We Begin at the End

By: Chris Whitaker

Narrated by: George Newbern

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

“A vibrant, engrossing, unputdownable 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 you have finished it.”
—Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds

Right. Wrong. Life is lived somewhere in between.

Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

"Heartbreaking, unexpected, and hopeful, this audiobook is a must-listen. Narrator George Newbern's nuanced delivery engages listeners and helps the layers of the story unfold." -- AudioFile Magazine

Really good

I wanted to love this - and part of me did. But I think the audible version shortchanged me as I couldn’t always tell when an internal chapter stopped and another started. In a book, you’d see a gap between paragraphs letting you know time had passed or the perspective was changing. This narrator read right through those so I never quite knew exactly who’s story line I was listening to.
All that aside, it was really really good and the narrator was good. Story was heartbreaking but bitter sweet when it was all done

Great book

Wasn’t sure at first if I was going to like this. But the story is awesome and it made me laugh and cry. I didn’t care too much for the narrator he didn’t seem to pause between chapters or sections so you got confused at what he was saying or the character he was supposed to be.

One of the best stories in awhile!

From the first words, to the very last this story had me hooked. just when I thought I had it figured out, it would go another direction.

A mystery that develops into a moving story

A murderer mystery set in a small coastal California town. Many cookies but the best are locked in the characters of the characters. An almost believable story. A butcher, a car collector, a developer locked together on a freaky dance with childhood friend whose life was devastated by a bit and run accident with one of them as driver.

Loved that I couldn’t predict the ending.

The skips in character and time line took several chapters to get used to. Don’t understand the purpose of having Walk find the tape of the fire after the big guy had convinced Walknto shoot him.