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    The Cleaner: A Thriller
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    The Cleaner: A Thriller
    Unavailable
    The Cleaner: A Thriller
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Cleaner: A Thriller

    Written by Paul Cleave

    Narrated by Paul Ansdell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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. All he needs now is to take care of all the women who keep getting in his way, including his overprotective mother.

    Then there's the mysterious Melissa, the only woman to have ever understood him, but whose fantasies of blackmail and torture don't have a place in Joe's investigation.

    ©2006 Paul Cleave (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateSep 8, 2015
    ISBN9781681414171
    Unavailable
    The Cleaner: A Thriller
    Author

    Paul Cleave

    Paul Cleave is an award-winning author who often divides his time between his home city of 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 more than twenty languages. He’s thrown his Frisbee in more than forty countries, plays tennis badly, golf even worse, and has two cats – which is often two too many. The critically acclaimed The Quiet People was published in 2021, with The Pain Tourist following in 2022.

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    Reviews for The Cleaner

    4/5

    111 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Ein absoluter Lesegenuss!
    • 5/5
      Terrific book! Sure, it's about a serial killer, but it's funny too. Nasty humor (in a good way). One I my favorite aspects is how he sometimes feels confused or is in denial about what he does. For example, he puts rat poison into his mother's coffee and then spends the whole night worried that something bad will happen to her. This was really fun to read.
    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      This is Paul Cleave's first book; it is also the direct prequel to Joe Victim, his latest book which I read recently. Since I read the books the wrong way round I knew all the who-dunnits in this book but did not know the whys or hows. This did affect my enjoyment of the book and I do highly recommend you read the two books in the proper order! However, I enjoyed Joe Victim so much I just had to read the beginnings of his story. This (well both books) is a very unique take on the serial killer book as it is almost entirely told from the killer's point of view and we hardly even get to know the police investigators in this first beginning book. They have developed into characters by the time we get to the latest book, Joe Victim, the 7th in the series, though. But here, they show up occasionally and mostly through Joe, the cleaner's, point of view. The scary thing about this story is that even with the entire violent, ruthless murders we are somehow drawn to Joe and he does become an unwillingly sympathetic character to the reader in an unsettling way to my dismay, even though he is completely unlikable as a person and unreliable as a narrator. Occasionally another narrator will take over and we get an outsider's take on the case, but as I said this is not from the police themselves; they are kept as background characters making this a very unique style of thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. I just didn't get the full impact since I had already read the sequel which keeps no secrets of the events that happen here. I'm impressed with this author and will move on to his next book which revolves around the same police department in Christchurch, NZ.
    • 3/5
      The first half of this book is excellent, but, after a while, it gets too clever for its own good. I found the ending oddly unsatisfying.
    • 4/5
      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 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
    • 5/5
      The Cleaner by Paul CleaveThe Christchurch Noir Mystery Series Book #14.5 ★'sFrom 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 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.
    • 3/5
      Aus der Sicht des Serienmörders Joe wird diese Geschichte erzählt. Joes Hobby ist Mord, er ist ein brutaler, sadistischer Charakter. Ich könnte dem Buch nicht so viel abgewinnen. Die Perspektive Joes soll ihm wohl Sympathien gewinnen und tendenziell sogar lustig sein. Ich fand das Buch aber in erster Linie abstossend aufgund seiner Brutalität und Menschenverachtung. Dass man die Perspektive des Mörders einnimmt und ihn dann evtl. noch vestehen soll, fand ich einfach zynisch.Dass ich dennoch ein paar Punkte gebe, liegt daran, dass sich das Buch gut liest und zum Ende hin recht spannend ist.
    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      compelling thriller...twisted...Christchurch, New Zealand..... serial killer.....Christchurch Noir Crime Series Joe Middleton " is in control of everything in his simple life—both his day job as a janitor for the police department and his “night work.” " (from description)
    • 5/5
      Originally published in New Zealand in 2006, Paul Cleave’s books are being published in the U.S. for the first time, and publisher Simon & Schuster has a sure bet on their hands with The Cleaner. “Slow Joe” is working as a janitor in the police department of Christchurch, New Zealand. The thing is … Joe isn’t really slow at all. He is a serial killer. Working with the police allows him to keep tabs on the investigation into the gruesome deaths of seven women. The problem is, one of those murders was committed by someone else, and Joe is not happy to see it included among his own work. His plan is to find that killer and frame him for the whole shebang. This book is dark, violent, visually disturbing and funny!And then, just when you think you’ve taken all the ugly you can handle… there’s his latest date…
    • 4/5
      THE CLEANERBy Paul CleaveJoe is not your average Joe. The people he works with at the police station call him ‘Slow Joe’. He is a member of the janitorial staff and he keeps all the offices and the squad rooms clean. But Joe is not really slow. He has perfected his act so finely tuned he even surprises himself. Joe is a serial killer. The worst kind of serial killer because he feels no remorse. He preys upon and kills women with such a ferocity that even the detectives attempting to solve the murders are baffled. Once they leave for the day, Joe peruses their files, dumps and roots through their trash and even keeps a small recording device hidden in the main squad room which he manages to change the tape everyday. Always one step ahead….always flying just under the radar …able to kill and kill again.Until….Joe notices that one of the murders being pinned on his killing spree is not his handiwork. Someone has decided to kill and allow the murder to be lumped in with his killings. How creative!Using all of his resources, Joe sets out to track down the ‘thorn in his side’. How dare anyone think that they are smarter than he is…To add insult to injury, working along side Joe is a young woman smitten with him. Her name is Holly and she is grieving the loss of her brother Martin due to illness and her father’s slow descent into Dementia. Joe tolerates her affections and her kindness but finds her barely worth a second glance romantically…….Now things begin to get really interesting…THE CLEANER is a thriller that works on so many levels. Joe is no Dexter but doesn’t try to be…he is no blood splatter specialist… He is an ‘average Joe’A serial killer solving a murder through his knowledge of detail and scope is a refreshing change from the run of the mill suspense novel.I love the way Mr. Cleave thinks…and writes!