Blog Tour: The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

Published: November 25th, 2021
Publisher: Orenda Books
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this mind-blowing thriller. I’m still shook! Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Karen at Orenda for the eBook ARC.

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SYNOPSIS:

Suspicion is cast on two successful crime writers, when their seven-year-old son goes missing. Are they trying to show that they can commit the perfect crime? A mesmerisingly twisty, dark thriller from number-one bestselling author Paul Cleave…

Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful New Zealand crime writers, happily married and topping bestseller lists worldwide. They have been on the promotional circuit for years, joking that no one knows how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living.

So when their challenging seven-year-old son Zach disappears, the police and the public naturally wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been saying all this time… 

Are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?

Electrifying, taut and immaculately plotted, The Quiet People is a chilling, tantalisingly twisted thriller that will keep you gripped and guessing to the last explosive page.

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MY REVIEW:

“I know how it looks but we didn’t do this. Somebody is doing this to us.”

Holy twist Batman! The Quiet People is a psychological thriller on steroids. Deliciously dark, crazy and twisted, this one had me glued to my kindle from start to finish.  You think you know the answers, but you have no idea…

Husband and wife crime-writing duo Cameron and Lisa Murdoch find themselves in the midst of every parent’s worst nightmare when their seven-year-old son, Zach goes missing. And to compound their grief/turmoil, they find that their job also makes them the police’s prime suspects, embroiling them in a fight to not only find their son, but clear their names. 

I am still reeling from this book, and doubt I’ll recover any time soon. So twisty it made me dizzy, this is a clever book rich with details, twists and something sinister. It takes you to some unsettling places, a pervading dread lingering over each page that tells you no one is coming out of this story unscathed. The plot is intricately woven, the threads slowly unravelling with each twist. And there are A LOT of them. Each time I thought I had it figured out, BOOM! I’m hit with another shocking twist that turns the world on its axis and makes me re-evaluate everything I think I know. So buckle up and hold on tight, because this high-octane thrill ride is a bumpy one. 

“Zach doesn’t answer, but Mr What If does. Mr What If is the voice in my imagination who comes out to play when I’m working. It’s the voice that sends my characters down paths I’m not expecting, who can take any everyday situation and turn it on it’s head.”

Cameron was a brilliant protagonist. You think he’s reliable, but there is always that tiny sliver of doubt in the back of your mind, adding to the tension. But his pain, grief, regret, anger and desperation is achingly real, his emotions leaping from the page. And I felt helpless, unable to do anything but watch as the Murdoch’s lives unravelled before my eyes. Lisa is more of a mystery and we see little of her, but all the same I was rooting for them, especially in the face of such vicious hatred and attacks from the general public where they’ve been tried before there’s any real evidence of their guilt. 

One of my favourite parts of the book was Mr What If, the voice in Cameron’s head that tells him where to send his characters, that always lingers, whispering in his ear.  I really enjoyed the concept and how when the tone got darker and things began to spiral even further out of control, it was Mr What If at the helm, encouraging Cameron with his intoxicating words. It’s a devil on his shoulder that he doesn’t want to shake. 

This twisty psychological puzzle is suspense at its best. It was my first foray into Paul Cleave’s books and I am an instant fan. With assured writing, great characterisation, a captivating plot and heaps of tension he has crafted a nail-biting and unputdownable thriller that will blow your mind. 

READ. IT. NOW. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Paul is Christchurch born and raised, and other than a couple of years when he was living in London and bouncing around Europe a little, he’s always lived there. Paul wanted to write horror, and it was a few years in when he realised that crime – real life crime – is horror. When he made that connection, he turned to writing dark crime fiction, writing first The Killing Hour, and then The Cleaner, in his mid-twenties. Not long after that Paul sold his house and lived with his parents so he could write full time – a gamble that paid off a few years later when Random House signed him up. From that point on he’s written his dark tales set in his home city, introducing Joe Middleton – the Christchurch Carver, and Melissa, and Theodore Tate, and Schroder, and Jerry Gray, among others to the world.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Orenda Books | Waterstones*| Bookshop.org*| Amazon | Google Books| Apple Books| Kobo
*These are affiliate links

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Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the tour.

Thanks for reading Bibliophiles ☺️ Emma xxx