Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.
Today I am bringing you my book review for Nine Lives by Peter Swanson, I read this during September and honestly I had been putting off reading the book because of the things I had heard about it. So, I am glad that I have finally read it and if you want to hear my thoughts, read on! Just so you know there might be light spoilers in this post.
Blurb/Synopsis:
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, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor.
FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next….
My Review:
I have read one of Peter Swanson’s books before and I found it to be quite enjoyable, it was easy to guess the ending but good none the less. So, when Nine Lives came out a few years ago it sounded interesting and I bought a copy but then I started seeing other people not enjoy the book and it put me off reading it but I was looking for a short, quick read and I decided to pick it up and.. it was exactly like everyone said it was.
Okay, in terms of the novel itself it was well written and overall plotted quite nicely. The problem is that it very clearly was inspired by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, I think had I read Nine Lives without ever seeing, hearing about or reading And Then There Were None I would have enjoyed Nine Lives more as a quick easy read but as it was I found it a bit dragging because I sort of knew what was coming. I also couldn’t get a connection with any of the characters because they weren’t on the page for very long and I also didn’t understand the overall motivations of the killer, it didn’t make much sense to me.
Overall I gave this book a three star rating because as a book I would describe it as ‘fine’ but as a novel with the intentions it had it wasn’t to my taste.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
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