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There are currently 40 member reviews
for Trust No One
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sandinacurtin
Crikey!
I have read some of Paul Cleave's earlier works and enjoyed them - Trust No One was dismal - All the characters were one dimensional and vapid- the story line, if not original was silly - I think it would have made a great short story, or one half hour television show- the surprise ending was summed up, the killer identified -the book over - not proportional to the 340 pages it took to get there.
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Kenneth T. (Houston, TX)
Who is demented?
To the world Jerry is a famous novelist, telling stories of awful crimes. He is, in fact, a convicted killer under suspicion of yet another murder, living in nursing faculty for the criminally insane. He is also suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, losing memory and contact with reality.
This is a thumbnail sketch of "Trust No One," a novel by Paul Cleave. It is a stylishly written, clever story which I downgraded to average only because I am a physician and I know the premise of the story is wrong. Patients with Alzheimer's do not become psychotic killers. They suffer confusion, disorientation and profound memory loss but become in general withdrawn, not aggressive. The description of Jerry is accurate; the perception of Jerry is not.
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Thomas F. (Cranberry Twp, PA)
Original but disappointing
I began this book with high anticipation, drawn into it by its intriguing and highly original idea for a crime novel about a writer with dementia who creates a diary-like journal addressed to his future self.
However, I found the book disappointing as "a thriller," its subtitle. "Mystery" might have been more appropriate. The story plodded along at a slow pace and the journal feature eventually became tiresome. I don't think the novel succeeds in eliciting any emotional connection to its lead character. Nor do we get to know any other character except from the uncertain viewpoint of one character, the crime novelist who is confused about everything until the end when he suddenly seems to have insight into what is happening. So reading the novel was a mixed experience. Readers who appreciate an original conception for a crime novel might give it a try even if I can't be enthusiastic about that recommendation.
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William B. (Morton, IL)
Remembering Some
Not a bad read, but outcome is pretty obvious from the start. I did enjoy the narrative outline with the protagonist's declining state of mind.
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Marganna K. (Edmonds, WA)
NOT a "cannot put down book"
A better description would be: I could barely make myself pick this book up. I've read many wonderful mystery, thriller, gentle & harsh & everything in between "mystery" books. This ranks up in the "worse book I've ever finished" - only finished it because I said I'd read it & wanted to give it a fair shot. It only got more drawn out and less compelling with each page.
Maybe a short story - 100 - 150 pages or so - might have saved this story. There was a hint of a good story arc at the beginning. The 1st 1/4 was interesting but then it went on and on and on.
I did not find any of the characters had any depth or redeeming qualities. Each was predictable and poorly developed. To me the story was a drill in timelines, an insult to Alzheimers sufferers and a huge waste of good reading time.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, certainly not my reading groups.
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