for the,purpose of this story,um and then,theres going to be a ton having to do,with im not outside of race with,socioeconomic status,and just being in a position of,privilege within the town it was,definitely a really good book i just,felt like it was good it was a good read,i didnt love it it didnt blow my mind,or anything like that so,why not um i thought the plot was,well developed the characters were,moderately well developed but i did find,myself frustrated with the main,character in a lot of his behaviors,and some of it i found and i i could,i almost wonder because we know that,theres a lot of,things that people can get away with but,at some points i found myself struggling,like would this really play out this way,theres multiple government agencies um,that are involved and i just felt,sometimes like things were evolving in a,way to propel the story forward versus,it being more like embedded in reality,and propelling the story forward if that,makes sense and it was kind of those,nuances where im like yeah its a good,its a really good story but it i didnt,love it it wasnt great i would though,highly recommend this if you are a fan,of like mysteries um thrillers detective,novels um that deal with anything,outside of just murder and like a serial,killer if you want to get into some of,those social elements like race and,power and poverty um versus the wealthy,this is a good one for you,if youre already an attica lock fan i,have not read any of our other books but,i did find her writing intriguing so if,you have recommendations do pop them to,me below in the comments um but,definitely put this one on your radar if,you are like i said a,detective kind of mystery thriller fan,okay,next book,love this book this was four stars when,the stars go dark by paula mclean um so,in this book essentially our main,character our police protagonist is a,detective that investigates missing,persons and she originates um well her,professional life is in san francisco,she has had a personal tragedy as well,so i think its very interesting so far,you know both the books are kind of,housed with these protagonists who have,experienced,a recent event that has really shaken,them,but her event,has driven her to walk away from her,career for a period and return to a,northern california town in which she,grew up our main character was in foster,care so we are going to get to learn as,we read the book a lot about her,backstory,and her experience with these uh,wonderful foster parents she eventually,meets i absolutely absolutely adore the,characters in this story um and,essentially as she goes back to that,town well learn through the memories,about them and about that history,then were going to meet some of the,people in the town as well the current,chief of police who you she used to know,there are a handful of other people that,she knew very well from the time she,lived there and were going to learn a,lot about not just what the town and,these people were like when she was,there growing up but how things have,evolved and changed over time um when,she returns there she basically goes to,kind of like i said step out of her,career and just kind of get a cabin in,the woods and just be by yourself and,heal essentially,and a teenage girl is going to go,missing and this is going to um,basically,remind her of the work she does and,shes going to get pulled into it,i,love the characters in this book um they,are very flawed just as they were you,know in the first book,there was something about the way that,they were flawed yet behaved in this,book that i felt it was just a little,bit more realistic,um so i wasnt distracted essentially i,found myself just completely riding,along with it versus kind of distracted,by questions and doubts and really kind,of moments um,this book hooked me instantly i from the,very first page i think i loved this,authors writing style i thought all the,main characters were extremely complex,as i noted and well developed there were,so many different elements woven into,the thriller and the thriller is really,a back story there is a tremendous,amount that is going on in this book and,i found that to be really engaging,several of the relationships in this,book are incredibly powerful um and i,really enjoyed that piece of it and then,on top of all of it there would just be,these nuggets throughout the book just,these beautiful moments or insights that,the author would,bring out either directly through the,characters thoughts or just in the way,a moment was written that i find i found,just absolutely,um beautiful and added a lot of value to,the reading of this book for me so when,the stars go dark by paula mclean four,four-star read i would highly highly,recommend this to people that do enjoy,thrillers mysteries um you know missing,persons type of cases,but also if youre looking for something,similar to the prior book where youve,got a little bit more,dynamics woven into that you know where,youve got these um relationships this,history um very powerful very powerful,read um i do want to highlight put some,potential trigger warnings in this,particular book um due to,i dont want to spoil anything um if you,want to message me feel free to,because i dont its not this is a,spoiler free review um so i just want to,highlight that um so just be aware that,this,i mean i think a lot of thrillers are,diffi

Chris Whitaker talks about his latest book We Begin At The End

hello welcome back to our book shop in,Tring Im Ben Morehouse so weve got,another author interview today were,talking to the rather wonderful Chris,Whitaker lives the other end of,hartfordshire his book we begin at the,end came out in April he was due to come,to our bookshop for an event but,certainly that couldnt happen so were,very pleased to be able to have him on,our YouTube channel hes talking to,Catalan yeah okay,Thank You Ben so were here today with,Anna Chris Whitaker thank you Chris for,joining us so congratulations on your,success with your first two novels Im,going to talk about your third one just,been published we begin at the end which,I must say absolutely loved I thought it,was beautifully beautifully written do,you want to kind of tell us how G how do,you summarize what this what this book,is is about okay so Im going to point,out if you hear any noise were having,building work done so apologies for that,kind of serve all and we begin at the,end right so the story follows 13 year,old Duchess stay Radley as she tries to,protect her family in the wake of a,convicted killer returning to the small,California town that they live in and in,trying to protect them she sets off a,chain of events that have these massive,consequences for her in the whole town,and I know its kind of pitched as a,crime I dont know if you thought it was,particularly crying always kind of see,if theres like a coming-of-age crime,story because then its kind of a year,in the life of this girl of judges and,the police chief in the small town and,it just kind of follows what happens,over them over that year its kind of,humorous as well as being a thriller and,its kind of about the sacrifices people,make yeah they very much seemed to me,that it was as much about the characters,and their characters relationships and,response to the circumstances rather,than the kind of like mystery and the,whodunit or their anything much more,than anything else I would say,yeah and more more interesting than the,crime himself effects of it and I tend,to write what I would like to read and I,prefer a crime book that looks at the,consequences and follows the characters,after the event and events normally that,the least interesting thing about the,burden yeah its actually the impact it,has on them and so you chose to against,it and your novel in a small town in,America in California what draws you to,those small towns to recreate worlds,than you in your fiction I was just so,many things theyre just such a good fit,the crime its nothing but first off the,gun the gun laws you know you get guns,or easier access to guns and to us they,kind of seem crazy Ive been watching,the riots and things lately did you see,that couple that came out the front of,their house yeah I get my head around it,I see something like that and it seems,like a different world the type of gun,man had this big scary looking machine,gun and just pointing it at these people,that are just walking past and I just I,dont know how youre allowed to do that,but you are safe and that helps them I,think I dont have an as I said before,Im not that interest in the crime,necessarily like the police procedural,side a bit and and they have a less kind,of regimented police force over there so,you get a small town or I can write a,small town with a sheriff some kind of,dictates what happens and it is more,autonomous so it gives me a bit more,freedom and as well the stories kind of,this peak story and he did a really big,canvas to tell the story on and Dutchess,ends up in Montana and trying to get,back to California and she kind of goes,on this big a big road trip at the end,of the book and it just wouldnt have,worked anywhere else it just missed a,perfect fit I think yeah it does work,really it does work really well and its,between me want to talk a bit more about,the characters so so walk the local,police chief who who to me he he had,such kind of kindness and integrity and,sense of justice,such a vulnerability as well just just,his love for the town I think you,described him as the the captain of the,ship that never leaves port,yes yeah and also being Duchess his,anchor as well hes like a father figure,to this teenager hes terrible,circumstances so what was it about his,his character inspired his character I,just say to start with the book we begin,at the end it kind of begins with where,the scene thirty years before the main,story starts and its kind of the end,for a lot of these characters you know,that they cant work past what happens,theres a death of a child more because,kind of involved in that start because,hes joining the rest of the town,walking through the woods looking for,this girl and hes the one that finds,her and his life kind of stalls at that,point and I had this idea for this,character I mean you dont learn his,first name or anything other than the,fact that hes called chief Walker and,he kind of clings to its high school,nickname and he never really moves on,because his best friends gone to prison,so he just spends his whole life kind of,treading water waiting for things to,start to happen and then of course when,Vincent his best friend gets in off,prison thirty years later hes not the,same person that he remembers where as,Walkers tried his hardest to kind of,preserve this this perfect childhood,that he had up until that point so he,resists so theres this town and cave,and its in California and its kind of,falling away the cliffs are eroding and,house is falling into the sea and its,become affluent and its like a,desirable place people buy second homes,that he resists it so every time someone,puts in a planning application or,something hell try and reject it,because he wants this town to just stay,and so Vincent gets back and then they,can kind of start again and but hes,still in the book I mean hes got,Parkinsons and I gave him this illness,because it kind of forces him to grow up,because it kind of ages him and makes,him look at his own mortality and things,like that and then yeah he has quite a,hard time through the book I think I,think he starts in one place and then,ends up somewhere he wouldnt expect to,wind up yeah and hes kind of hes a,reserved as well it doesnt kind of like,give you very much away,thats similar to Dutchess as well whos,very hardened teenager very very very,blunt which can be really funny at times,as well yeah you still root for her yes,yeah Dutchess was I mean the book took,about three years to write and probably,half of that time was just spent cure be,working on Dutchess and kind of writing,and rewriting her dialogue and her,narrative until it felt right until it,felt authentic and shes 13 and she can,she can go to appear a bit precocious,but shes not had a regular life you,know shes not a 13 year old that we,like me or come across shes going to,live more in her 13 years than most,people have in a lifetime but she kind,of his her own kids who everything good,like a mom tell so if hes doing good,and she doesnt believe it she doesnt,believe her mom and she doesnt believe,that anyone is like that but you can,tell that she wants to and hes as close,the thing is shes got a father figure,yeah so their relationship is kind of,goes back and forth throughout the book,hes theyre being quite rude sir in the,loft he doesnt react generally and its,just calm all the time kind sir yeah it,was important that she had someone like,that and Ally and then thats really,interestingly paralleled in in part two,with her relationship yeah she puts up,so many barriers towards her and he just,has this quiet is just constant acts of,love isnt it he cant talk to her but,yes,its I mean at that relationship that,touched me the most I think yeah its,funny I am yeah I was so my American,editor was I got her edits back after we,finished the UK at it and then yeah it,says make notes in the margins and,sometimes when youre editing the book,it can read like a long list of things,youve done wrong and it can be quite,like you

Fableds Book Club Discusses We Begin at the End with Author Chris Whitaker

i can see your name i cant see you yet,i know i dont know why,you must take a while there you go,um so you said was it chris wanting to,get in right now yeah i guess they dont,they dont have the link,oh,weird,or maybe they couldnt find it,okay do you think i should,resend something,maybe if we send that email that youd,sent,okay,okay,marie sent it,very good,is everybody out of your house,yes theyve been threatened within an,inch of their lives,thats so good i love you,but nobodys coming in this house,are you looking at i,i changed the order of one of the,questions okay,cool,im good with that but you probably like,your phone right,um no actually i pull it up on the,computer,so good,so were all good,um,sorry im still getting adjusted,looking for,something else to make my computer,better,no much better,much better,that made a big difference,[Laughter],hey well um so he they emailed you that,they needed it or was it um,[Music],hello to everyone here,just getting set up we get our bearings,okay i see that he sent it,all right ill email him real fast,okay,okay,hello how are you hi im good thank you,how are you,good so glad that you got the link um,when elizabeth texted me i was like oh,no,i know i i just couldnt find it im,sure you probably sent it before but,youre not the first author that has,asked i think that zoom must just kind,of bury it or something or the people so,dont even worry,im alison im one of the co-owners of,fabled bookshop,nice to meet you nice to meet you im,elizabeth weve met lots on the on the,instagrams,yeah absolutely,so what is it,in the morning or two oclock there its,one oclock so its not too bad the,three is all right,that is amazing i feel honored that you,would stay up so late that second no im,a bit of a night owl anyway so i set up,writing so its its not its not a,hardship thats good i,studied abroad,yeah i studied abroad in england in the,90s and um,so i was really good going back in time,six hours,yeah okay where did you start it,i was um,at westminster school so our,holiday,so i i ate my lunches on the wood from,the hispanic armada ships,and travel all over english amazing,yes um london is lovely yeah its not,its not the same at the moment i went,into town last,last thursday and its just like a ghost,town its really strange yeah and my,daughter wants to go im like lets wait,till it gets a little more normal but,its it means a lot to me the town,yeah yeah its lovely um how is it there,um its so hot,yeah its hot here actually its been,really hot freakishly hot i uh got my,air conditioning in my car fixed today,and i was driving i was like did they,fix it or are my expectations too high,for what it could do,because as i looked at my phone i was,like 95 i mean i dont know what i,should expect,but,that is how to then we weve got it,yes what are whats the degrees there i,dont,so we know in celsius which is like,27 28 something like that okay,which is hot for london,yeah but weve got a massive storm,coming on thursday and then its that,thats the end of it apparently,so are you so you are in london or,outside of it you see im just outside,in hertfordshire so it takes me like 20,minutes on the train to go into the west,end yeah its not,i love it thats so awesome,well we can start we have a few,participants here we have a lot of,people sign up for this thats great the,good thing about our book club,um interviews is that we record them so,if people arent able to come they are,always viewing them as recordings later,so im sure well have one people,trickle in,um but your book is beloved,here for sure thats nice to hear,yeah so ill do a little intro for,everyone kind of explaining,how its all going to work and then,elizabeth will introduce you,okay,all right well welcome everybody that,has come in we um if youve been a part,of our book club before,we have a chat available and the q a,available,as we talk if you have a question for us,a question for chris a question about,the book,we have our own questions and they may,overlap with yours but we will try our,best to get to yours so feel free to,even start typing them now and if you,want to introduce yourself in the chat,you can i love always seeing how many,people from all over the world that,visit our book club its amazing this is,the best thing i think about covet is,that its connected us,outside of our town with so many people,who,have been so supportive to us thats,great but yeah so here we are,hopefully youve read it otherwise,theres spoilers ahead,um we begin at the end by chris whitaker,and ill have elizabeth introduced,all right so were talking tonight with,chris whitaker who lives in the united,kingdom with his wife and three young,children when not writing he works,part-time at a local library where he,gets to surround himself with books we,know that feeling and love it too uh he,has two other books that hes written,called,tall oaks and all the way girls,uh were so happy to have you here,tonight with us chris,thank you for having me ive been,looking forward to this one,well i have to tell i want to tell,everyone kind of the origin of how ive,fallen in love with your book i got to,hear you speak in october at a um book,selling conference for london plains,independent bookstore alliance,and um i just i fell in love with your,story i thought this sounds like a book,that id like to pick up i love reading,books by authors i have not read before,so i read this book i think in a day it,is,obviously i read a whole lot this is on,my lifetime,best books i loved it so much,um but i picked it the currently reading,podcast as an indie press list and i,picked it for the very first indie press,list so,you basically gave it to a book club of,1200 women,and my own personal book club tonight is,joining us so shout out to the between,the wines book club theyre all joining,on one account tonight here i love that,that name by the way,oh yes we take it very seriously um so,needless to say this this book is just,holds a special place on my heart and,getting to speak to you tonight is a a,huge privilege so were so happy to have,you here tonight well im yeah im,honored to be here thank you very much,um,so i wanted if everyone is coming in and,did it no um chris is coming from the,other side of the world and he has,stayed up um until 1am to talk with us,actually you already stay up late you,said so maybe this is just a regular,working hour for you yeah well kind of,so weve got an 11 month old daughter,and shes teething so theres no sleep,ever were just awake all the time,but i,weve lived those days for sure,um i,okay so i read this book when elizabeth,was pressing it into my hand saying you,must read it um i am a huge fan of,westerns i love true grit this had so,many hits for it and so when we saw the,book released,um and then hit the new york times,bestseller i feel like we were kind of,like um the moms cheering it along like,oh my gosh look at it its doing so well,we were so thrilled because you know,sometimes its for us in the book,industry when we get,uh we have meetings with our publishing,reps i mean they can sell us on books,that are not that great or they,sometimes will pass over books and im,like this book is amazing and they did,they came out really strong with your,book and and we are i guess kind of the,prideful ones that are kind of like okay,well well well be the judge of that,but we read your books and loved it so,much i think i was telling my husband he,needed to read it its just one of those,that are i mean like elizabeths saying,like just,so so great,yeah thank you um they did they they,really went to bat for me they um,we we had a long lead you know,beforehand um so ive had a long time to,get nervous for the u.s launch so to,have it to have it so well received has,been nice i would say a dream come true,but i didnt i didnt expect it at all i,didnt even dream it really its been,amazing,i would love to hear kind of your,journey about um,even like when the idea came to your,head,all the