Customer Reviews

The Cleaner

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This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. The Cleaner has your common serial killer thriller type novel but also mixed in is a side story of comic twists as characters assume the wrong thing about other characters and that those characters did something the other ones did and other things all with hilarious results, (similar to what Donald E Westlake used to do in his classic comic capers). There's also a wrench scene that comes completely out of the blue in the storyline that will bring tears to any male reader's eyes. I've already ordered Cleave's upcoming novel The Killing Hour because if it is even a fraction as good as The Cleaner it will be one of the best books of 2008!

The basic plot of The Cleaner is a sort of as it happens memoir by a serial killer named Joe who has been terrorising the streets of Christchurch, New Zealand by night. By day he works as a cleaner (hence the title of the novel) in a Christchurch police station where everyone thinks he is mentally retarded, his nick name is slow Joe, a role he's happy to play up. While keeping an eye on the detectives on his case one day he learns another victim has been added to his tally. Not impressed he decides to solve this new murder himself and deal with this framer with his own justice. Joe's mother is also losing her sanity and memory in her old age and for some reason thinks Joe is gay. Meanwhile swayed by heavy religious beliefs and guilt over the death of her own mentally disabled brother maintenance worker Sally always puts in the extra effort to try and help and reach out to Joe. However her talking to him like an idiot does to a baby forms an impression in Joe's mind that she herself is mentally retarded as well. Sally is determined to help Joe out but Joe doesn't need or want anyone prying into his non Slow Joe life. As these characters mix and assume they are talking about something else other than what they mean there are hilarious results for the reader.

A sensational novel, you just have to buy it.

Okay, I haven`t even finished this book and I am actually listening to the german (!) audiobook-version. The book is very successful in Germany with hundreds of reviews written on amazon.de (German title: Der siebte Tod) and a whopping 67 reviews written on audible.de

The obvious question is: Why does this book seem to be without a readership in the U.S.? Not that it`s important, it probably has something to do with marketing.

So I am writing the second review on this book here on amazon, how pathetic.

It`s awesome. I have just reached the wrench scene that the other reviewer has described (the one that will bring tears to every male reader`s eyes....) and just wanted to stop by and say: if you like psychopaths and a black sense of humor, get it immediately.

It reminds me of "Dexter" which also portrays a psychopath that is presented in a "likeable" fashion and has been put into a TV series. Except, I have read the Dexter books as well and this one is much better.

Just finished the book , like always Paul Cleave did wonders . Loved the book , I read it in two days , it was hard not to put it down for go to work and or to sleep . It is a fast reading but such an entertaining one ! Joe's mom was particularly painful , but a scene with her and an old man was so , so funny , the reaction of Joe ! He made me laugh a lot , I liked so much his cynical humour . The chapter 25 must be really painful for men , it was unexpected and I really wonder where Paul came up with this idea ... Great book , my third of him and now I'm looking forward impatiently to read the new adventures of Theo Tate (Cemetery Lake)
Congradulations Paul cleave for the great work and thanks you !

This book is a great read, full of suspense and has black humour that makes you laugh out loud too. I thoroughly recommend it.

Paul Cleave's debut is raw, visceral, and compelling - delving into the twisted psyche of a serial killer who poses as a mentally-challenged janitor in order to keep an eye on the police investigation into his own crimes, and then finds himself becoming the sleuth to track down a copycat (after all, he knows he didn't kill that person).

Cleave doesn't write boring stories, that's for sure - and reading this you can see why THE CLEANER was the #1 bestselling crime/thriller novel on Amazon Germany in 2007, even ahead of Linwood Barclay's excellent NO TIME FOR GOODBYE. Germany is a bit of a canary in the coal mine for crime fiction, often 'discovering' authors before they have a big impact in other countries (e.g. Barclay, Stieg Larsson, and Paul Cleave). Cleave is a writer to watch, and with his fourth novel BLOOD MEN (which is even better) about to be released widely in the USA in July, it looks like the wider English-speaking world is about to find out what Germany (and discerning crime fiction readers in Australia and New Zealand) have known for a couple of years. Cleave is a very talented writer, mixing dark crime and sly humour. Tremendous thrills, and a wonderfully evoked (if malevolent) version of Christchurch. Outstanding.

I can answer the previous reviewer's question: why isn't everyone in the U.S. reading Paul Cleave's books? Because until very recently, they've been unavailable here. I was living in Christchurch when his first book, The Cleaner, came out and read it immediately. Now back in the States, I had to hunt far and wide on the internet to find his other 2 books and then paid exhorbitant prices to buy them. But they're worth it - now that some are available on Amazon, I hope that everyone discovers this writer.