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Cloggie Downunder
brilliant crime fiction
“You’re still trying to get used to the idea of what’s happening. You have another appointment later in the week … with a counsellor who is going to give you an idea of what to expect. They’ll no doubt tell you about the seven stages of grief – wait, no, it’s seven deadly sins, seven dwarfs, seven reindeer – grief only has five stages. Denial, Anger, Blitzen, Dopey and Bargaining.”
Trust No One is the ninth novel by award-winning New Zealand author, Paul Cleave. Jerry Grey is a crime writer. He’s written eleven really good crime thrillers; the twelfth wasn’t as good, and the thirteenth, his editor says, has quite a lot of mistakes. That’s because, at age forty-nine, Jerry has developed Alzheimer’s dementia.
When he was diagnosed, the counsellor warned that he might well be in a nursing home within months. And it is indeed this nursing home resident who has found his (obviously very determined) way into the city where he is at the Police Station confessing to an attractive young female detective a murder he committed thirty years before. Trouble is, no one will believe him. The woman keeps telling him the victim, Suzan (with a z) is not real.
Finally, she pulls out a crime novel written by Henry Cutter and shows him the back-cover blurb: the plot is exactly what Jerry is describing. Henry Cutter is Jerry’s pseudonym: “Henry Cutter is who he would become when he wrote, because that way he could be Henry for the bad times and Jerry for the good.” Jerry accepts this, and memories slowly stir, solidify: the attractive young woman is actually his daughter, Eva.
But when Jerry finally returns to his nursing home room, he finds an item in his pocket that he recognises from the afternoon TV news broadcast: if only he could remember where he has been and what he has done, and how he has acquired it. Jerry begins to wonder, can he trust his carers? His friends? Himself?
Following his diagnosis, almost a year earlier, Jerry began writing a journal for Future Jerry “It was a way of reminding my future self of who I was.” Unfortunately it also meant that, in his lucid moments, he would be acutely aware of what he had lost. Journal writer Jerry recorded events and experiences with wit and humour. Sometimes Henry, not such a nice guy, but good at figuring things out, contributed to it.
Cleave gives the reader an original plot that is cleverly constructed with little clues, hints and red herrings. Initially the pace is measured, but the first clue will have the reader hooked and the pages turning right up to the dramatic climax. Cleave certainly keeps the reader guessing: is Jerry not just writing crime, but actually committing it? Or is his alter-ego, Henry Cutter doing the deeds? Perhaps someone around him is taking advantage of his mental state to handily despatch a rival while Jerry takes the blame? Or is there something even more sinister going on?
Jerry, both when lucid and confused, is guileless, the ultimate unreliable narrator. When Captain A (his Alzheimer’s) is in charge of his mind, Jerry comes out with some laugh-out-loud stuff, statements that amply illustrate he has lost touch with reason and reality, and perhaps descended into a slight paranoia.
Jerry seems to be mired in the ‘bargaining” stage: “I know why I have Alzheimer’s. It’s because the Universe is punishing me for the bad things I’ve done. I hurt somebody, maybe even more than one person. The only hope I have of the Universe returning my memories is if I confess to my crimes. I have to go to the police.”
Cleave paints a realistic picture of how the Alzheimer’s brain functions to produce seemingly inexplicable behaviour. The scene where Jerry wakes in his nursing home room, a little hungover after the previous night’s excesses (he thinks), certain that he is in a German Hotel room, on a book tour, is both blackly funny and heart-breakingly real. This is brilliant crime fiction that neatly demonstrates how the concepts of truth, innocence and guilt are altered when the memory is flawed. Topical, thought-provoking and filled with dark humour
Mary O. (Boston, MA)
Riveting
A brilliant novel with twists and turns that make it hard to put down. It is a perfect summer beach read. The addition of the backdrop of early onset Alzheimer's adds another dimension to this murder mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! Highly recommended
Sherri A. (Westbrook, CT)
the terror of forgetting
I love when a well-known, respected author of the thrillers/crime/mystery genre writes a standalone. They get to flex their literary muscles without depending on familiar characters. Such is the case in the brilliant novel Trust No One. Imagine a man, confessing to his crimes as a serial killer(in great, realistic detail), who also happens to have written novels along the exact same line as the crimes that he is confessing to, except that he cannot remember any of that, because he also has early-onset Alzheimers...WOW. Did he? Is he? Paul Cleave confessed in an interview recently that this is his favorite novel(not because it is his newest) and I can absolutely see why--riveting from the early pages on.Absolutely original. Bravo!
Rosemary C. (Austin, TX)
An engaging story
Mr. Cleave has implemented a clever plot idea and executed it well. He's an excellent writer and I enjoyed the gallows humor throughout.
Joan N. (Evanston, IL)
Rubic's Cube of a Thriller
From the very first page I knew I was in the hands of a master. This story of a crime writer and his increasing memory problems because of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease is a real page-turner because of the heightening suspense: Did he kill those women? Why doesn't he remember? Or was the murderer his alter ego, Henry Cutter, his pen name? Fiction, memory, and reality are mixed in the deteriorating mind of the narrator Jerry Grey. What could have been a maudlin story about the increasing isolation of the disease becomes instead a many-faceted puzzle that kept me guessing and trying out solutions, like a maddening but addicting Rubic's Cube. I couldn't put it down
Judy G. (Carmel, IN)
Captain A
I loved this book! Twists and turns in memory and reality within the traumatic world of an Alzheimer's patient made this not only a thrilling read but also yet another insight into the world of patients with "Captain A" in charge of their lives.
Carole P. (Framingham, MA)
Trust No One
I cannot say I liked this book, but I could not put it down. It is one of the most intense and unsettling books that I have read in a long time. Jerry Grey is a successful mystery writer. Sadly he has developed Alzheimer's. When his dementia begins to take over his life, everything falls apart. He has written twelve books about twelve violent murderers. Now he confesses that each murder was real and that he is the killer. What really is true? Is he a killer who can no longer hide the truth? Is the confession really caused by his confusion brought on by the Alzheimer's?
Paul Cleave is a gifted writer. He draws you into his story , even if you don't want to go there. Did this book bother me? Yes! Would I recommend it? Absolutely!
James R. (Cohoes, NY)
Slip Sliding Away
When it comes to the "unreliable narrator" genre, it would be hard to top someone with early onset, rapidly progressive Alzheimer's disease. Make that individual a renowned crime writer who may or may not be living out the stories he wrote, add a constantly shifting time frame, and you have the formula for either a very confusing storyline or a great psychological thriller. In this case, it is clearly the latter. Fluid timeframes, fact v. fiction, all combine in the first two-thirds of the book to give a real sense of the shifting sand that any Alzheimer patient experiences. One almost has the sense of sliding down that slope with the main character. The last third of the book accelerates the pace to the point where I couldn't put it down. A great read … I loved it.
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