The plain white envelope postmarked New York City, with no return address, only contained a single folded sheet of paper with a list of nine names on it. Nine recipients, and none recognized any of the names listed other than their own. But all too soon, the names would become utterly familiar to them as each was murdered one by one.
NINE LIVES by author Peter Swanson was a gripping thriller: a cat and mouse game in which only the cat knows there's even a game afoot. I loved the premise of the nine unrelated individuals receiving the odd and ominous list. The various innocent explanations the recipients thought of as the reason for its arrival were plausible. The reasons were likely enough to keep the unknowing victims from worrying, even as the FBI got involved.
The author does a great job creating nine very different personalities for the victims and building interesting backstories for each. I never got a solid hint of what their relationships could be, and this kept me off-tilt through almost the entire book. I had to leave connecting the dots to the FBI and Detective Sam Hamilton, who was probably my favorite character.
The plot is presented and advances forward through at least ten different points of view, so readers will need to be sharp to keep everyone sorted. However, the author provides a handy "Cast of Characters" at the start that could be bookmarked for assistance later if needed. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold through the eyes of the numerous characters, making each one's story that much more personal.
The story's resolution surprised me, as did the reveal of the killer's identity. With the number of victims, we got to know personally, I was too busy keeping people straight to put two and two together. When the final pieces were finally in position, I laughed about being in the dark as long as I had. The story is tragic, the cause senseless, as is the murderer's cure, but the author leaves us with a glimmer of some hope.
With its respectful nods to Agatha Christie and her classic AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, I recommend NINE LIVES to readers who enjoy stories of mystery and suspense, with "casts of thousands" (not really but a healthy number), few clues to follow, and an unexpected resolution.
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, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?
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…
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