Industry Reviews
"On almost every page, this outstanding psychological thriller forces the reader to reconsider what is real." -- Publishers Weekly starred review of Trust No One "Breaking Bad reworked by the Coen Brothers." -- Kirkus Reviews starred review of Five Minutes Alone "Uses words like lethal weapons." --New York Times Tense, thrilling, touching. Paul Cleave is very good indeed. --John Connolly, author, The Unquiet Most people come back from New Zealand talking about the the breathtaking scenery and the amazing experiences. I came back raving about Paul Cleave. These are stories that you won't forget in a while: relentlessly gripping, deliciously twisted and shot through with a vein of humour that's as dark as hell. Cleave creates fictional monsters as chilling and as charming as any I've ever come across. Anyone who likes their crime fiction on the black and bloody side should move Paul Cleave straight to the top of their must-read list. --Mark Billingham, author, Lazybones Compelling, dark, and perfectly paced, New Zealand writer Cleave's psychological thriller explores the evil lurking in us all, working relentless magic until the very last page. --Booklist Cleave . . . should not be read without another human being in breathing distance, and not at night. This is the most accomplished of Cleave's works, not for the writing or the story, which is always strong and original, but because Blood Men has a new edge of complexity. Blood Men is not for the faint-hearted. Cleave does brutality well, full-frontal, and it keeps coming. --Nelson Mail An intense adrenalin rush from start to finish, I read The Laughterhouse in one sitting. It'll have you up all night. Fantastic! --S.J Watson, author, Before I Go to Sleep "Cleave writes like the fine-tuned punches of a middleweight boxer--with short sharp jabs to the solar plexus that make you gasp. The Kiwi crime writer scores another knock-out punch with his latest novel . . . The pace and the carnage accelerate toward a climax lasting for several pages and leaving you breathless." --Courier Mail - Brisbane "A gripping thriller. Trust No One draws us into a world where truth blends with delusion. This story of a writer losing his memory and bearings pulls us into a maze where fiction blurs into murder. I couldn't put it down."-- Meg Gardiner, Edgar award winning author, China Lake "Cleave's whirligig plot mesmerises." --People Magazine "Edgar-finalist Cleave makes an implausible, but very creepy, premise work in this powerful, thought-provoking novel . . . impressive crime thriller." --Publishers Weekly starred review on A Killer Harvest
"Cleave, a master of dark and compelling thrillers, puts a moral spin on this twisting, chilling tale with its disturbing finale." --Booklist on A Killer Harvest
"This powerhouse novel plays with the subtexts at the core of the mystery genre." --Booklist on Trust No One
A vivid, jangled exploration of mental illness, dark imagination, and the nowhere territory in between . . . Cleave spins one nightmare scenario after another out of Jerry's homely malady, leaping with such fiendish elan between past and present tense and first-person, second-person, and third-person narration that you may wonder if you've killed someone yourself." --Kirkus Reviews on Trust No One
"[A] fiendishly twisted thriller . . . Cleave's masterful plotting skills are matched with superior pacing and characterization." --Publishers Weekly starred review on Five Minutes Alone
"[A] powerhouse of a tale... A gripping thriller from beginning to end." --Booklist starred review on Five Minutes Alone
"Cleave pulls out all the stops in his seventh Christchurch noir . . . [He] juggles all the elements with impressive ease. Darkly humorous references to horrific violence will resonate with Dexter fans." --Publishers Weekly starred review on Joe Victim A riveting and all too realistic thriller. Cleave is a writer to watch. --Tess Gerritsen, author, The Sinner
