The Nature of Things

  British crime writer Chris Whitaker has written a book that seems to be a homage to westerns, thrillers, and coming-of-age novels. We Begin at the End , set in coastal California and in Montana, is a bit of all three.  In 2005, we meet teenager Duchess Day Radley of Cape Haven, California, who refers to herself as "the outlaw Duchess Radley." The Radley family is haunted by tragedies the long-term effects of which they seem incapable of escaping. Thirty years before Duchess's aunt Sissy, her mother's sister, had been killed in a hit and run accident. The person held responsible for her death was 15-year-old Vincent King. Vincent was tried as an adult and sent to adult prison. His best friend, Walker (Walk), had testified against him. Walk is now chief of police in Cape Haven. In all those intervening thirty years he had maintained a connection with Vincent and now that Vincent is being released from prison, Walk goes to the prison to pick him up and bring him back t...