Customer Reviews

The Cleaner

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Jonathan Quinn is a professional, contract "cleaner," making bodies disappear and covering tracks. But when a seemingly routine job leaves behind too many questions, Quinn decides to do some investigating on his own. After a subsequent attempt on his life, he and his apprentice must flee the country. And as Quinn begins to discover, his latest job and the attack at his home might be connected. An international conspiracy unfolds, but who can be trusted?

The Cleaner is a nonstop, electrifying thriller. The story is intense, full of surprises, action and intrigue. And the character of Quinn is akin to James Bond - smart, detached, with a soft-side for the ladies. With detailed, fascinating locales, it's obvious that Battles is more than familiar with his subject matter and scenery.

I am simply amazed that this is a debut thriller for Battles. This novel had me hooked from page one, and had me riveted until the very end! Everyone loves a good spy novel. This is definitely an author I'll be following.

The blurbs on the back of the book compare Battles to Lee Child, Robert Ludlum, or John LeCarre. How they they came up with LeCarre is beyond me, as his novels are far more cerebral, but the point is that Battles' Quinn most closely resembles Barry Eisler's fine addition to espionage fiction, John Rain. So right away, this should tell you a lot about whether you're going to like The Cleaner.

Why not Child or Ludlum? Well, Child's Jack Reacher is too gifted, too smart, and too terse to compare to Jonathan Quinn, the Cleaner. Jonathan makes mistakes in his debut and he frequently speaks in more than one sentence at a time. Reacher seems to have a 'one mistake per book' quota and sometimes doesn't reach that. Ditto for words. Reacher is the strong, silent type. As for Ludlum, I suppose the comparison was made because his books tend to hop from one exotic international locale to another. Well, Quinn certainly does that, moving from Colorado to Thailand to Vietnam and finally to Germany. However, John Rain does that as well, and like Rain, Quinn is a professional in his craft, however much he questions his choice of profession. Ludlum's heroes often are more ordinary people swept up in extraordinary circumstances (e.g., The Holcroft Covenant or The Ostermann Weekend).

Okay, with that out of the way, what is good about this book and what can be improved? First of all, the plot is good. Although the Colorado portion is slow, by the time Quinn is overseas, the books rolls along nicely. Two, there is a great villain in Borko. What makes him great is that he is quite amoral and very believable. He doesn't have super power and occasionally makes mistakes of his own; he's no cardboard cut out.

What needs work? Well, first of all the assistant, Nate, by and large is a cliche figure. One gets the distinct feeling we're going to see more of him in future books. My advice to Battles would be to either let this guy progress quickly or to kill him off. Multiple books with a semi-competent assistant are not going to work. Two, I would insert even more description of location into the next book. This is something Eisler does very well, wherever John Rain is operating. The descriptions that Battles gives us are good, but there is room for more richness. After all, why pick a colorful locale and then not describe it so well we can see it? Finally, there is a plot twist at the end which I believe really won't surprise many readers. I'd advocate a different approach in the next book.

So, should you read this? Yes. There is a lot of promise in Battles, and I'm hoping he realizes more of it in his next book.

I am always in awe of debut novels that blow your socks off - when I cannot tear away from a book - well that's a good sign. I read a big chunk in 1 day, and finished it the next.
Jonathan Quinn is a Cleaner, someone commissioned by a 'government agency' code name 'The Office' to go into a situation, assess it, and 'clean it', i.e. dispose of bodies, put things back to normal. He is called to Colorado to explore an arson case where a scientist was killed. Quinn is sure it is murder. He meets up with Nate, his apprentice Cleaner, and the adventure begins. When Quinn is almost killed, and members of 'The Office' are also threatened, Quinn and Nate go to Vietnam where Quinn thinks they are safe and where a friend that he asks help from lives. Orlando, the beatiful friend he asks help from is estranged from Quinn because Quinn was present when her man was killed during an operation. She however, comes around and joins Quinn and Nate.
The action is non-stop and gripping to the end. Not your ordinary cloak and dagger adventure - Again, I am awed by so well put together this debut novel is, and look forward to the next Quinn novel.

The central character in this story is Jonathan Quinn. He is actually a
"cleaner". He goes to pick up after a situation has occured. He does things like dispose of bodies and actually clean up the scene of all
evidence. The "office" an agency of the government hires Quinn to go to
Colorado to do an investigation in an arson case. Upon arrival he makes a
discovery that a murder has occured. He also finds another body. He leaves Colorado. Upon getting home someone tries to kill him. He and his
apprecentice Nate go to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to hide out. They next
go to Berlin to do a job where they are nearly killed again. Quinn has also brought in someone from his past,Orlando,to help him. They start
investigating and find some stunning facts. They discover a conspiracy with an unbelivie goal. This is a fast moving book that you will enjoy.

I'm beside myself wondering how such a horrible book has received so many positive reviews. The only conclusion I can come to is that readers today are not discerning at all, and are giddy to read anything with pages and a cover.

I stopped reading this book after about 50 pages, wanted to stop after only about 30, but forced myself to go a bit further until I could no longer bear it. I require 'realism' in my action books, and this has none. If you are even a partially educated reader on operational protocol, or enjoy accurate authors, you'll instantly recognize many glaring plot flaws and what appears to be zero research completed on the part of the author.

One of the first things everyone in a dangerous field is taught is the buddy system. It's pretty simple, even children can grasp it. Always have a buddy. This lesson is ignored by the idiot main character, Quinn, as he takes on an intruder alone without even bothering to have his apprentice Nate arm himself or place himself in a remotely tactical position. This lesson is further ignored when he apprehends the intruder, leads him into his home, and leaves the man's weapons on his living room couch before taking him to the kitchen to interrogate him. Try to visualize this before you read this book. Two potential shooters, one very dangerous man who needs to be interrogated, and the veteran shooter gives a firearm to his novice apprentice, leaves another firearm unattended in his living room, then leaves his apprentice alone with the intruder and no backup. He doesn't even bother to arm himself with the intruder's weapons, and instead goes unarmed to make a phone call in another room. At this point, the characters haven't even completed a proper perimeter check to verify that the intruder is truly alone (Quinn views a few perimeter security cameras briefly) before completely ignoring their own safety. Naturally, the intruder breaks free and needs to be killed instead of questioned. Shocking, I know.

There are several other glaring plot flaws as the story progresses, but I'm going to let you read them for yourself if you're brave enough to ignore my warning thus far.

The plot has huge loop holes and many things that happen are completely implausible. For instance, the author created a character named 'The Mole' who conveniently can get information about absolutely anything although there is no explanation of how. The best detective work being done in the story is not explained to the reader. I'm surprised how many people have given the book positive reviews.

Jonathan Quinn, the "cleaner" of the title [not his real name, by the way---we are never told what that is], is a man in his mid-30's who goes about his job in a workmanlike manner, mentoring an apprentice in the process, just as he was mentored years before when he was learning his craft, one in which your `graduation' is earned by your having survived the course, quite literally. An apprenticeship, we are told, lasts anywhere from three to four years; Quinn's own apprentice has been learning on the job for four months as the novel opens. One of Quinn's own early lessons: "We come in, gather whatever information's been requested. Maybe do a little cleanup if necessary. Then get out. That's the job. Kill your curiosity, kid. For your own sake." Advice that's not always easy for Quinn to follow.

Quinn's prefers being a cleaner and gatherer, as opposed to being an "op agent:" "Operations were a dangerous life choice. Which was why Quinn liked what he did. No one bothered with the guy who came in after the fact, nosing around a bit, making things pretty for the locals. Quinn's line of work was about as safe as it came in the world of freelance espionage. Not without its hazards, but he was usually able to sleep soundly at night." He is described as a "day-player . . . hired per job, but not part of any bigger picture."

As the book opens Quinn has been called in by one of his regulars, known merely as "The Office," for an ostensibly simple investigation of a suspicious fire in Colorado. But it is anything but simple, and Quinn cannot leave it alone, especially when he becomes the target of an assassin. He asks himself: "Why him? He wasn't a member of the Office. He was only a freelancer. He should have been exempt, right?" Wrong, apparently. Someone wants him dead, and he needs to find out who.

The scope of the novel quickly turns international, with Quinn required to go to Vietnam [where he enlists the help of Orlando, a woman he hasn't contacted in several years but who is the only one he can trust completely], thence to Berlin and Brussels. He is suspicious of every job he is offered, which suddenly become plentiful: "Recently he'd been receiving more messages than usual, averaging at least one a day. Things had been quiet for several months, as everyone was anxious to make some cash. It was a kind of espionage recession." Who knew?

The book is fast-paced, the ending a stunner. Quinn is a wonderful new protagonist, and the good news is that Mr. Battles has recently written the second in what is a terrific new series. Happily, that's next up for this reader.

I found "The Cleaner" by Brett Battles fascinating, exciting and fast paced. As an avid reader it is exciting to find a book where the main character is usually never heard from or seen. That is the role of a "Cleaner". Their job is to clean up the mess after the crime has been committed. In this case Johathan Quinn, "The Cleaner", must take on the role of the aggressor for a fight for his life. For his debut novel Battles has hit a homerun. I am anxiously awaiting for the second installment of Quinn.

I'm always on the lookout for a new author in the thriller genre so when Amazon kept putting the novels of Brett Battles before my eyes I finally decided to take the plunge. I went for the first in the Jonathan Quinn series to make sure I have the background and character firmly in my mind. I liked the book well enough, but it really didn't interest me enough to make me determined to seek out the remainder of the books in the series. Perhaps the writing style was just a little too simple and there were too many instances when I looked up from what I was reading and wondered why the character would have reacted quite in that way. For someone who made his living by strict adherence to a formula of actions this man flew by the seat of his pants more often than not.

Quinn's character had the potential to be very interesting for me since he specializes in going into a scene after an episode and cleaning it so that no clues remain to point toward the boss he happens to be working for on that case. Lately Quinn has found himself working exclusively for The Office, a group located in Washington, D. C. which Quinn supposes is connected with a government agency. In this book a cleanup operation leads Quinn to find himself a target for elimination and he doesn't have a clue as to why. He and his apprentice Nate leave for the other side of the world only to find themselves bumping up against the previous case time after time. Just a question here: how does a person carry around passports for twenty different identities with the credit cards to match those identities and yet go through Customs multiple times and never have these documents spotted?

Filled with all kinds of action including kidnapping, killings, arson, and false identities this novel should have suited me perfectly. Instead I found myself mildly interested and reading quickly, but quickly because it was such an easy read. I usually like a little more of a challenge to hold my attention. I had been looking forward to some insights into *how* the cleaner would have gone about his work, but that very basic premise was pretty much overshadowed by all the other crimes and danger Quinn and Nate found themselves in. I will give the author credit for putting a twist in the story which took me completely by surprise. That worked very well.

This IS the first novel in the series. Do the stories get more intense and show the depth I like? I don't know and right now I'm going to wait a while before I decide to try another. I'll read lots of reviews for the other books in the series and see if I think I want to continue on. I hope so.

Not very well written and I actually found it boring in many long sections. I would suggest looking at Lee Child or Barry Eisler's series, which seem superior to me (at least in audiobook format).