Overly complicated and just overdone altogether. Too many story directions. I wanted to like it but it lost my attention.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

Finally, finished a book early enough in the day to read this one. It's been on my TBR for a while. I wasn't holding off for any reason other than I thought it would be a little more on the horror side. Well, after waiting all this time to read it, I really didn't have to wait. This was not a book that gave me nightmares at all. Which actually worked out better for me.

I loved the overall concept of the book. "Can receiving the eyes of a serial killer through enucleation cause you to have visions from that serial killer?" Crazy, huh? Well, let me tell you, it was and it gets even crazier at the end. It was creepy and I really like how it worked out in the end.

There were so many times that I thought the book was almost over, however, I would look down and see there was still a lot of time left. I was thinking where else can this book go and then YOWZA - another complete twist and I was mesmerized all over again.

Interesting concept, great read, could not put it down!!

Thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I didn't even want to read this one because I figured it was another King-style rip-off "seeing thru another's eyes". This guy is great; he needs a better PR firm because I have never heard of him. I will look for his others, great book.

Paul Cleave writes scenes that really creep you out. If you like scary mystery, this is your guy.

I had high hopes for this book, the description sounded really good and a bit different but i just couldn't get into it.
I have been trying to read it for the past few days but its just not for me I'm sorry to say!
The idea behind the story, the plot is great but its slow going.
I wouldn't want to put people off reading this book because i am positive other people will love it.
Sorry

Joshua is a blind teenager who believes that his vision impairment is part of a larger family curse that also caused the deaths of his biological parents. Now the father who raised him, Detective Logan, has been killed while investigating the murder of a young woman. The only good news to come from this tragedy is that Joshua is being offered corneal implant surgery to regain his vision – he will receive the eyes of his deceased surrogate father.

The surgery seems to be a success, but Joshua begins to recognize people and places that he has never seen before. He sees and feels memories that may have belonged to the previous owner of his transplanted corneas – and not all of the memories seem to be coming from his father. It soon comes to light that there has been a mix up at the hospital – Joshua received one eye from Detective Logan, and one from the suspect that was killed by Logan’s partner on that same morning. The images that come to Joshua from the eye of the suspect, Simon Bower, show him the darkness that exists in his new world of sight.

In alternative chapters, Simon’s accomplice Vincent wants revenge for the death of his friend. Logan’s surviving friends and family become targets in his scheme, and he is getting increasingly closer to Joshua. Meanwhile, he is also involved in the case of the murdered young woman, and the disappearance of several others. Although Vincent is somewhat flat as a character, the multiple points of view work well to form a full picture of the events of the novel.

I found the issue of cellular memory (Joshua’s ability to “see” the memories of his eyes’ previous owners) to be very interesting, and even if it isn’t based in scientific fact, I could suspend disbelief and consider the possibilities. However, I just didn’t find the plot to be particularly thrilling or scary. It was mostly just unbelievable and not even that exciting. The characters were undeveloped and the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic. The layered plot is what kept me reading, but when all the threads came together in the end, it was disappointing. I enjoyed this novel for what it was, and I would probably read something else by Cleave, but in the end I found both the plot and the characters lacking in depth and excitement.

I received this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars!

The story starts with a murder, Joshua’s dad dies while investigating another murder and in return his partner kills the guy. Talk about a powerful opening to a story, I was immediately drawn in because I could already tell there was more to these characters. After his father’s death Joshua is pulled from his class and rushed to the hospital for an eye transplant, taking his father’s eyeballs. Shortly after his recovery, and after his friends abandon him because he’s not blind anymore, he goes into semi hiding due to the press. And then everything goes to shit.

I’m going to stop here and point out something from the blurb, “But a mishap during the surgery leads to Joshua unknowingly getting one eye from his father, and the other from Simon.” That’s not what happens, at all. Obviously from the blurb we know that he got one eye from his father and one from the killer, the reason why that happened ruined the entire thing for me. This is the kind of book that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The minor details, from the detectives investigating a murder on the first page and being totally careless, doing stuff that even I, a civilian, wouldn’t do, from the medical stuff that handles surgeries and transplants. I was in a constant state of WTF and this would never happen are you kidding me.

If the book had been promoted as Horror since the scenes on this book are hilariously over the top, bloody and just something out of a cheap gore horror movie, I would have gone in with a different mindset, had I requested this at all. I though this would be a mystery, crime book with a twist around the eye situation, what I got instead was incompetent people in very important situations fucking up all the time so it could work out for the plot. I did like roughly the first half, the nice set up for something good to follow that never did and the way Cleave wrote, it was the only thing that made me push through the later half of the book.

The story line of this book, while being a little far fetched, is also very different and inventive. The book takes off at high speed and never slows down, leaving you tense and breathless, the way a good thriller should. Don't miss this one if you are looking for suspense but hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

yes.
yas.
YASSSSSS.
So this was not quite the nail-biter as Trust No One.
Well, not until about 70% of the way through the book.
THEN BAM, EVERYTHING WAS HAPPENING AND I WAS SO EXCITED AND SO SCARED AND THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF THRILLER.

Joshua Logan is different. He is convinced there is a curse over his family. Maybe because he was born blind. Maybe because his birth parents died when he was young. Maybe because his new father is now dead too. But Mitchell Logan was on the police force and made sure Joshua was taken care of in the upmost way possible. He was going to give him the gift of sight.
After the surgery, Joshua only has one eye that truly works.
But for some reason, he's recognizing faces he has never seen before. He's not just recognizing voices or descriptions brought to life, he's seeing it with his NEW own two eyes. He's seeing visions and dreams so vivid, there's no way he could be imagining these things.
Could cellular memory be the cause of this?
Do other people experience this after surgery?
It's like the race car driver effect. When you get a heart transplant from someone who use to be a race car driver, you suddenly feel a strong urge to start watching Nascar and feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins.

I so wish I could get into the ending of the book, but there is no way I can talk about it without giving everything away. Just know, this book was fan-freaking-tastic.

Thank you NetGalley for hooking me up with another of Paul Cleave's book!

Wow! Wow! Wow! This book starts off with a bang. No slow start here. I was dragged in from the first few chapters and was begging not to adult today so I could do nothing other than read this book! Smart, clever, unique theme and excellent narration made this book a win for me! Just when I thought the book would end, it turned a different corner. Most edge of my seat book I've read this year! Loved everything about it. Definitely recommending this to everyone!! Way to go!

Believe it or not, I have never read a Paul Cleave novel before! I know, I know, from what I hear, I am seriously missing out. I was pretty pumped when #cjsreads decided to pick up A Killer Harvest, the newest publication by Paul Cleave for one of our August reads. Chelsea, my good friend from The Suspense Is Thrilling Me, had raved about this one to me months ago so I was going in with pretty high expectations. I am glad to report that this novel met (and surpassed!) all my expectations. I binge read this one over the course of a few hours and was left with a serious book hangover.

Sort of a mix between sci-fi, thriller, and mystery, Cleave weaves a seriously addicting novel from the first pages. A detective is killed in the line of duty and his murderer (a known serial killer) is also killed. Hours later, a blind teenager, Joshua, goes into surgery to receive a set of eyes to try and restore his vision; after a mishap, the teenager receives his sight after obtaining one eye from the detective and the other from the serial killer. As Joshua gains his sight, he begins to recognize people he shouldn’t recognize (after all he has never seen them before) and seeing memories from someone else’s life, leading him to realize that perhaps he is dealing with cellular memory. As Joshua begins to discover what this means, and another murderer hell bent on avenging his partner’s death, Joshua finds himself in grave danger.

Crazy, right??

I loved how this novel sort of had a sci-fi, medical thriller vibe but it was extremely realistic. Could this potentially happen in real life? Maybe? I’m not sure but it absolutely had me thinking there was a truth to be told. Cleave has a serious honesty about his writing that had me hooked. I loved the characters and found Joshua extremely likeable and relatable, even as a young adult character. The story never felt young or over exaggerated (which is a problem I often find in adult literature with a YA narrator). Cleave was able to find a perfect balance.

This book was non-stop action and I found myself violently flipping pages as I devoured this novel. The ending was my absolute favourite. I loved how Cleave chose to tie all the various storylines together.

Overall, I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys a fast paced, thrilling read. I gave it 5/5 stars.

Thanks to Atria Books for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest review!

As another shock, I haven't read any Paul Cleave before (first Mary Kubica, then Karin Slaughter, and now this!) I will definitely be picking up more of his books. A KILLER HARVEST is about Joshua who is blind, but after receiving a new pair of eyes he quickly realizes that something has gone horribly wrong.

Joshua is a teenage boy who is convinced that he is cursed. His biological parents are gone, he is blind, and his father, Logan, a detective that took him in is killed. Logan was a detective working on a homicide case - Simon Bowers was the suspect of the young woman's death. The investigation ends in tragedy, with both Logan and Simon being killed.
After all is said and done, Joshua is presented with the opportunity to get a new pair of eyes. Of course he can't turn this down. However, there was a mishap during surgery and he ended up receiving an eye from Logan and one from Simon. Talk about crazy! As he adjusts to life with sight, he begins to get murky visions of what he believes to have been witnessed in their previous lives. Now Joshua must try to distinguish between what is truth and what are lies. Is he really seeing memories from the previous owners? As he tries to make sense of all of this, he realizes that he's in grave danger. Vincent, Simon's old partner, is hell bent on seeking vengeance for his partner's death. Is Joshua the new target?

This medical thriller meets sci-fi was packed with action! The characters are complex and well developed. The book is told from the perspective of Joshua, despite the narrator being a teenager, there isn't a YA feel. This novel has a fast pace and you'll find yourself binging on this one in one sitting (if I hadn't had plans where I had to leave the book at home, I definitely would have!). I loved how everything tied in at the end, lately it seems like some thrillers have a lackluster ending or a predictable one, not this one! The idea of cellular memory is eerie. Is this possible? Cleave does a great job making this story feel real and make the reader question these medical possibilities. Reminded me of the Jessica Alba movie, The Eye (only she saw ghosts).

If you want a page turning and addictive thriller, then look no further! A KILLER HARVEST needs to be on your TBR list for the summer.

I give this 5/5 stars!

Paul Cleave is now on my MUST READ list and I feel he should be on every fan of thrillers book shelves, too!
I read “Trust No One” and loved it, so I was very happy to get this ARC of his new book. Now I can add A KILLER HARVEST to this year’s list of my favorite books. I am in love with this author’s writing, plotting and pacing. When you think you are at the climax or you have everything figured out Mr. Cleave continually throws another plot twist, big or small, into the mix which makes you even more anxious and desperate to continue reading.
Joshua Logan believes he is cursed. He was born blind and lost his biological parents at a young age. He was taken in by his uncle and aunt, who he now calls mom and dad, but he can never take his happiness for granted.
While investigating a suspect believed to be a serial killer, Joshua’s detective father is killed. His partner kills the killer, but the curse has struck again. Joshua’s dad left a specific request in his will. If he was ever killed, his eyes would go to Joshua for a transplant and a chance at sight. As the donated eyes are transported to Joshua’s operating room, there is a mishap and Joshua receives one of his father’s eyes and one of the serial killer’s eyes which were also taken for donation.
After the surgery, Joshua begins to have strange and disturbing dreams. Sometimes he feels like he is seeing his father’s death from his father’s perspective and sometimes from the killer’s. He is also able to identify people that he has never seen before. As Joshua tries to deal with all the changes in his life, the serial killer’s accomplice is out to avenge his friend’s death. Joshua and all those close to him are in danger.
You may believe that you know how this will end from the brief summary above and past thriller plots, but in the hands of this author, you are so wrong! I could not stop thinking about this book when I had to put it down and could not wait to get back to it. Mr. Cleave knows how to masterfully take the reader on a journey that makes the unbelievable possible. I definitely need to start working my way through this author’s past catalogue. I highly recommend this book to all and especially those who love older Dean Koontz and Stephen King works that take a normal situation and twist it.
Thank you so much to Atria Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure!

What and interesting and captivating read. At first, I was a bit skeptic as to how this would work out exactly, but it was a great read. There was a ton of action that kept the pace going and I was never bored or thrown off. The story is both fascinating and disturbing, which I find hard to do now that it is so common, but the author did it just right. I felt bad for this guy for most of the book, he hasn't had a very nice life, but that only makes the story that much more intriguing. It's a bit far fetched but only in the way that it makes go "wait a minute..." and then BAM you get it. A number of twists and turns had me going for hours because I was desperate to get answers. I'm glad to say, I'll be picking up more of this author's work.

I fear I'm sounding like a broken record when it comes to Paul Cleave's thrillers - book after book he shows himself to be one of the world's finest authors when it comes to creating page-turners with real depth that dance along the darker edge of the crime and thriller genre.

His tenth novel is something of a departure: there's a teenage protagonist (but this is very much an adult thriller with a teen hero, rather than a young adult novel), and Cleave veers towards his horror roots with the inclusion of an eye transplant and the idea of 'cellular memory', where an organ recipient feels that they've inherited memories or feelings from the donor. Long-time Cleave fans shouldn't worry though - these aspects just add fascination to his tale, rather than overwhelming it.

If Cleave was a literary author - particularly one from Latin America - A Killer Harvest might be considered 'magic realism'; a story with a single fantastical element intertwined in a rich portrayal of an otherwise very realistic, grounded world. As Cleave showed with his previous novel, the superb psychological thriller Trust No One, he's not afraid to stretch his literary legs within the crime genre.

Despite its slightly experimental feel, A Killer Harvest is still one of those thrillers that you can absolutely tear through in one sitting, while never feeling like it's 'thin' or 'breezy'. It's a terrific read, darkly hypnotic, that entices you through the power of Cleave's characterisation and storytelling even more so than its high-concept hook. As we've come to expect from Cleave, there's a delicious malevolence, tempered by his trademark obsidian humour and prose that crackles like a campfire.

The narrative switches between teenager Joshua, struggling with the tragedy and opportunity surrounding his new eyesight, and several other characters. Cleave masterfully builds the tension as we shift perspectives; A Killer Harvest dances along assuredly through all the movements.

At its heart, A Killer Harvest is a tale of an isolated boy struggling to fit in, who now feels like 'a freak' in both the blind world and the sighted one. Who's faced tragedy from his earliest days, and must find something deep within himself as the sins of the father threaten to be visited upon the son.

Overall, A Killer Harvest is a superb read from a virtuoso of the darker edge of crime that is firmly in the mix for my 'best read of the year'. Very highly recommended.

This was is my 1st NetGalley review & I couldn't have picked a better book to read.
I loved this book and I thought the cover of the book was amazing.
I thought it was a well crafted, original, creepy and suspenseful fast paced thriller.
This was the 1st book that I read by the author, Paul Cleave, but it won't be my last.
I could see this book made into a movie.

This is a well executed thriller with a good premise that's not new but which has a twist- this time the recipient of the eyes is a son. Poor Joshua really could use a break. It's not that his family is cursed (although it's understandable why he might feel that way), it's that they've got both really bad luck and made really bad choices. The chance to see again is more than he can pass up although he never expected the secrets and lies those eyes will reveal to him. You'll root for Joshua as well as go up and down with him. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC- recommend this for thriller readers.

This book is intense in every way. There are moments that feel like the grand finale... but the book just keeps going. It deals with a lot of really fascinating topics... cellular memory, questions of morality, the bonds of friendship, and a teenager experiencing vision for the very first time in his entire life. It's very twisted and definitely threw me for a couple of loops, I was almost having a hard time keeping up!

This is my first Paul Cleave read and I'm impressed. He's an author I plan to add to my "must read" list. The chapters are short and relatively concise. The stress I felt for the characters was real!

One niggle: some of the dialogue. I rarely hear anyone use the word "nor" but at least two of the characters did, one being a teenager. Some of the speech just sounded unnatural to me, especially coming for someone so young. Very small issue in an incredibly well done book, so it doesn't really affect my opinion.

Joshua firmly believes that he's cursed. In his defense, he has experienced a lot in his short life. He was born blind, and his biological parents both died very young in separate incidents when he was a baby. He's been cared for since by his aunt and uncle, who've become his mother and father... so I'll refer to them as such, as he does. They all seem to have a healthy and loving relationship... until his dad is killed in the line of duty. His partner Ben then kills his murderer, a man named Simon that was known to them.

His dad has one last gift for Josh: his eyes. He had informed his partner that he wanted them given to his son. A local doctor has performed the groundbreaking operation several times. Left no time to grieve for his father or even begin to accept his death, Josh is rushed into the operating theater.

Thanks to an inept intern, there's a mix up... Josh does get one eye from his father, but the other came from the man that killed him, Simon. He can now see, but he starts to experience strange dreams and memories... glimpses into a past he didn't experience. His troubles are far from over.

Meanwhile, the best friend of the slain murderer is out for revenge. He's determined to get retribution for his loss, and it's not long before Josh and his loved ones are in his sights. (Sights, get it? I'll stop.)

An extremely well put together story. Suspend any disbelief you may experience and enjoy the crazy ride.

I was given an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Atria Books, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Paul Cleave became a go-to author for me a couple of years ago. He wowed me with his ability to tell such a unique, page-turning thriller. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book when I first saw it advertised. I knew that this would be yet another unique book.

This book is definitely a unique read. The basis of harvesting organs, with the recipients then taking on aspects of the donors' thoughts or mannerisms. Throw in a killer or two and you have the recipe for some page-turning scenes.

Part of the intrigue of this book is putting all of the pieces together. Who is who. Who is the killer. Who is after who. Getting all of the answers kept me turning the pages all of the way to the end.

I really had hoped that this book would have been of the same caliber as Trust No One in the sense that it would blow my mind, maybe leaving me a little dumb-founded. While I truly enjoyed this book, it did lack in those moments where my eyes were bulging and my jaw slack with shock. I think this story had the potential, however Mr. Cleave just didn't achieve that in this book.