Nine Lives

Product Information

This had a great premise! I hit the request button so hard as soon as I read the synopsis! Who wouldn't want to read about a group of strangers with nothing in common, apart from being on a death list?! 😂 For the first time with a Swanson book, I was bored out of my mind. Few authors move successfully through this many perspectives-- nine people who all receive a mysterious list with their names on it and then begin dying one by one. I already know the author is a fan of And Then There Were None (tell me, isn't everybody?) and there's some inspiration from that coming through here, but Nine Lives is no Agatha Christie. strangers who receive it - each of them recognising just one name, their own, on the enclosed list - it The reason behind the letter and the killings was so anticlimactic. Unless I missed some details that flew by my head due to struggling to concentrate, you can’t figure out who or why because the information is simply withheld (so I’d be interested to know if anyone actually figured it out! If so, you are a wizard!). Also, the reason wasn't explored or fleshed out whatsoever, I was simply told why rather than shown and slowly build up to it. will be the most life altering letter they ever receive. It could also be the last, as one by one, they start to

Maybe two-thirds or three-quarters through the book, the killer’s motive starts to become clearer. And, well, I had questions. DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Faber and Faber Limited via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Nine Lives by Peter Swanson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Nine names. Nine random people receive a sheet of paper - a list with just nine names on it - nothing else, no clue as to what the list signifies. None of the nine know the other names on the list, some throw it in the trash, others just dismiss it as some kind of joke. And *sighs* Both the reveal of the killer (just not enough clues) and the why were such an underwhelming let down! I didn't like the reasoning, the how, the why, the justification. Just urgh! Part of the reason I probably liked this book was because I really didn't like his previous book and I thought this one was much better in comparison. Another reason was that it is a semi-homage to And Then There Were None which I consider to be one of the most brilliantly written mysteries ever.I enjoyed the many literary references, the most prominent being Christie’s And Then There Were None. There is also some enjoyable tongue-in-cheek commentary. The characters didn’t do much for me, but the mystery held my interest--I was determined to solve it, but sadly I failed as I overlooked some key clues. Because this is a Peter Swanson book, it is HEAVILY inspired by one of his mystery writer favorites... and 2022 must be the year of And Then They Were None, because alongside Feeney's Daisy Darker, this one is yet another homage. Of course, I am STILL unfamiliar with the source material (I know, I know...how can I call myself a mystery and thriller lover 🙈) so I'm not sure if this does that book justice. However...Swanson sure doesn't let you forget that this book is about that one. I didn't count, but the characters themselves mention the book many, many times...almost to the point where it became a little OTT and took me out of the story a bit. I appreciate what he was trying to do, but NOBODY needs a constant reminder in a situation like this one. The book is broken down into sections beginning with NINE- We learn what each of the characters are doing when they receive the letter. And, we meet Detective Sam Hamilton, local police and first on the scene. Nine people receive a typed list of nine names, their own name plus eight others that they have never heard of or met before. FBI agent Jessica Winslow receives a list and while she wants to ignore it, something inside of her makes her decide to investigate. Then one person on the list is murdered. Then a second. Citing what she calls the "second plane" (referring to 9/11 when the first plane could have been considered an accident, but when the second plane hit there was no denying they were connected), Jessica realizes that they might all be targets and searches for the connection between the nine people.

strangers receive a letter containing 9 names including their own. Then, when those very people start to die, there is a clear target on that list. But why?When nine strangers receive an anonymous letter listing nine seemingly random names, some recipients are alarmed, whereas others choose to ignore it…until they start being killed off, one by one. Ninestrangers, one list, and onesecret that binds them all...but this is far from your average '911' call... Nine individuals receive a list of nine names printed on a sheet of paper in the mail. One of the names on the list is their own and the remaining eight are names of random strangers - the present owner of a family-owned inn, an FBI agent, the mistress of a rich man, a struggling actor, a suburban dad, an English professor, a retired businessman, an oncology nurse and a singer-songwriter- two of whom are female and the remaining seven male, each of whom reside in different locations across the country and have no apparent connection, either personally or professionally. The book even mimics Christie's style. It's pretty common for her to introduce all her characters in one go while providing a list at the beginning for easy reference. And so we have the same here. I found it useful reading a physical copy of the book and being able to flip to the character list whenever I needed it. If you're reading an ebook, I recommend taking a snapshot of the character list or just copying it out beforehand. It'll make for a much more pleasant reading experience. This leads to what I feel is the main shortcoming of this book. I didn't find the motive to be compelling enough for the choice of victims. Maybe if he hadn't waited so long? Maybe if he had let the loved ones know what he was doing and why? The plethora of POVs might be a detraction for many people because you could easily get lost or bored with all of the introductions of characters. It worked for me, but it won't work for everyone for sure.

What also bothered me was that despite the FBI taking over the investigation, there really isn't much mention of the FBI's investigative efforts directed towards catching the culprit beyond a certain point, with the narrative focusing mostly on the lives of the victims and the acts of murder. If you carefully follow the narrative from the very beginning, you'll notice some not-so-subtle hints that are very revealing, even before the first murder takes place. It wasn’t difficult to guess the identity of the culprit and the logic linking the murders was not quite convincing. This was my first Peter Swanson novel and while it has its merits, overall I found it to be an average read and a tad disappointing in the suspense department. Since I found 3 things I really liked and 3 I didn’t, I settled on middle of the road at 3 stars. My regret is not reading ‘And Then There We’re None’ first or listening to this in audiobook form. THE AUTHOR: A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, Peter Swanson lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.

Customer reviews

On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. At first I thought this book was a bit tedious because we were going through each of the nine people when they get the letter, and stories about their lives, etc. Yet once it got going, I was intrigued to find out what the connection was and why this was happening. I was pleased by the way things came together and the twist toward the end that I probably should have seen coming, but didn't. I love to be surprised so it elevated the book for me. Very unique characters who all seem different which is impressive for how many characters are in this book.