Blood Men

It's ironic I ended up bringing this won book on a won trip. We had won an all paid for vacation to the Texas Frightmare Movie Convention, courtesy of the amazing Rue Morgue Magazine. Yes, really, we won the grand prize last year! I also won this book, Blood Men, through a Goodreads giveaway. We wanted to bring a book with us for downtime in the hotel room and on the plane trip over.

I made a mistake of bringing such a riveting book with me! Because, folks, it's one of those. The plot is tragic and like watching a train wreck, you don't want to put it down. You're on the edge of your seat wondering, hoping, watching, thinking of all the possibilities that might happen next. You just NEED to keep reading. The bank robbery at the beginning show more was horrifying and sad, and once you've forgiven the book for some tears, it really grows on you and flys off.

The middle was strongly written and riveting. I was anxious to see what would happen to the main character Edward and find out all the revelations about his father in prison. Cleave takes you step by step through different situations that are either heart-wrenching or heart-stopping. The suspense is brutal and this is why I struggled putting it down.

Characterization clearly worked amazingly well. All characters were very life-like and realistic, making it easy to care about what disasters than ran into, hoping they'd avoid the ultimate meltdown. I even cared about the "bad guys" because they fascinated me so much. Not sympathetic exactly, but you still ended up caring about the events surrounding them. The psychological twisting, growth, and angst was extreme.

I ended up loving this dark, intricate book. It pushes the boundaries of normalcy and sets the reader into a troubled seat, witnessing horrifying but realistic events unfolding. You fall into the minds of the character so well you feel his pain and angst as he struggles to stay above the water line. I'll definitely have to check out more of Cleave's work. I did end up giving four stars rather than five, surprising myself, because at the end the book started letting me down a bit with some of the actions and turnabouts that took place.

Brilliantly written with an addictive pace, amazing characterization and heart-wrenching scenarios, highly recommended for all readers. The darkness will speak to those who like horror, the suspense and thrills are high enough for any suspense fan, even mystery fans should like wondering what will happen next, and there's a high amount of drama infused within to satisfy drama buffs as the story is quite emotional. show less

Note: This book is part of the Christchurch Mysteries series but it works just fine as a stand alone. It does reference the main character in the Theodore Tate mysteries in a few small ways and chronologically, happens after Book 1 (Cemetery Lake).

Edward Hunter lost his father when he was 9 years old. The man was a serial killer and he was finally caught and imprisoned. Edward has tried very hard to forget him ever since and be his own person. Now, decades later he has a wife (Jody) and a young daughter (Sam) and a successful job (as an accountant). But a bank robbery turned bloody will bring cruel violence back into Edward’s life, affecting those he loves the most. Once again, the ugly question of whether or not Edward is like his show more father will be raised.

I’m totally going to love on this book. I really enjoyed it, even more so than Cemetery Lake. Set in modern day Christchurch, New Zealand, Edward is a very interesting character and we get to see him during his worst hours. I really felt for the guy. First he has this horrible family history that’s full of tragedy. Then he has is own little demon to contend with, one he thought he had beaten down many years ago. Finally, he has the worst week of his life during the length of this book. He goes through quite the range of emotions.

The author pulls in characters from the Theodore Tate novels, specifically Detective Schroeder. He’s cynical and sharp and married to doing the right thing (and doing it by the books as much as possible). In fact, the book opens with him and his guys looking into the death of a man in a trench coat and large suction cups. Yeah, I giggled too. Schroeder is quickly pulled off this case to attend to a bank robbery, the same one that Edward is caught in the middle of.

After the robbery is all said and done, Edward feels he must find the bandits. His father, who is still in prison, gives him a call and asks him to visit. That really starts the slippery slope for Edward. What follows is a mix of righteous payback, a struggle against Edward’s baser desires, and Edward coming to terms with who he is (including his relationship with his father). Be prepared for a respectable body count on this one.

Some animals suffer in this book. The author provides one clear, detailed example and then alludes to the others without giving specifics. These episodes are used sparingly and definitely add to the character’s dimension; these scenes aren’t here merely to up the horror level of the book.

The story held my attention all the way through and I finished it in three days. The novel brings up questions of inner evil and what constitutes free will versus a mental illness. The main characters are well done. There’s some interesting twists that kept me guessing as to where the author would take the story.

I won a copy of this book from The Audio Book Reviewer) with no strings attached.

Narration: Paul Ansdell was a great voice for both Detective Schroeder and Edward Hunter. I liked his slightly gravelly voice for the older, jaded Schroeder. He did a great job of portraying Edward’s many emotions throughout the novel. His female voices were believable. I wonder, as I did with Cemetery Lake, why no New Zealand accents? Perhaps this was the publisher’s direction, but I don’t really know. show less

It always amazes me, how Paul Cleave can start out with a scenario that somehow seems quite normal and "expected" and then make it all go very very good weird, and you don't even notice that it's happening until you finish the book, turn all the lights back on the in house and take a big deep breath. And check the locks.

I'm very very partial to Paul Cleave's books and BLOOD MEN was no exception. Noir doesn't really cut it when you're describing these books, they are dense, intrinsically, fundamentally dark books sure, but there's also always something slightly unexpected, something slight twisty, something just that little bit weird in what is going on that a reader really isn't allowed to get into a comfort zone. But BLOOD MEN is built show more around a scenario that couldn't possibly make you comfortable - the idea that a happily married family man, the son of a man of blood - a notorious serial killer never to be released. A son who has spent his life denying the father that he then must turn to for help. It somehow seems quite natural that with a family background like Edward's, he'd be worried about his destiny. Is he free of the worst of his father's legacy or is he, Edward, destined to be a man of blood also?

Of course, in a scenario like this, there's going to be some graphic violence, but that's tempered somewhat by a cheeky, sly and clever sense of humour. Having said that the taut plotline and the way that the tension over Edward's future builds was more than enough to make this reader charge through the violence, desperate to get to the end. So desperate that this was a one sitting book. Which, as per usual, means I was reading it in the dark, early morning. Which lead, of course, to that turning on all the lights problem. Which leads to the lack of sleep that I've come to expect when reading a Paul Cleave book. There aren't many authors that make me change my daily routine, but Paul Cleave does it everytime and I can't wait for the next book. show less

New Zealand author Paul Cleave's newest book, sets itself up for something brilliant. The son of a serial killer, whose life was destroyed with his father's arrest, rebuilds and overcomes his father's notoriety to live a quiet life as an accountant, happily married, with a daughter. He and his wife are in a bank in downtown Christchurch in the middle of a sunny December day to see about qualifying for a mortgage, when the bank is robbed. And the action and reactions begin.

The first half of this book is full of normal human reactions to horrific events. People are terrified, observers unable to take greater action than to use their phones to record the events unfolding and there are occasional and usually futile acts of bravery. Eddie is show more himself frozen and uncertain, both during the robbery and afterwards. He's conflicted and angry and very real. And then the book descends into a revenge fantasy bloodbath. Every so often, Eddie reflects for a moment, but he never really allows contemplation to halt his forward motion. Blood Men is a brutal read; during the first half it seemed to be leading somewhere revelatory, but in the second half, as the body count rose, it was merely gratuitous. show less

Edward Hunter is the son of a serial killer. His father has been in prison for twenty years for the killing of at least eleven prostitutes. Edward has a wife and child, a good job and lives a happy life, he hates what his father did and feels he is nothing like him, yet when a tragedy occurs and he loses everything he holds dear, he starts hearing an inner voice that wants him to seek revenge.

Blood Men by Paul Cleave is a suspense thriller that although is full of violence and gore, doesn’t quite deliver on the suspense. Edward is a little too philosophical to be believable as a man who only wants to hurt others. Although after visiting his father in prison, he learns that his father also has a dark, inner voice, he still questions show more whether they are both “blood men” - men who are driven to acts of violence.
Edward goes through the motions of tracking those he holds accountable, but it is obvious that he is really just a deeply troubled man searching for answers.

Blood Men is a well written, gritty crime novel that, for me, just missed the mark. This is the fourth book in his “Christchurch Murders” and some of these books have been excellent which insures that I will continue on with the series. show less

What's it About?
Edward Hunter has it all—a beautiful wife and daughter, a great job, a bright future . . . and a very dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer was caught, convicted, and locked away in New Zealand’s most hellish penitentiary. That man was Edward’s father. Edward has struggled his entire life to put the nightmares of his childhood behind him. But a week before Christmas, violence once again makes an unwelcome appearance in his world. Is Edward destined to be just like his father, to become a man of blood?

What Did I Think?
I loved the book ...however it is diffidently not for everyone. Most people that enjoy true-crime type mysteries expect to sometimes find some really graphic and gruesome scenes when it comes show more to the murders. "Blood Men" had more than it's share and that alone will put a lot of people off.

It lost a half star with me because I lost patience with the police. They were working against a killer's very real time schedule but seemed to drag their feet at every turn. Otherwise the main character... Edward...was pitied...applauded...and encouraged by the reader through out this madhouse adventure as he almost single handed searched the town of Christchurch for his young wife's killer.

Read it with caution...but if you enjoy this type of mystery...by all means read it. show less

My original Blood Men audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

I’ve read several books written by Paul Cleave now and enjoyed each one, but Blood Men was the darkest and toughest one to listen to so far. Not because there was anything wrong with it, but I’ve never felt so sad for one of Cleave’s characters before.

Blood Men is the story of Edward Hunter, a happily married accountant with a young daughter. All that changes when Edward and his wife happen to be in a bank when a robbery takes place. Within minutes, Edward’s entire life disintegrates and he has to face up to his past. Edward is the son of a serial killer who was imprisoned for killing prostitutes when Edward was a young boy. Having been show more under scrutiny for most of his life and in the public’s eye as the son of a monster, Edward was always adamant that he was nothing like his father, but if circumstances changed, could Edward become a blood man like his Dad?

Paul Cleave always manages to surprise me. I’ve come to expect his tales as gritty and disturbing, which is just the way I like it, but then he drops some brutal twists that still manage to shock me although I read plenty of dark thrillers and should be used to it by now.

Blood Men was awarded the Ngaio Marsh prize for best crime novel in 2011. It’s part of Cleave’s Christchurch Noir Crime series. It’s a standalone novel, but some characters also appear in Cleave’s other thrillers set in Christchurch, such as Detective Schroder. Most of them are now available on audio narrated by Paul Ansdell, and I intend to work my way through them, as I love Cleave’s writing, his dark humor, and Paul Ansdell’s excellent narration. Mr. Ansdell really brings the story to life and takes on the personality of Edward expressing all the emotions expertly. Great pacing as well. There were no production issues.

Blood Men contains plenty of violence and cruelty and hence will not be to everyone’s liking. If you’re looking for an enjoyable, feel-good thriller, this isn’t it. However, if you like really dark and really twisty, suspenseful and out of the ordinary, then I can highly recommend this.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher. show less