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    Five Minutes Alone: A Thriller
    Unavailable
    Five Minutes Alone: A Thriller
    Unavailable
    Five Minutes Alone: A Thriller
    Ebook547 pages8 hours

    Five Minutes Alone: A Thriller

    By Paul Cleave

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Breaking Bad reworked by the Coen Brothers.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

    In the latest thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of Joe Victim, someone is helping rape victims exact revenge on their attackers, prompting an edge-of-your-seat, cat-and-mouse chase between old friends, detectives Theodore Tate and Carl Schroder.

    Carl Schroder and Theodore Tate, labeled “The Coma Cops” by the media, are finally getting their lives back into shape. Tate has returned to the police force and is grateful to be back at home with his wife, Bridget. For Schroder, things are neither good nor bad. The bullet lodged in his head from a shooting six months ago hasn’t killed him, but—almost as deadly—it’s switched off his emotions.

    When the body of a convicted rapist is found, obliterated by an oncoming train, Tate works the case, trying to determine if this is murder or suicide. The following night, two more rapists go missing. It’s hard to investigate when everyone on the police force seems to be rooting for the killer.

    There’s a common plea detectives get from the loved ones of victims: When you find the man who did this, give me five minutes alone with him. And that’s exactly what someone is doing. Someone is helping these victims get their five minutes alone. But when innocent people start to die, Tate and Schroder find themselves with different objectives, and soon they’re battling something they never would’ve expected—each other.

    “Ferocious storytelling that makes you think and feel,” says The Listener (New Zealand). Smart, funny, and breathlessly suspenseful, Five Minutes Alone takes the definition of “crime thriller” to a whole new level.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtria Books
    Release dateOct 21, 2014
    ISBN9781476779164
    Unavailable
    Five Minutes Alone: A Thriller
    Author

    Paul Cleave

    Paul Cleave is the internationally bestselling author of ten award-winning crime thrillers, including Joe Victim, which was a finalist for the 2014 Edgar and Barry Awards, Trust No One and Five Minutes Alone, which won consecutive Ngaio Marsh Awards in 2015 and 2016. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

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    Reviews for Five Minutes Alone

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      From the Christchurch noir series featuring Carl Schroder and Theodore Tate, formerly known as the "coma cops," for both being in comas at the same time as the result of work-related injuries. Theo is back at work now, but Carl is still at home, disabled by a bullet delicately lodged in his brain. As cops, the two men had often heard victims (or survivors of victims) say that they wish they could just have five minutes alone with the perpetrators of the violent crimes against them. Now someone appears to be doing that: criminals newly released from jail or never convicted are turning up dead all over Christchurch.This is a complex thriller, intricately plotted, and though we know whodunnit almost from the beginning, we can't imagine how Cleave is going to resolve all the plot threads. He handles it wonderfully with lots of twists and turns and ups and downs.
    • 4/5
      As usual, I can't put a Paul Cleave down.I was wrestling with the title and just wasn't concisein my explanation.Tony (Chadds Ford, Pa) captured it so well....Check out his quote."Here’s the premise: People who have been violated in one way or another all wish for some kind of payback, or revenge against their assailant. What if there was a person who facilitated that payback, and helped to permanently eliminate that threat?"
    • 5/5
      Note: While this is Book 4 in the series, it works pretty well as a stand alone. There are some reveals about what happened to certain characters in previous books. Also, this series is part of the bigger overall Christchurch murder mysteries, which has intersecting timelines.Have you ever read a headline about some horrible crime and thought, ‘Well, the victim or their loved ones should get five minutes alone with the culprit!’. That’s the central plot to this book. A convicted rapist turns up dead and the Christchurch (New Zealand) cops aren’t too enthusiastic in investigating who might be responsible. Still, they have a job to do. Get ready for an intense cat and mouse game between avenging killer and reluctant yet dedicated detectives.Wow! This book was super intense! I really enjoyed it and it was difficult to put down in order to sleep for a few hours before picking it up again. Theo Tate is back on the force, having been sober for a year. He’s the king of second chances, as some call him. He’s messed up plenty of times and yet he always means well. His new partner is Rebecca Kent, who recently recovered from her own injuries which she received while on duty. They catch the the case involving the recently released convicted rapist and aren’t too excited about it.Meanwhile, Carl Schroeder, who also recently recovered from a serious injury, just isn’t the same. He’s no longer on the force but he’s got his own work keeping him busy. His story arc for this series is the most interesting so far! I’m really impressed with Cleave’s writing on this one! Schroeder was the guy that helped keep Tate on the side of good (most of the time). Now, Schroeder may be the one needing Tate to act the conscience for him.I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tate’s wife had a significant role in this book. If you’ve read the earlier books, then you know she has been mostly out of the picture. Now her presence brings Tate both joy and anxiety. I don’t want to say too much because I do my best to avoid spoilers. Just know that Cleave is upping his game by bringing Bridget into the mix.There’s also Warren the spider, a kind of pet to one of the characters. His cheeky remarks provided some humor to this dark and gritty tale. I was a little sad to see that Warren will probably not be in further novels.The plot was intense! I now, I already mentioned that, but I really mean it! There was never a dull moment. As the reader, we know right away who this mysterious avenging killer is. At first, I was rooting for this person, but as the story unfolds, this vigilante makes mistakes and good people start dying. With the first accidental death, I was ready to forgive the vigilante, because, hey, we all make mistakes. But the bodies kept piling up and it became obvious that this type of justice has a cost. Cleave is clever in that he doesn’t stop there. Instead, through these gripping characters, he asks the question of whether this cost is less or more than the cost society and victims pay under the current justice system. The cat and mouse game continues as each of our main detectives have to weigh the answer for themselves.This was an excellent murder mystery turned thriller. I really wasn’t sure where Cleave would take the story on the final stretch. In the end, I was very satisfied, feeling that a kind of justice was meted out while staying true to overall feel of the book. I look forward to seeing what he does next. Theo Tate already needs plenty of therapy.I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Audiobook Jukebox.Narration: Paul Ansdell did a pretty good job. His individual voices started off crisp and distinct, though well into the book Tate and Schroeder started to sound the same. From there forward, it was off and on with the clear distinction between these two. However, the text is often very clear about who is talking, so that made it easy for most of the book to keep things straight. Ansdell has believable female voices unless they are sad and anguished. His voice tends to drop several notes when he mimics a woman in deep sorrow or distress. For the purposes of the story, that doesn’t really matter. Ansdell does a great job imbuing the characters with emotion.
    • 5/5
      I have not read the prior three novels in this series. Although I do own another book by this author. I just have not had the chance to pick it up and read it. Well after reading this book, I am going back and picking it up. I could not stop reading this book. I totally got the reason for the killings. Luckily and I hope that I never had to ask for my "Five Minutes". There was no secret about who was responsible for the killings. Which I liked. All I could think was would that person be caught and if so what would happen? The dymanics of Tate and Schroder's relationship was complex but it added to the story. Not only because I could not get enough of this book do I want to go back and read the prior novels but I also want to read more about the incident that happened years ago to tear Tate and Schroder apart. Also, if don't be afraid to check this book out as the killings are not talked about in gruesome details. I would say that author brings out the more human aspect of the reason for the killings and does not mainly focus on the killings.