The Cleaner

Set in Christchurch, New Zealand, The Cleaner by Paul Cleave was a great blend of action, humor and psychological thrills that was definitely dark and intense but was also a book that I did not want to see end. Telling the story of Joe, a devious, intelligent man who lives a complex life of lies to enable him to conduct his chosen avocation of rapist and killer. By day he works in a menial job as a janitor in the police station, passing himself off as a slightly retarded, perfect cover for keeping an eye on the investigation into the Christchurch Carver which, of course is him.

Joe enjoys the notoriety of being the killer of seven women, but he is bothered by the fact that he has only killed six. Someone has used him to cover up their show more own murder and Joe decides to find out who the copycat killer is. His investigation is hampered by the women in his life. Both his mother who demands attention, and who he often tried to do away with, and fellow co-worker, Sally, who seems to see Joe as a replacement for her deceased special needs brother and wants to help him. But it is when the mysterious Melissa enters his life that things start on a definite downhill slide.

Learning what makes Joe tick was fascinating and terrifying and along the way the author throws in delicious details that are both amusing and revealing. The plot has many a twist and although the subject matter is very dark and intense, I found The Cleaner to be that rare read that supplies lots of creepy chills along with a very good story. Highly recommended. show less

Joe Middleton works as a janitor at the Christchurch police station. Everyone believes his "Slow Joe" act and think he is mentally retarded; but he is far from that. He is actually one clever, sick and twisted serial killer known as the Christchurch Carver. He has 6 women under his record and a seventh is chalked up to him, but he knows it isn't so. And so it begins: Joe's personal investigation to find that copycat. During his investigation he has to deal with his mother, a co-worker and a very special lady called Melissa. This book is phenomenal! Paul Cleave is one damn good writer and I have already read 3 of his books. Plan on reading them all. Twisted, scary, dark fun this is.

I’d never heard of Paul Cleave until it was a book selection for the Psychological Thrillers book group. Psychological thrillers are one of my absolute favorite types of books to read, but sometimes they’re a little challenging to find.

I loved this book and this book alone has made me a new Paul Cleave fan. He is a master of character development. I’m not even kidding. I’ve never read characters that were this vivid. The characters were so distinct and real that I felt like I knew everything about them, every thought that ran through their heads, especially in the dialog.

The narration alternates between Joe and Sally. Joe is the cleaner, who’s a highly intelligent, sociopathic, serial-killing rapist. It’s fascinating show more to read a novel from his point of view. He mostly didn’t have a conscience about any of the evil things he did, but at times he appeared to have a small bit of a conscience and then he’d do or say something to make you feel like it was just a false alarm. Oddly, he loved his goldfish more than any living thing. Joe was very sarcastic and funny and I felt weird laughing at the things he said knowing he was a sick bastard. His character is so well developed that at times I wasn’t sure if it was a sign of Paul Cleave’s exceptional writing talents or if Paul is in fact, very unhinged. How in the world does a writer get into the mind of a serial killer like that? It’s amazing.

Sally is Joe’s coworker and at it took quite a while to learn her significance in the novel.

Evelyn is Joe’s mom and she is so amusing. Joe’s visits with her were the funniest. Speaking of funny, this novel had several comedic moments in unexpected scenes, such as in a graveyard. I wasn’t expecting to laugh while reading a novel that featured a serial killer.

One person said in their review that they felt sorry for Joe and before I read this book, I was thinking Are you crazy? After I read the novel, I understood why the reviewer felt sympathy for him. The park scene and later at his apartment will actually make you feel sorry for him. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even Joe. If you think Joe is evil, wait until you meet Melissa.

There were times when Joe’s luck seemed unbelievable. He was able to do things undetected when he should have been caught. He was able to walk into a conference room of the police station where he worked, grab files and either make copies in the copy room or take the files home. You would think that a station full of police officers and detectives would notice missing files for an open case. Other times, he was able to sneak into people’s houses unnoticed, not to mention all of the cars he stole. He also walked everywhere with a briefcase that contained a gun and knives including into work every day.

I loved this novel so much that I immediately went to the library to pick up the next book of this series, Joe Victim . If Joe Victim is as good as The Cleaner , I’m planning to devour all of Paul Cleave’s novels.

I highly recommend this novel to fans of psychological thrillers and aspiring writers who want to learn about character development. show less

The Cleaner by Paul Cleave
The Christchurch Noir Mystery Series Book #1
4.5 ★'s

From The Book:
Joe is in control of everything in his simple life—both his day job as a janitor for the police department and his “night work.” He isn’t bothered by the daily news reports of the Christchurch Carver, who, they say, has murdered seven women. Joe knows, though, that the Carver killed only six. He knows that for a fact, and he’s determined to find the copycat. He’ll punish him for the one, then frame him for the other six. It’s the perfect plan because he already knows he can outwit the police.

My Views:
I have read The Theodore Tate series and all of the standalone novels by this author and found all of them to be exceedingly well show more done with interesting, true to life characters. This series will be no exception.

The book alternates between the first person narrative of Joe, with flashbacks to his past, and several third person chapters that focus on Sally, a young woman who works at the department and feels pity, and possibly affection, for Joe. It's a very graphic, physiological story about a serial killer that believes he is smarter than anyone else and will never be caught. There are some humorous twists. He and Sally constantly misunderstand one another. Then there's Joe's mother. The strange Melissa rounds out the quirky characters. It will remind you how little you know about the people that even briefly share your everyday life.

In spite of the occasional humor it's still a dark insight into the mind of a merciless killer. The physiological thriller fan will be held captive with the first chapter. show less

Cleave has become my new favorite author. I love the rough-hewn characters and in-your-face style he presents his readers with. I have devoured all his novels featuring Detective Theodore Tate and so was a little disappointed that “The Cleaner” is a stand-alone novel not featuring Tate. The disappointment lasted all of three chapters and by page forty six, I was so overcome by the pure evil of Joe the killer, the Christchurch Carver, I was tempted to look at the last page to be sure he is finally caught. Luckily I didn’t and found myself spending the whole day entranced in this enthralling story.
Originally released in Cleave’s native New Zealand in 2006, “The Cleaner” was just released in the States. Having orchestrated show more himself into the police department as simple and slow Joe the janitor, he is able to watch closely over the hunt for what the media have christened The Christchurch Carver. He knows the cops are nowhere close to discovering that he is responsible for the six bodies lying on a slab in the morgue. It is when a seventh is added, a copycat killing, that Joe wanders off course, becoming determined to discover who the killer is.
Between dealing with a busybody of a mother, the infringement of the interest from Sally—a fellow employee at the department who is determined to watch out for Joe as he reminds her of the retarded brother she lost—and a mystery lady who is besotted with police officers, Joe is finally undone by one of the women in his life who accidently stumbles over a simple clue and rats him out. If only he stayed the course and not forgotten he was just simple Joe, he would have become a classic cold case file destined to never be solved, but best laid plans are often overturned by someone else’s interference.
Another gritty storyline exposing the dark city life of Christchurch ensuring all the cities inhabitants stay locked behind closed doors at night, or like me, be kept up all night reading Paul Cleave. show less

Cleave has become my new favorite author. I love the rough-hewn characters and in-your-face style he presents his readers with. I have devoured all his novels featuring Detective Theodore Tate and so was a little disappointed that “The Cleaner” is a stand-alone novel not featuring Tate. The disappointment lasted all of three chapters and by page forty six, I was so overcome by the pure evil of Joe the killer, the Christchurch Carver, I was tempted to look at the last page to be sure he is finally caught. Luckily I didn’t and found myself spending the whole day entranced in this enthralling story.
Originally released in Cleave’s native New Zealand in 2006, “The Cleaner” was just released in the States. Having orchestrated show more himself into the police department as simple and slow Joe the janitor, he is able to watch closely over the hunt for what the media have christened The Christchurch Carver. He knows the cops are nowhere close to discovering that he is responsible for the six bodies lying on a slab in the morgue. It is when a seventh is added, a copycat killing, that Joe wanders off course, becoming determined to discover who the killer is.
Between dealing with a busybody of a mother, the infringement of the interest from Sally—a fellow employee at the department who is determined to watch out for Joe as he reminds her of the retarded brother she lost—and a mystery lady who is besotted with police officers, Joe is finally undone by one of the women in his life who accidently stumbles over a simple clue and rats him out. If only he stayed the course and not forgotten he was just simple Joe, he would have become a classic cold case file destined to never be solved, but best laid plans are often overturned by someone else’s interference.
Another gritty storyline exposing the dark city life of Christchurch ensuring all the cities inhabitants stay locked behind closed doors at night, or like me, be kept up all night reading Paul Cleave. show less

Joe, the eponymous cleaner, has a janitorial job in the Christchurch police station. He is thought to be mildly retarded, or at least a bit slow. Beyond his job, he dearly loves his pet goldfish.
Unbeknownst to the cops, Joe has an inordinate interest in their investigation into the Christchurch Carver, a serial killer currently terrorizing the city. Joe is copying bits and pieces of the file as he gets the opportunity, and he has also been able to bug the investigation room. Because Joe spends his free time murdering young women, and it is he who is the Christchurch Carver. However, Joe knows, and the police do not, that one of the victims attributed to the Christchurch Carver was in fact murdered by a copycat killer. And Joe want to show more find out who the copycat is, and frame him for all the murders.
This was a very clever crime novel, and I highly recommend it. I immediately borrowed its sequel, Joe Victim, from the library, but did not find it as engaging and did not finish it show less