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.
The Quiet People by Paul Cleave is published in paperback on 25 November 2021 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour.
I read a lot of crime fiction, lots and lots of it. I can cope with most subjects and I just love to be thrilled. The Quiet People made me feel anxious, not in a bad way, but in a heart stopping, mouth-drying, eager to know more way. It is an incredible read, one that had me turning the pages frantically, and gasping at every single unexpected event that the author throws at us.
I do love a book that features the world of publishing, and this one has two crime authors as the main characters. Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are a crime writing duo whose books are best sellers in their homeland of New Zealand, and across the globe. Cameron and Lisa are also married, they have a small son Zach.
Zach is not the easiest of children. He has regular meltdowns that the couple try to manage as best they can. This particular day has been especially fraught. Cameron took Zach to the fair where he lost sight of him for a short while. In his panic whilst trying to find him, he upset more than one person. It's all documented on phone cameras and film.
Zach doesn't really settle that night and in the morning he is missing. Gone, vanished from his room. He's threatened to run away many times, but there's a large footprint under his window.
Over the years Cameron and Lisa have made many comments about plotting the perfect crime, about being able to murder someone and get away with it. People remember these things, and the media make much of their previous comments. Soon, not only are they two people desperately worried about their small son, they are also suspects.
What this author does, and what caused my anxiety is pull the reader in, right at the beginning, with an explosive prologue. The reader is sure that they know exactly what happened to Zach, and it's clever, so very very clever. I was constantly questioning myself, and without that intriguing and compelling prologue the reader would most certainly read this story in a totally different way.
Please expect the unexpected, also be prepared for a fast paced read that will take you places that you really don't expect. Be prepared for the massive impact on the Murdochs of having enemies, especially one who has access to millions of people via social media.
This is an exploration of family and the impact of fame, success and challenging behaviour. As the characters develop, so does the reader's opinion of them, and believe me, you will change your mind many times.
The Quiet People is so very very intense, so dark and utterly compelling. Paul Cleave writes with such power and such force. This is crime fiction at its best and one of my favourite books of this year so far.
Christchurch, New Zealand, where most of his novels are set, and Europe.
He’s won the New Zealand Ngaio Marsh Award three times, the Saint-Maur book festival’s crime novel of the year award in France, and has been shortlisted for the Edgar and the Barry in the US and the Ned Kelly in Australia.
His books have been translated into over twenty languages. He’s thrown his Frisbee in over forty countries, plays tennis badly, golf even worse, and has two cats – which is often two too many.
Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulCleave, and his website: paulcleave.com
No comments:
Post a Comment