Gritty, dark and undoubtedly one of the best surprises of the year!

A Killer Harvest is a spine-chilling, often macabre, well-crafted thriller, with a side order of science fiction, that takes us on the hunt to find a missing woman and the vicious, sadistic serial killer responsible for her disappearance.

The characters are intriguing, well-developed, and complex. And the story starts off with a bang, simmers nicely with some mild action and character development, and then quickly spins at breakneck speed through unforeseen twists, well-timed surprises, murder, depravity, and unimaginable wickedness right up to the very last page and the fantastically creepy ending.

A Killer Harvest truly is an exceptionally riveting novel that will not only fascinate, shock, disturb, and frighten you, but will also leave you contemplating the idea of cellular memory and the potentially horrific consequences of "evil" being stored in all cells.

I have to admit when I requested this book I was expecting a good book, but this book is not only a good book it's a great book. I loved it, and I can guarantee this will not be the last time a book by Paul Cleave will be on my TBR list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada (Atria Books) for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Paul Cleave, the internationally bestselling powerhouse New Zealand author returns following Trust No One landing on my Top 10 Books of 2015 and Five Minutes Alone making its way to my Top 30 Books of 2014 with yet another jaw-dropping twisty suspense horror thriller — A KILLER HARVEST. It is indeed "Killer."

An avid Cleave fan: What sets this author apart from the competition? Many things. Tops: His creativity, talent, and his wicked dark humor!

Oh, and what a cover! Dynamite. Atria is killing it! I kept swishing at the last page, hoping for inspiration from the author. Would love to know the spark which ignited this story.

Those who enjoyed the movie Blink (1993) and Seven Pounds (2008) will be fascinated with A KILLER HARVEST — a new unique twist which keeps on spinning . . .

Now back to the book. Cellular Memory Horror. Dark secrets.

Poor Joshua Logan. He has had a run of very bad luck. A family curse. (I would say he is on to something here, for sure).

His dad jumped in front of a bus a few months before Joshua was born. He did it to save a small girl he never met who had slipped away from her mother’s grasp and had stumbled into the street.

A hero? A dad who was missing in his life. His mom was in his life for five months before meeting a bus of her own, in the form of a brain embolism.

Predestination.

Blind from birth. Biological parents gone. Joshua’s world is black. It has been his entire sixteen years. The curse made sure of that.

Now his current father (his aunt and uncle), Detective Mitchell Logan is killed. On a case. The suspect construction foreman, Simon Bowers. What do a killer and a cop have in common? Eyes.

Detective Inspector Ben Kirk (Logan’s partner) takes out Simon. However, before he takes him out, he needs to get answers to a few health questions.

The clock is ticking. Mitchell and Ben wanted to improve the world. Taking organs from the evil to give to the good.

The four best friends through high school: Mitchell (cop), Michelle (vet), Ben (cop), and Ben’s brother Jesse (teacher).

A dad's promise. He wanted his eyes to go to his son, Joshua.

Detective Vega, once again states his dad was a hero. No hero left for him. The guy that killed his dad was a bad guy and his dad makes sure that guy could not hurt anyone else.

However, now there is Simon’s friend, Vincent who wants revenge. He is a nasty one as well.

Joshua is the recipient of his dad’s eyes. He is hoping to be able to see the world his dad saw it. The new Joshua Logan is going to see for the first time, something he has wanted more than anything—just not at this price. The curse is not about balance. It takes and takes.

However, there was a mishap by a technician. His dad’s eyes and the killer’s eyes were dropped. Switched in error. Now, Josh has one of each.

The interesting twist is how he knows, or suspects. His mom says he owes it to his dad to be the best man he can. Was his dad a criminal as well?

The Doctor: Twenty-eight years of harvesting organs. For the last five years, a doctor has been harvesting them from the likes of Simon Bower.

Those killed in the commission of crime have had their names retroactively added to the database of organ donors whether they want to donate or not.

From a cabin in the woods, abduction, dogs, torture, blood, a woman, death. Josh begins seeing things. A nightmare or is he seeing things from the owner of his new eyes? Will his eyes and cellular memory give him two perspectives in order to solve a crime?

A vampire named Frederick in his books, to bullying, a partner in crime, danger, a serial killer, a girl named Ruby Carter, and a scar he has inherited. How many others are having weird dreams from their own donor?

Wow, Cleave knows how to create complex plot twists and intensity! Cellular memory takes on an evil twist (s) and no one does it better than Cleave. When the line (s) between good and evil are blurred.

The secrets of the past refuse to keep quiet in this razor-sharp, unputdownable, taut thriller. Readers will be immersed until the final page while never trusting a surgeon again in this lifetime.

I am beginning to suspect Paul Cleave/Stephen King may be long lost, brothers.

Looking forward to someone picking up his Cleave’s books for the wide screen. I want a front row seat! Also how about Cleave for a guest appearance on Younger (TV series) with Atria.

A special thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an early reading copy. Once again, top book list for the year.

JDCMustReadBooks

"How can you find monsters when they can live like anybody?"

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of reading Paul Cleave's thriller Trust No One. In that novel, Cleave managed to inject a fresh perspective into the genre while still maintaining the elements that have made me such a fan. I really enjoyed that book and was anxiously awaiting a followup. When his publisher provided me a copy of Cleave's latest novel, A Killer Harvest, I jumped at the opportunity to read it.

The persistent string of misfortune in Joshua's life can come down to only one thing. His family is cursed. How else can the death of his mother and father be explained? Why has he been plagued by blindness? Some might say he's being dramatic, but Joshua has experienced a lot of trauma in his short life. That's why the death of the detective who raised him comes as little surprise. He was investigating the disappearance of a woman when the suspect murdered him. Joshua's Uncle Ben, who happens to be his dad's partner, brought quick justice and killed the suspect on the spot.

Out of the tragedy comes a miracle. Joshua's Dad had the dying wish to donate his working organs. His eyes, in particular, go to Joshua. When the bandages are finally removed, Joshua is able to see the world he's always lived in. He takes in the image of the woman who raised him, the doctor who cured him, and sees a photo of the man who's death afforded him new sight.

Joshua's new eyes also bring visions from his father. Cleave delves into the idea of cellular memory. Essentially, Joshua is able to see images that his dad saw because the cells in his eyes captured those moments. At first this ability reveals itself in harmless ways like recognizing people before they are introduced. Joshua soon begins to see more disturbing images. He bears wittiness to the kind of memories that cause him to question just how well he knew his father.

I'll be the first to admit some hesitance with this novel. If the premise sounds a bit far fetched, that's because it totally is. As I began reading, I was afraid that Cleave wouldn't be able to pull me in. Fortunately, he writes quick action with strong characters that are impossible to ignore. I quickly found my imagination gripping onto Cleave's story and rapidly turning the pages to see what would happen next. Cleave expertly mixes action beats with slower character development sections that give the novel an ever-mounting tinge of suspense. Each time I thought I had figured out the direction of the story, Cleave would throw a curve ball and sling the momentum into a new direction. With A Killer Harvest, Paul Cleave writes another contemporary thriller that is the kind of out of the box entertainment that I thoroughly enjoy.

A blind teenager named Joshua gets the opportunity of a lifetime, to be the recipient of a new set of eyes that will allow him to see the world. When his eye bandages are removed, Joshua is in awe of this new world. But then things go horribly wrong….

The reader knows early on something that Joshua doesn’t. The eye transplant surgery was bungled and he has received one eye from his murdered detective father and one from a serial killer. A struggle between good and evil ensues. The idea of cellular memory and how it is incorporated into this novel is clever. To think that memories stored in a donor’s transplanted body part (in this case, eyes) is retained by the recipient is creepy and downright fascinating. Sure, the author created suspension of disbelief as the story builds but this is fiction, imaginative fiction which drew me in and I enjoyed the ride. This is my second novel read by Kiwi author Paul Cleave and hope to next read his Theodore Tate series of novels.
*will post to additional outlets upon publication.

This was my second book by this author and I have thoroughly enjoyed both. My first was "Trust No One" which I absolutely loved!!

Joshua is in a school for the blind when he gets called out of class to be informed his dad, who was a cop, died in an accident. Joshua's character grabbed at my heart strings from the very beginning and had me 100% invested in this book. This book is a bit creepy with implausible situations but a great read overall. The idea of it all is a bit "weird" but Paul Cleave has a talent that made me engrossed nonetheless. It also made me really think of what it must be like to be blind and appreciate the gift of sight so much more.

Very well written and suspenseful to the end, I will be looking for Paul Cleave's future work. A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

i enjoyed this book even though the premise of the story involving "cellular memory" was a bit strange at first. The characters were well drawn and it was interesting how Joshua was able to deal with the circumstances that confronted him..
The plot was a little confusing to me in places but I was interested to read more to see what would happen next.
I will read more of thi author

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Paul Cleave is severely underrated here in the US. He's a big deal, I think, in the thriller market. I've read four of his books now, and every time, I read that final page and shut the back cover thinking, "Damn, this guy is GOOD at writing." Seriously, he writes page-turners with good characterizations, twisted plots, and creative scenarios.

This creative scenario is based around the concept of cellular memory -- that donated organs can pass on memories and feelings. Interesting spark for a story, and this tale definitely weaves that scientific potentiality into the story well.

Ironically enough, I didn't see the ending coming (bad pun intended -- SEE, blind kid getting his sight from donated eyes, come on, that's funny!) even though, after reading through the final twists, I feel like I *should* have seen it coming. That's yet another reason Cleave is one of my favorite thriller writers, and I'm savoring working my way through his works without rushing to burn through them all -- I don't want to run out before more are on their way.

Pick up a Paul Cleave book. I doubt you'll be disappointed. 4.5 stars, highly recommended.

The more I think about it, the more I think this book deserves like... ten stars. Really phenomenal, gripping writing, an amazing storyline with a large cast of characters that are expertly juggled. I was driving after finishing this book and couldn't stop thinking about it, realizing little things that came back to me. It's like when I watched The Sixth Sense and you see the twist at the end and you have to go back and watch it again, knowing what you know.

For example... I thought he meant actual dogs. I'll just leave that tidbit right there.

This book is grisly, gritty and violent and... disturbing. it definitely shows you the worst side of humanity and what can happen when you let that side take over.

I was captivated. I loved it. Bravo, Paul Cleave!


So when is the next book coming???

Joshua has been blind his entire 16 years. Joshua is raised by his uncle and aunt after both his parents have died. He greatly admires his adoptive father who is a police officer. After his father is brutally murdered on the job, Joshua receives his eyes in a new medical procedure guaranteed to give him sight. Here's where I really had a problem with the book. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I just could not go there. The concept of cellular memory was a recurring theme, where body organs can "remember" experiences of the original person. Again, I just could not accept this idea. It's just too far fetched and absurd to me. I found myself laughing out loud at times because of the absurdity. The author took this idea and used it to create a rather bizarre and off putting plot twist that is discovered later in the book.

I also had a problem with plot development. Joshua's father's partner makes a leap about a courier that is integral to furthering the plot but it was not believable. i thought the characters poorly developed especially Joshua's mother. But I'm not so sure better character development could have saved this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy for me to read. My opinions are my own.

This is going to seem like a schizophrenic review. On one hand, I really really enjoyed this and was spellbound from beginning to end. On the other hand, I thought the basic premise so absurd that I had to keep myself from smirking. With full disclosure, I am medical so it prejudiced me in a way that might not affect other readers. A blind teenage boy's detective father is killed by a criminal in a horrific scene. However, his father's wish is that his son receive his eyes as a gift. When both the criminal and father's eyes are mixed up prior to surgery, the boy receives one eye from his father and another from the criminal. When the son begins to have vivid dreams that seem to come from the criminal's vision, the theory of "cellular memory" is introduced. That, along with the tension from someone who is trying to destroy anyone who was loved by his father's work partner, leads to a game of who-dun-it! In the course of this , I found some elements more silly than realistic, but still was enthralled. Morality issues of good vs evil, and how do you define those parameters plays out throughout the novel as well. Despite my misgivings, I couldn't put this quick read down. It is a perfect beach read and if one can just enjoy the plot you will have a rollicking good time.

Okay.... what?!?

This is my first Netgalley review and I just want to start out by saying this book had SO much potential! I really enjoyed the idea of the plot but the characters were very underdeveloped to me?! I could never really get into them, especially Joshua's mom.
The ending of this book ALMOST rounds it up to a four star rating, but the entire middle of the book brings it back down for me.
Although I do have to admit it did have a lot of gasping moments it was never filled with enough emotion to get you completely sucked into the book.

What if you could see the world through the eyes of others?

A blind teenager receives the gift of bilateral corneal transplants. Joshua has been blind since birth and on his father's death, receives his eyes. A surgical mishap leaves Joshua unknowingly receiving one eye from his father and the other from another body. The retinas of these new eyes are like memory film in a camera, and suddenly Joshua has access to his father's memory and the memory of Simon Bowers, a killed murder suspect. Joshua's dad, Inspector Mitchell Logan and his partner Ben Kirk, were the detectives involved in Simon's case. Joshua has to find the strength to brave himself into a new visual world with an all-access pass into danger, deception, and unspeakable horror.

Wow. What an intense and well-written book. Paul Cleave is a master of suspense. He carefully and timely takes you down a path of multiple points until the surprising twists of in last few pages. The details of the scenes are so realistic with details of time, space, and senses. (Can you feel the nail gun firing in you cause I did?) Cleave develops his characters right from page one. Subtle comments, thoughts, and behaviors give his characters a multidimensionality, even if they have a brief cameo.

The phenomenon of cellular memory provides the underlying backbone of this tale. As a person living with a spouse with an organ transplant, the subject of cell memory was a personal draw to Cleave's novel. The first two chapters are gripping and confounding and lay the groundwork for the plot. Following, we meet Joshua, our engaging protagonist. Joshua has lived a life through his senses, his mind, and his cane. His vulnerability is displayed when his father dies and after he sees for the first time since birth. Joshua navigates through newfound flashbacks and terrifying realities from the donors' eyes. We rally alongside Joshua as he learns the truth about his new world. Can he trust what he sees?

I highly recommend this book by Paul Cleave, and I look forwards to discovering more of his novels.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great thriller! I can't believe I've never read Paul Cleave before but now I am certainly going to find everything by him.

This book is full of topics: organ donors, crooked cops, cellular memory, bullying, and so much more. Joshua is 15 and feels as though his life is cursed because both his mom and dad have died so he lives with his uncle, a police officer. Everything changes when Joshua gets new eyes from an organ donor. He has strange dreams and memories that don't make sense.

There are scenarios that don't seem realistic but if you just want one heck of a thrilling story then suspend your disbelief and take this one in.

THE EYES ARE THE WINDOW TO THE SOUL... so they say. And that is especially true in this new thriller from Paul Cleave. Recipients of the eyes and other organs from a dead psychopath, are having dreams and visions of the horrible acts of killer Simon Bower and his crazy co-short Vincent Archer causing them to have murderous impulses and wanting to act on them as well, with deadly consequences.
This is another fantastic novel set in Paul Cleave's literary town of Christchurch, where evil men seem to abound. Once again Paul Cleave shows that he is one of the best thriller writers in the field today, as well as one of the most original 5 Stars for this one!

I received this ARC from NetGalley. This book was super creepy but it was really, really good. I have never read a book by Paul Cleave, or even heard of him but when I read the summary I thought the story would be good if it was well-written and I was not disappointed. The story is complicated with many characters in it, but Cleave manages to tell the story slowly piece by piece without making it confusing or overloading the reader with too much info at once. Cellular memory is the theme of the story, I.E. if implanted organs also give the receiver memories, thoughts and dreams of the person that the organ was in before. SOOOOO interesting and I've never really heard much about it before. the main character receives two eyes, one from his father a policeman and one from a serial killer. Another man receives the same and the results are pretty shocking. The story has many twists and turns which makes for a very exciting unpredictable ending (which I LOVE), an ending that also contains the possibility of a sequel. I will look for more books by Paul Cleave for sure. GREAT story, creepy thriller with interesting characters. Highly recommend!!!

The story opens when Detective Inspector Mitchell Logan along with his partner Detective Inspector Ben Kirk are questioning Simon Bower about a murder they feel he committed when the unthinkable happens that will impact the lives of all in that room forever.

Joshua Det Logan’s son feels cursed because of things that had happened in his young life and even before he was even born which means the weight of being cursed is going to get worse when he learns he is about to be the recipient of eyes from his dead father. What happens during the surgery is going also to impact Joshua forever.

Simons friend and accomplice Vincent are on a mission of revenge when he learns his friend is dead. This takes the story down a path that was horrifying, yet we must follow his journey because that is what Mr. Cleave does.

Paul Cleave has become one of my favorite authors because his writing is tight, he tackles the subject matter even when dark with a realistic tone that has you flipping the pages so not to miss one word. And the twists.? I loved them. I
love it when I don’t see “that” coming. Just a great believable story that had me totally engaged with the characters.

The mark of a great story for me is when I am still thinking about the characters days later after I am finished reading the book and Mr. Cleave has done just that. In fact, I hope he revisits this particular story as I see more that he can do with these characters. If you like mystery or speculative fiction, I think you will enjoy this as much as I did.

Buy this book and check out his other work!

what a great story, creepy ass characters that just blow you away. this is a great dark story, this guy just keeps getting better

Paul Cleave is one of my favorite authors and his new suspense thriller does not disappoint. this is his 2nd standalone in a row, and I found this even better than last years very good Trust No One. the premise this time sounds like a supernatural b-movie, a cop requests his eyes be transplanted to his blind teenage son in the event of his death. this happens early on but is just the tip of the iceberg in this fast paced page turner. Cleave writes this in a believable way as the repercussions of the operation have far ranging effects. the great thing about Cleaves writing is he gives most of his characters edges, so even if they seem like a minor character they have color, personality and confliction beyond the 2 dimensional. you can really feel for the teenage son in this one as he experiences his new world opening up to him with not just the changes to his sight, but the danger he gets caught in as the events leading to his fathers death start to impact him and his loved ones. this likely 4.5 stars , but the great writing, twists and suspense move this up to 5. when you finish a book and wish you could spend more time with the characters and story, you know it was a pretty great book. looks like there is enough story possibilities if Cleave were to revisit this story and I for one would look forward to that. thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance review copy.

I found this book to be a fast and enjoyable read. Joshua was a character that was easy to relate to and I found myself rooting for him throughout the book. It is not often that a book will keep me guessing throughout and I most times find myself figuring out the ending long before I finish. Kudos to Paul Cleave for keeping me on my toes and never giving away his multiple twists at the end.

I enjoyed the numerous storylines that were presented throughout between Uncle Ben, Dr Toni, Vincent Archer and Simon Bower. I feel that Mr Cleave nicely integrated all of the storylines, including some of the minor characters, leading up to his "grand finale".

I'd be interested to know if Mr. Cleave plans on continuing this as a series as he ended the novel in a way that would be fitting for the story to continue. In any case, I look forward to reading more books from Mr. Cleave in the future!

I will be posting a review on my blog nikkisnovelniche.blogspot.com as the publication date gets closer.

Please contact me if you should require any additional information.

I love Paul Cleave's books! Trust No One was incredible! A Killer Harvest is even better! A main character has been blind from birth, his father's death and his donated eyes allows him to see for the first time. The concept of cellular memory is explored