Blood Men: A Thriller [Paperback]

Paul Cleave (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2010

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New Zealander Cleave's disappointing U.S. debut focuses on the son of a notorious serial killer. When Edward Hunter was nine, his father, Jack (aka "Jack the Hunter"), was convicted of murdering 11 prostitutes in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the 20 years of Jack's incarceration, Edward hasn't spoken to or visited him once. Edward is doing okay in his struggle to get over his past until the day shortly before Christmas he and his wife, Jodie, get caught in the middle of a violent bank heist that leaves Jodie dead. Edward, who has always feared that he'll turn out like his father, is shocked when Jack contacts him from prison and encourages him to seek revenge on the robbers. He's even more shocked when he takes Jack's advice. While Cleave (The Cleaner) explores intriguing concepts-- particularly the gray area between guilt and innocence--and the steady stream of blood never feels gratuitous, too many subplots and character motivations compete for anything to truly resonate.
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From Booklist

What was it like to grow up with a serial killer as a father? Edward Hunter knows: his father has a monster inside him, and although he's now in prison, his legacy is something Edward has always feared. But Edward is nothing like his father. He has a good life—friends, a job, a loving wife, and a child he adores. All that changes though, the moment he calls out to save a bank teller from being killed during a hold-up, and the robbers kill his wife instead. What has he done? How can he fix it? When the police work too slowly, Edward decides to investigate himself, and as he does, he connects with feelings he has denied his whole life—and discovers his own terrible monster. 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. There's nary a misstep in this riveting thriller about the bad deeds even good men sometimes do. --Stephanie Zvirin

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; Original edition (July 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439189617
• ISBN-13: 978-1439189610
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Cleave is the author of four previous international bestselling thrillers, The Cleaner, The Killing Hour, Cemetery Lake, and Blood Men. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars crackles with freshness and energy, August 2, 2010

By 

Craig Sisterson (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Men: A Thriller (Paperback)

Kiwi novelist Paul Cleave doesn't write boring stories, that's for sure. His taut tales told through the eyes of deeply troubled `heroes' have broken the mould when it comes to New Zealand crime and thriller writing, becoming international bestsellers.

In Blood Men, Cleave's fourth novel and first to be readily available in the USA, Edward Hunter is a happily-married family man with a great life but a very dark past; he's the son of a notorious serial killer who's been in prison for 20 years, and will never be coming out. The son of a man of blood. When tragedy strikes, Edward suddenly needs the help of the man he's spent his entire life distancing himself from. And as things spiral out of control, Edward fears he's destined to become a man of blood too.

Cleave's prose crackles with freshness and energy. Sporadic moments of brutal violence may be too much for some who prefer mysteries of the Christie-esque `cosy' style (or distract some critics), but those who can handle grittier crime will uncover a top-notch tale. Cleave masterfully mixes compelling characters, sly humour, a taut plotline with enough tension and twists to keep the pages whirring, and a well-evoked, if somewhat malevolent, version of Christchurch.

With Blood Men, Cleave shows he not only stacks up with, but in fact betters, many of the better-known big-name international bestsellers that readers worldwide by in droves.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the four yet ..., July 31, 2010

By 

D C Batterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Men: A Thriller (Paperback)

Having read the other Paul Cleave novels (The Cleaner, The Killing Hour and Cemetery Lake), it's great to see Paul continuing to produce high quality work like this. The writing and plot development have grown as well. The Cleaner was an amazing debut and if push came to shove, I guess it's debut-status would win in a race between it and Blood Men. The US market is seeing Blood Men as it's first release, even though there are three books prior to it which (in a small way) contribute to the atmosphere and background to the story.

The writing is fresh and interesting, and you see it through Edward Hunter's eyes. It paints Christchurch (Paul's home city in NZ) as a dark place but it's where Edward is taken, the people he meets and the choices that he makes - that make the story race along. Not many, if any, will be able to pick the ending of the book.

I am not sure what the Publisher Weekly Editorial review was getting at ... because I have to disagree with it. I think that having not read the books in order has made them scratch their head a bit and missed some of the subtle tie-ins with the established history that would have helped the book 'resonate' with them. There is plenty of background to Detective Carl Schroder as an example that US readers won't be familiar with - but will appreciate when the backlist is released.

However, reading them is by no means a prerequisite, there is plenty to like here and the book stands on it's own as a fine novel.

It's a good ride, and fast paced, and tugs at the heart strings as well. Having finished it now, I can answer the question, 'Is Edward Hunter, like his father, a man of blood?'

According to his website [...] he has sold hundreds of thousands of books internationally, so he most be onto something good.

If John Connolly and Tess Gerritsen and Mark Billingham think it's worthwhile - you will too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a fascinating character study that looks deeply at what motivates anti society activities, July 21, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Men: A Thriller (Paperback)

When Edward Hunter was nine years old his life radically changed. First a voice in his head directed him to put nails inside a steak that he fed to a dog, who died a painful death. In that same year his father dubbed Jack the Hunter was arrested and convicted of killing at least eleven prostitutes; his older sister died from an overdose; and finally Edward's mom committed suicide unable to cope with what Jack did.

Shocked into behaving, Edward becomes an accountant and affectionately loving towards his wife Jodie and their six-year-old daughter Sam. During Christmas week Jodie and Edward are at a bank in Christchurch, New Zealand when six armed robbers assault the place. Edward goes into face them, but his confrontation leads to Jodie's death. The dormant voice is back ordering him to kill. Shook by his wife's death and the voice, Edward visits his father for the first since Jack was locked away. Jack says he heard the voice too and suggests to his son to follow its call and avenge the murder of his beloved wife.

This is a fascinating character study that looks deeply at what motivates anti society activities. The story line is at its best when the focus is inside the head of Edward who thinks he may just be a chip off the old block. However, the story line also contains too many subplots in which none fully take charge though ultimately the myriad converge in a final clash. Still fans of twisting psychological thrillers with a red sea of blood will want to read Edward's lament (perhaps too much lamenting by him) as he fears his DNA imprint is serial killer not family patriarch.

Harriet Klausner