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Tall Oaks

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Tall Oaks

By: Chris Whitaker
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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About this listen

This brilliant debut is dark yet hilarious, suspenseful but full of joy.

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' grief is driving her to extreme measures. Newcomer Jared, with an easy charm and a string of broken hearts in his wake is also a suspect. Photographer Jerry is a suspect who is determined to break away from his controlling mother once and for all. And investigating them all is 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.

©2016 Chris Whitaker (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Coming of Age Dark Humour Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Small Town & Rural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting Heartfelt Witty Comedy

Critic Reviews

''This quirky debut entertains and intrigues.'' ( Sunday Times)
''Perpetually fascinating.'' ( Heat)
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I have really enjoyed his other novels. This one, his first I believe, was not quite as polished and beautifully written as those, but it was still a very enjoyable story. I was blindsided a couple of times by plot twists. The only negative for me was the narrator. I really wish I had read this instead of listening to it. The narrator reads everything in short phrases, with an up-note lilt at the end of 80% of those phrases. It’s extremely annoying to listen to an so difficult to ignore and focus on the story. It’s a testament to the author’s great writing that I was able to eventually (mostly) ignore the narrator and get into the story.

A twisty tale

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Characters were great and storyline. I loved Manny in particular. Funny - found myself laughing often.

Thanks Chris. Keep them coming!

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so many characters, but stay with it. Their stories are all interwoven into this tale. All the characters have their own stories and you will be continually wondering. I couldn't stop!

Didn't see that coming!

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Trying to get my head around all the names and sub-plots in the first couple of hours was confusing and difficult. Probably better as a printed book than audio.
Some funny moments had me laughing inside my welding helmet.

Not as enjoyable as the previous book by Chris Whitaker.

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At first I was wandering where the heck is this going? But the characters were quirky enough to keep me in there - and I’m glad for that! A very unpredictable and twisty end. This was a cool story!

Cool story

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the story was heartbreaking, funny and sad. the characters are tormented and real. People you could know in your own world.

the mixture of characters

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