Paul Cleave is an internationally bestselling author whose novels are all set in his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand. His gripping thrillers are characterized by a dark atmosphere and unexpected twists that draw readers into psychological suspense. Cleave masterfully explores the darker aspects of human nature and the moral dilemmas of his characters. His ability to craft unsettling yet compelling narratives makes him a distinctive voice in the thriller genre.
A young man wakes from a coma to find himself targeted by the men who killed his parents, while someone is impersonating a notorious New Zealand serial killer ... the latest chilling, nerve-shredding, twisty thriller from the author of The Quiet People
In the latest thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of Joe Victim, someone is helping rape victims exact revenge on their attackers, prompting an edge-of- your-seat, cat-and-mouse chase between old friends, detectives Theodore Tate and Carl Schroder.
When seven-year-old Alyssa is kidnapped, Deputy Noah Harper decides he will do what it takes to find her - but that means crossing lines he can never come back from. Finding the girl safe isn't enough to stop Noah from losing his job, his wife, and from being kicked out of Acacia Pines. He's told if he ever returns, he'll be put in jail and left there to rot. Now, 12 years later, comes a phone call. Alyssa is missing again and her father wants him to honour the promise he made to her all those years earlier - that he would never let anything bad happen to her again. To find her, Noah is going to have to head back to the pines, and come face to face with the past... You shouldn't miss Paul Cleave's newest and best thriller yet Fans of Paul Cleave agree about his writing: "Readers following him through this season of Breaking Bad reworked by the Coen Brothers will feel the whole gamut right along with him."-- Kirkus " He] juggles all the elements with impressive ease. Darkly humorous references to horrific violence will resonate with Dexter fans."- Publishers Weekly - Starred Review "Tense, thrilling, touching. Paul Cleave is very good indeed." -- John Connolly, NYT bestselling author "A riveting and all too realistic thriller. Cleave is a writer to watch."- Tess Gerritsen, NYT bestselling author
Suspicion is cast on two successful crime writers when their seven-year-old son goes missing. Are they trying to show that they can commit the perfect crime? A mesmerisingly twisty, dark thriller from number-one bestselling author Paul Cleave...
From the international bestselling author of Blood Men comes yet another gripping thriller that paints a brutally vivid picture of a killer's mind.
Fast-paced, dark, and intensely clever, this exciting thriller represents a brilliant new chapter in the career of world-class crime writer Paul Cleave.
The internationally bestselling author of The Laughterhouse brings back one of his most infamous characters, the dreaded Christchurch Carver—but in this darkly fascinating psycho-thriller…he’s the target.Joe Middleton has a lot on his plate, to say the least. Arrested for a whole slew of murders he says he can’t remember, Joe—a.k.a. the Christchurch Carver—has been in jail for the last year awaiting trial, charged with the task of convincing the psychiatrists interviewing him that he wasn’t of sound mind and can’t be blamed for what he did. And, incredibly, that’s the least of his worries. That’s because there’s no shortage of people who like the idea of seeing Joe dead, some of whom are on the inside with him. On the outside, there’s Melissa, Joe’s accomplice in one of the murders, who plans on shooting him on his way to the courthouse before he gets a chance to start talking. To get himself out of this epic mess, Joe has a desperate plan involving the disgraced ex-detective who put Joe away and a television psychic who’s looking to get rich. It’s a long shot, but it had better work—because the people of New Zealand are voting to bring back the death penalty, and the Christchurch Carver is just the poster boy to make it happen. An award-winning author, New Zealand-based Paul Cleave is known for blending action, sardonic humor, ingenious plot twists, and dark wit into his novels, all of which are on full display in Joe Victim. This is a masterful example of the crime thriller genre, from an author who has won the admiration of critics, writers, and readers around the world.
Edward Hunter has it all a beautiful wife and daughter, a great job, a bright future? and a very dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer was caught, convicted, and locked away in the country's most hellish of penitentiaries. That man was Edward's father. Edward has struggled his entire life to put the nightmares of his childhood behind him. But a week before Christmas, violence once again makes an unwelcome appearance into his world. Suddenly he's going to need the help of his father, a man he hasn't seen since he was a boy. Is Edward destined to be just like him, to become a man of blood? Blood Men is “relentlessly gripping, deliciously twisted, and shot through with a vein of humor that's as dark as hell” (Mark Billingham). A true master of the genre that only comes along once in a generation, Cleave unveils a brutally vivid picture of a killer's mind and of a city of fallen angels captured at the ends of the earth.
What began as a routine exhumation of a suspected murder victim quickly turns complicated for private investigator Theodore Tate... Theo Tate is barely coping with life since his world was turned upside down two years ago. As he stands in the cold and rainy cemetery, overseeing the exhumation, the lake opposite the graveyard begins to release its grip on the murky past. When doubts are raised about the true identity of the body found in the coffin, the case takes an even more sinister turn. Tate knows he should walk away and let his former colleagues in the police deal with it, but against his better judgement he takes matters into his own hands. With time running out and a violent killer on the loose, will Tate manage to stay one step ahead of the police? Or will the secrets he has buried so deeply be unearthed?
Originally published in 2006 in Cleave's native New Zealand, where it was a finalist for the prestigious Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction, The Cleaner is a chilling and darkly funny thriller that will leave you clamoring for his next.