By Erica Wiggins
Content warning: drowning, shooting, murder, violence
Nine Lives is the most recent novel from author Peter Swanson. He is an American author best know for psychological suspense novels. A fun fact about this author is that it took ten years of writing before he was able to find an agent and get his first novel published. The first book I read from this author was Her Every Fear. It was a story that stuck with me, and I immediately sought out everything from this author. His latest novel did not disappoint.
Nine Lives follows nine strangers who each get a list with names in the mail. These strangers don’t know each other and assume that it is junk mail. That is, until things begin to happen to the strangers on the list. What is the connection—what is being missed? One of the names on the list is FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is working to put together the clues before someone else is crossed off the list.
This story is fast paced and unputdownable. We start off by being introduced to each of the individuals as they receive the list in the mail. The story jumps around a bit as we move from character to character in short, quick chapters. This creates an almost chaotic feeling that goes perfectly with this story. Jessica, the FBI agent, is immediately suspicious. She attempts to make the connections and locate the other eight people on the list. When one of the people on the list is found drowned and another man is shot running, Jessica kicks into overdrive and so does the story.
It felt like I stepped on a high-speed train and couldn’t get off. As the chapters flew by, I tried to find the connections myself, piecing together the clues that are given. I began wondering what was going to happen and what the endgame was. Why would someone do this and who is responsible? Then the ending comes. This author is amazing at twists and to say I was surprised is a gross understatement. I thought that I had it figured out but wasn’t quite right and was caught off guard in the best possible way.
Swanson has a way of making you feel the story—the urgency, the fear, the gut-wrenching twists. He writes in a way to keep you on the edge of your seat. This novel gave out an increasingly creepy vibe as I thought about what it would be like to have my name on a list like this. I cannot say enough about this book. As you can guess, I loved this book and if psychological suspense novels with a bit of a creepy vibe are your thing, check out Nine Lives. When you love this story, this author has backlist to check out as well.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.