Name: Trust No One
ISBN: 9781473664234

Paul Cleave

The brand new psychological thriller from the author of The Cleaner and Joe Victim. Perfect for fans of Dexter and Karin Slaughter. 'Cleave uses words like lethal weapons' New York Times Book Review '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. His novels tell of brutal murders and bad men. But was it just his imagination? Jerry Grey is better known as crime writer Henry Cutter - whose twelve books kept readers gripped for over a decade. Now he's been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers, and his writing life has ended. But the stories haven't. And as his control loosens, Jerry confesses his worst secret: the books are real. He remembers committing the crimes. His friends, family and carers say it's all his head. He's just confused. But if that's true, then why are so many bad things happening? Why are people dying?

Trust No One

"Jerry Grey is known to most of the world by his crime writing pseudonym, Henry Cutter--a name that has been keeping readers at the edge of their seats for more than a decade. Recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at the age of forty-nine, Jerry's crime writing days are coming to an end. His twelve books tell stories of brutal murders committed by bad men, of a world out of balance, of victims finding the darkest forms of justice. As his dementia begins to break down the wall between his life and the lives of the characters he has created, Jerry confesses his worst secret: the stories are real. He knows this because he committed the crimes"--

A Thriller

I think "Trust No One" has an interesting story told in an uninteresting manner. I felt like I was seeing frequently wasted potential and, for sticking around to the end, all I got was a horrible finale.

The sections where our lead character, Jerry, is writing under this pseudonym/alias "Henry Cutter", are the best parts of the story yet they're all too rare. His alter ego helps him out a little bit but mostly towards the end, when "Henry" voices anything in Jerry's head throughout the story, it's basically to just say "I don't know, man." Wow, what a very useful character he is.

Jerry, our lead, is also not very likable. I suppose he's meant to be a charmer who lost his mind to Alzheimer's, but all we see is the man broken by the disease. This man is prone to lashing out and making shit up that annoys you and REALLY annoys his family. While reading it, you're likely to say to yourself, "Even if this guy is totally innocent, he kinda needs to get punched in the mouth."

It's not realistic, but I would have liked if maybe he could channel Henry into helping him in real time. The way this story handles Alzheimer's is already not very realistic, may as well make his seemingly-split personality be a superpower of sorts. This sort of is true, but again, only in the very end with something that happened in the past. Henry Cutter is useless for 98% of the ride.

That "very end" was almost comical. I was already kinda struggling to get through this one, and when I read that final entry, I sort of laughed. It was just so miserable and unsatisfactory I didn't really know how else to take it. Maybe New Zealand is like "John Wick" but instead of being hitmen, every person walking around is a very uninteresting serial killer, seriously lacking any sense of flair.

I went with two stars instead of one because I did see blips of inspiration around the book. I've read worse but I don't see a reason to check out any more of Paul Cleave's work. Keep hacking away at it, Cleave, you'll figure it out someday I hope. Fire me off an email when you've got it down.

Evan

I think "Trust No One" has an interesting story told in an uninteresting manner. I felt like I was seeing frequently wasted potential and, for sticking around to the end, all I got was a horrible finale.

  

The sections where our lead character, Jerry, is writing under this pseudonym/alias "Henry Cutter", are the best parts of the story yet they're all too rare. His alter ego helps him out a little bit but mostly towards the end, when "Henry" voices anything in Jerry's head throughout the story, it's basically to just say "I don't know, man." Wow, what a very useful character he is.

Jerry, our lead, is also not very likable. I suppose he's meant to be a charmer who lost his mind to Alzheimer's, but all we see is the man broken by the disease. This man is prone to lashing out and making shit up that annoys you and REALLY annoys his family. While reading it, you're likely to say to yourself, "Even if this guy is totally innocent, he kinda needs to get punched in the mouth."

It's not realistic, but I would have liked if maybe he could channel Henry into helping him in real time. The way this story handles Alzheimer's is already not very realistic, may as well make his seemingly-split personality be a superpower of sorts. This sort of is true, but again, only in the very end with something that happened in the past. Henry Cutter is useless for 98% of the ride.

  

That "very end" was almost comical. I was already kinda struggling to get through this one, and when I read that final entry, I sort of laughed. It was just so miserable and unsatisfactory I didn't really know how else to take it. Maybe New Zealand is like "John Wick" but instead of being hitmen, every person walking around is a very uninteresting serial killer, seriously lacking any sense of flair.

  

I went with two stars instead of one because I did see blips of inspiration around the book. I've read worse but I don't see a reason to check out any more of Paul Cleave's work. Keep hacking away at it, Cleave, you'll figure it out someday I hope. Fire me off an email when you've got it down.

  

I do not recommend "Trust No One".

Trust No One

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