How can you catch a killer
When the only evidence is a dream…?

James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.

#ThePainTourist @PaulCleave @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

But, between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help. Especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town.

My Review

‘Pain tourists – people who revel in the misery of others. And when TV shows and podcasts and books aren’t enough for them, they break into houses to collect souvenirs.’

What a fantastic book – towards the end it was so exciting I was almost holding my breath. But it is quite complicated, so you need to concentrate.

There are numerous storylines going on here. We begin with a terrible murder nine years ago, when 11-year-old James Garrett’s mum and dad were shot to death, execution style. Having witnessed his parents’ deaths, James was shot in the head, which left him in a coma from which no-one expected him to emerge. But he did and Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with finding out who did it. Theodore Tate was the investigating officer at the time but failed to solve the crime. He is no longer a police officer – he now works as a consultant on two TV programmes, one fiction – the other a re-enactment series called New Zealand Crime Busters, a bit like Crimewatch in the UK.

Then we have the ‘Christchurch Carver’, New Zealand’s most notorious serial killer Joe Middleton, caught but now on the run. When more murders take place, it is believed that the perpetrator is a copycat, dubbed Copy Joe. But how is any of this related to a woman falling off a balcony and what has it got to do with James?

Most of the book is told from the points of view of Kent and Tate, but we also hear from James, his sister Hazel and the doctor who has been treating James.

This book is not just a crime thriller – it’s also a study of coma victims and eidetic memory – the latter being the ability to vividly recall an image you are exposed to, but only briefly. I told you it was complicated!

But is James a fraud? Is his alternative life in what he calls ComaWorld just a means of getting attention or did it really happen (in ComaWorld at any rate)? There are those who hope it didn’t, as once he wakes up, what will he remember, not just about that night, but about things he may have heard while in a coma that could incriminate others. And is that even possible?

One of my favourite books of the year so far, it’s just brilliant.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.

About the Author

Paul is an award-winning author who often divides his time between his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where his novels are set, and Europe, where none of his novels are set. His books have been translated into over twenty languages. He’s won the won the Ngaio Marsh Award three times, the Saint-Maur Crime Novel of the Year Award, and Foreword Reviews Thriller of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly, Edgar and Barry Awards. He’s thrown his Frisbee in over forty countries, plays tennis badly, golf even worse, and has two cats – which is often two too many. The Pain Tourist is his (lucky) thirteenth novel.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.