Book Review - Whatever It Takes by Paul Cleave

Title: Whatever It Takes
Series: -
Author: Paul Cleave
 
Description: When seven-year-old Alyssa is kidnapped, Deputy Noah harper decides he will do what ivt takes to find her – but that means crossing lines he can never come back from. Finding the girl safe, isn’t enough to stop Noah from losing his job, his wife, and from being kicked out of Acacia Pines. He’s told if he ever returns, he’ll be put in jail en left there to rot. Now, 12 years later, comes a phone call. Alyssa is missing again and her father wants him to honor the promise he made to her all those years earlier – that he would never let anything bad happen to her again. To find her, Noah is going to have to head back to the pines, and come face to face with the past…
 
Review: Former deputy sheriff Noah harper has lost everything he had. Searching for the missing young girl Alyssa Stone, he goes way overboard in interrogating a suspect. In the process, he mistreat the Sheriff’s son to elicit a confession from him. The discovery and rescue of the missing girl subsequently cannot prevent Noah from losing his job, his wife and his hometown.
 
Twelve years later, he receives a phone call that Alyssa is once again missing. He returns to Acacia Pines, the town where his roots lie and where really no one is waiting for his arrival.
 
The story is surprisingly multifaceted and features a number of residents of the fictional town of Acacia Pines. In addition to their own behaviors, the inhabitants also have their own motives. As a result, a story filled with violence and suspects. Clues are served alongside numerous twists that help us unravel what happened. It’s set in a small town, a great setting for a story like this. Author Paul Cleave describes it very well, you can easily picture it, even though it’s fictional. Noah has known all these people his whole life, but he doesn’t know who he can and cannot trust.
 
It was an enjoyable book, I liked the twists and the ending. I will definitely explore more of Paul Cleave’s backlist.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

Title: The Quiet People
Series: -
Author: Paul Cleave
 
Description: Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are succesful crime writers. They have been on the promotional circuit, joking that no one knoew how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living.
 
So when their seven-year-old son Zach goes missing, the police and the public naturally wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been sayin all this time…. Are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?
 
Review: We meet Cameron and Lisa Murdoch, a married couple and a successful crime writers duo. Together with their son Zach, they live the good life. Zach is not you typical child, he requires special care and sometimes has raging outbursts. Cameron and Lisa have it under control, but there are still moments were it’s difficult.
 
The book starts with Cameron who is spending the day with his son, where certain things happen which will affect both Zach and Cameron. Later, Zach goes missing. Cameron and Lisa are the first suspects, since they have joked about the fact that they can commit the perfect crime because of their work as crime authors. Consequently, public opinion is quick to judge and point the finger at them as well, and a veritable media circus erupts.
The fact that Zach is somewhat difficult to deal with, Cameron’s unfortunate actions, the fact that Lisa and Cameron are crime writers and public opinion is quickly formed, are the main plot points of the book. Author Paul Cleave manages to intertwine this with the police investigation and a number of possible scenarios about the disappearance.
 
As a reader you are thrown back and forth and you don’t know who you can believe or not. The book has a medium pace, but constant tension. The writing style is smooth and it holds your attention. Cleave’s way of explaining things is sometimes a bit too elaborate, but not to the point it gets annoying.
 
The story is told from two different perspectives, Cameron and Detective Kent, and you only know that due to the narration. The chapters itself don’t tell you whose perspective you are following, until you start the chapter. But two storylines really help in a story like this.
 
Besides finding Zach, there is much more going on. Human prejudice, resentment, mistakes that are made, events that can be interpreted in multiple ways make it very difficult to get an overview of what really happened. While reading you have no idea which direction the story will be going in. The type of reveal/ twist has been done before, but it’s still surprising and well-done. Even though this is not a story where you can think along and then try to solve the mystery yourself, it’s a compelling and tense story that will keep your attention almost the entire time.
 
Rating: 3, 5/ 5