Nine Lives: A Novel

MARCH 2022 : 4.5 STARS.Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail until very bad things begin happening to people on the list. FBI Agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out how they’re connected.First three books by this author for me were Every Vow You Break (‘21 - 4 Stars), Before She Knew Him (‘19 - 5 Stars) and The Kind Worth Killing (‘15 - Read ‘18 - 4 Stars). This story jumps right-in. So far at 25% I’m not confused at all with all the characters. I love how the author gives you just enough interest in each character that you remember them as soon as they’re mentioned again. Writing really flows. Great mystery.

Nine Lives had me going from the very beginning! First of all, what a great narrative tool to have the parts counting backwards. That made you know that somehow, within the chapters of those parts, at least one person would not make it to the end of each. The tension! Even after the "Who" & the "Why" start to slowly piece together late in the reading, there is a huge plot twist that stops you with a screeching halt. Wait, What?? LOVE when that happens!My only critique is the very last chapter. It felt like an epilogue of sorts. I can't say much without risking a spoiler & I certainly don't want to do that. I just felt that it was wholly unnecessary & a little incredulous. The story was quite complete and satisfying without it. And I can only think of 2 reasons for it to have been added on. But again, to propose my theories would be spoiler territory. Sorry. You won't hear it from me, LOL!!Even with that, I so thoroughly enjoyed this book! Will look into the author's other novels. Very highly recommended!

This book was what it seemed from the start. The 9 people had something in common, very early on someone guessed their parents had something to do with it. As secrets were revealed it wasn't surprising. Decent book, just wasn't one I had to keep reading to know what happened next.

My waiting and being on a list had a far happier outcome. This wasn't an uplifting read but it was intricate and unique. I would recommend it for my hardcore mystery fan friends

Eight Perfect Murders was my first Peter Swanson book and it blew my mind with the inventive way it used books-as-plot. Then, someone told me about The Kind Worth Killing which was published in 2015. I was late, but I was hooked.Nine Lives, which is not a sequel to Eight Perfect Murders (aka Rules for Perfect Murders), is the one that had me emotionally attached. Earlier today, a picture of the book appeared on a fellow bookstagrammer’s page and I quickly commented “this book is breaking my heart rn.”Nine names appear on a list.… and nine must die.It is an homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (Swanson deftly handles the dirty laundry and problematic history of its title). He also goes to great lengths to ensure we do not forget.  One of his characters is a Christie buff.I pitied a couple of Christie’s characters; most notably Vera, and I wanted Lombard/Morley to win; but never felt supremely attached to them. Although I read the book, I visualize the movie, which unfortunately, in my favorite version (1965) crapped out because Vera and Lombard live. This also occurred in the 1974 version.Nevertheless, Swanson makes you feel our nine have a chance. Two die early – I’m not giving anything away by telling you this; c’mon now, someone’s got to die.But there’s also a surge of hope.There’s police protection. The FBI gets involved.What could go wrong?The ages of the nine vary. There are men on the list as well as women.Swanson gives you just enough back story to loathe the budding psychopath and adore a fledgling romance.We’re in New England again and Swanson uses the weather; cold, wet, dreary, to great effect.I was particularly struck by his ability to make you care while simultaneously prolonging the inevitable.The inside flap calls Nine Lives ‘heart-pounding.’I call it heart-wrenching.

An easy read but kept me wanting to keep reading. Took my time and made it last 3 evenings. I did not expect the who done it at all.

love love love this author, haven't read a bad book by him yet. I read them as soon as they come out.

Well done retelling of "... And Then There was None" by Agatha Christie, which was one of my favorites by this author. I could identify the book; the premise and identify the reason early in the reading. I figured out the killer and 'why? ' slightly before the author laid the final clues. The ending was a nice touch and brought closure for the victims' families.I downloaded another book by Peter Swanson.

A very good read. Thank you.

Un bon roman policier avec énigme , bien mené, aux personnages intéressants. J’ai oassé un bon moment un peu comme avec Agatha Christie .

Neun Namen stehen auf einer Todesliste. Was die neun Menschen gemeinsam haben und warum sie auf der Liste genannt sind, ist völlig unklar. Und dann stirbt der erste. Eine wunderbare Hommage an Agatha Christie und ihr Buch "and then there was none" (Das hieß zunächst anders, aber wer den Originaltitel nennt, wird von Amazon zensiert, albern...). Temporeicher geschrieben als das Werk der Altmeisterin, aber mit der gleichen boshaften Kreativität. Swansons Bücher sind immer wieder ein Genuss.

The ever entertaining Peter Swanson pays tribute to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None amongst other crime classics in this lively novel. Nine people across the country each receive a list containing their name along with eight others, none of which they recognise. Reactions to it vary with some assuming it’s automated junk mail, one using it as the inspiration for a song and others momentarily perturbed. For FBI agent Jessica Winslow, whose name is on the list and receives a copy at her Albany office, curiosity is her business. Identifying the eight other recipients isn’t quite as simple as it might sound given they are distributed countrywide with differing economic circumstances and professions, although most seem to be in their thirties or early forties. Despite Jessica having a vague recollection of her father mentioning an Art Kruse, she knows it can’t possibly be the thirty-something oncology nurse, Arthur Kruse, whose copy of the letter is retrieved by his local field office. The task takes on a new sense of urgency when seventy-two-year-old Frank Hopkins, longtime resident of Maine and owner of the Windward Resort, is discovered having been forcibly drowned and with a scrunched up copy of the letter in his hand. And when a second death follows, and then a third, the list of nine names starts to look ominously like a death list with the connection between the remaining individuals staying worrying elusive as the body count rises.Mystery enthusiast and detective, Sam Hamilton, of Kennewick Police Department is savvy enough to know the list is no coincidence and given that Frank’s letter looks to have been hand-delivered immediately prior to his murder he can’t help but think that the answers might lie in his crumbling hotel. Between the FBI’s probing questions about the parents of those of the list following on from Jessica’s vague memory of her father, and Sam’s obsession with And Then There Were None, the race is on to uncover who and what lies behind the list of nine. In a lesser writers hands I am not sure this novel would have worked quite as well, firstly because it involves introducing nine characters and despite the readers access to them being pretty limited they all spring to life and feel real. Swanson also manages to combine a multi-perspective narrative that intuitively reads and flows well with short chapters and spare prose. Despite quite a few allusions to the likely connection between the disparate nine, the reader isn’t given enough information to work out every detail prior to the reveal, even when the identity of the murderer becomes evident. I normally feel cheated with a mystery that doesn’t play completely fair but Swanson’s cryptic plot, compulsively readable prose and interesting characters combined to make for a fun and suspenseful read.

A good storyline that keeps, one engaged right through … the later in any book you figure out the ending the better it is in my opinion. This book kept me guessing until close to the end, its well written and fast flowing easy to read.