The Pain Tourist
Paul Cleave
276 pages
Orenda Books
Published November 10, 2022
Amazon | Goodreads
About the book:
How can you catch a killer
When the only evidence is a dream…?
James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.
But between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help … especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town…
My Review
I believe this is my first Paul Cleave read and I’m so glad I discovered his books. This is quite the unique story. We follow James in his dream world, that I will admit confused me for a moment at the start of the book, but then I caught on. James has created the world he wants in his coma and can keep all of his happy family memories and create new ones as he would like his world to be even though in the real world his parents were murdered. Can James thoughts help to solve his parents’ murders?
This is all intertwined with two other cases to create an incredibly layered story that kept me guessing. Are the cases related? Does James hold the key to solving them? I was deeply suspicious of multiple characters. It isn’t often that you get a deep characterization in a stand alone crime novel, but this one does. I was fascinated by James.
I highly recommend this one for the clever plot and great characters.
About the Author
Paul is an award-winning author who often divides his time between his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where his novels are set, and Europe, where none of his novels are set. His books have been translated into over twenty languages. He’s won the won the Ngaio Marsh Award three times, the Saint-Maur Crime Novel of the Year Award, and Foreword Reviews Thriller of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly, Edgar and Barry Awards. 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. The Pain Tourist is his (lucky) thirteenth novel.
Anne Cater
Thanks for the blog tour support x