Not very interesting compared to Cleave's others. ( )

I had previously read The Cleaner by Paul Cleave and found it a wonderfully clever and exciting read so I was really looking forward to The Killing Hour. Unfortunately, this book didn’t measure up to my expectations being a rather mediocre thriller. First and foremost, it just didn’t ring true to me and while there were plenty of chills and thrills, the whole story seemed rather overdone.

I have found out that the Killing Hour is actually the author’s first book. He originally worote it as a horror book but it was rejected by the publishers in that format so he had rewirtten it, taking out the supernatural aspects. It wasn’t a bad read, just not as good as I had hoped for.

I am not ready to give up on this author yet, I know he can write inventive, funny and exciting crime stories so I will keep my fingers crossed that his next book hits the mark. ( )

It just wasn’t Charlie Felman’s day. Waking from a dream, in cold sweats surrounded by ghosts, he is relieved to know the worst is over until he discovers a large bump on his forehead and blood all over his clothes; blood that does not belong to him.
Seemingly on the run from Cyrus, a man who authorities are unable to locate any record of, Charlie has a dickens of a job convincing the police, and his ex-wife Jo, that he is not losing his marbles and that the bodies that keep showing up in his wake are Cyrus’ victims not his.
Forcibly kidnapping Jo, and stuffing her in the trunk of the car probably is not the easiest way to show his innocence however it is the only way he knows to keep her safe.
Inspector Landry has nothing to lose. His body racked with cancer, he only has a short time left on this earth. He doesn’t believe Charlie’s innocence and drags him into the woods meaning to take care of him vigilante-style. Not until Cyrus shows up, also trying to dispatch Charlie, does Landry realize the error he made and the focus switches to helping each other escape from the claws of the madmen in order that Christchurch’s latest serial killer can be bought to justice.
This is a recent US release of Cleave’s first novel and although it does not involve his trusty and true detective Theo Tate it does involve the Christchurch police force and so again Cleave has managed to link together his collection of works into a malleable group of thrill-a-minute novels that are not to be missed.
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After waiting for a couple of months I finally got Paul Cleave's first novel. I have read his other novels and was looking forward to this one. Right off the bat you can tell this was his first because it tends to linger a bit on the same scenes over and over. When he finally gets that nice fast pace going, he goes back to the same topic and you loose momentum. Nonetheless the story is quite good and I will keep on reading his work. In this book we meet Charlie, who's been having a real bad week. First he tried to save two women from being murdered and he failed. Then he tried to kill the murderer and failed as well. He tries to get his ex wife to believe him; and when she doesn't, he ties her up and kidnaps her in hopes of catching the killer with her help. It all goes into a roller coaster ride that keeps you wondering if they'll ever make it out of this one alive. ( )

I thought this book was great. It's got a sinister creepiness to it. I loved not knowing if Charlie was good or bad. Looking forward to reading more books from this author. ( )