Are you allowed to do one word reviews?

In which case it's ... wow.

If we're not allowed could I just add terrific, twisty, tricky, tantalising, taut and maybe tremendous.

It's really embarrassing that sometimes it can take an age to get to read a book that you knew you wanted to read the day before it came out. COLLECTING COOPER was always going to be an interesting book because Theodore Tate is a tremendous character, and Cleave doesn't always do follow-up books. But if he'd like to do a third, or really any book whatsoever, I've given myself a stern talking to and will make sure I get to it ... the day after it comes out!

Adictivo aunque a veces me pareció algo lento.

Paul Cleave just writes good books.

Collecting Cooper is the first book by Paul Cleave that I have read. A little research tells me that all of his books are set in Christchurch, New Zealand. Cleave portrays Christchurch as the worst place on earth to live, a city full of serial killers and people down on their luck. It made me wonder if Christchurch is as desolate a place as portrayed. Apparently, Cleave is asked this question often. It is the first question in the Q&A on his website. The answer is that he thinks Christchurch is a fantastic city.

Cleave has written a page turner full of disturbing violence and mentally unstable characters. The story is told from alternating character perspectives, including Emma Green, Theodore Tate, Cooper Riley and Adrian Loaner – the former mental patient. As a reader, I felt for Tate despite his questionable past. What I did not realize is that Tate is featured in Cleave’s other books. The books are not portrayed as a series but apparently some characters overlap. I would like to read Cleave’s other books to learn more about Tate’s history before he went to jail.

Collecting Cooper is out on July 26th, and I definitely recommend this read to anyone who enjoys reading about crime/serial killers and can stomach reading about violent crime. The one aspect that got to me is that animals are killed in the story. I can read about violence towards people, but I am sensitive to violence towards animals. Go figure.

Many thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, for providing me with a free e-Galley for review, via Galley Grab.

I've run out of energy for writing reviews today, so this is very short and sweet. Which the novel is neither of. It's well-written, gritty, and is a compelling read. I'm following the series.

Si quieres aprender cómo no hacer novelas de misterio, lee este libro.

This wasn't for me - I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy the plot. There were so many serial killers crammed into the small city of Christchurch, the whole country would be in panic but in this fictional world, it's all a bit ho-hum.

Me apetecía muchísimo un thriller y El Coleccionista se me puso delante. ¿Fue mi lectura favorita del año? No, pero fue bastante entretenida. Y tengo que reconocerlo, hasta la mitad del libro me pareció que iba a pasar sin pena ni gloria por mi vida, pero hubo un momento que lo cambió todo e hizo que devorase toda la segunda mitad de la novela. Y hasta ahí puedo leer (jaja, chiste).

El Coleccionista es una novela negra al uso. Su protagonista es un ex-policía atormentado y un poco chapadillo a la antigua (dice que tiene 38 años, pero no me lo creo), pero el caso que presenta este libro es lo suficientemente turbulento como para que sus señoradas queden en segundo plano.

Es una novela que está bastante bien atada en sus sucesos, que ofrece unos giros sorprendentes pero fieles a la historia. El estilo de Paul Cleave es directo, intrigante, sin florituras. Con tan poca floritura que a ratos me pareció un tanto desagradable.

✨ ¡En resumen! ✨