Review - 'Nine Lives' by Peter Swanson

Wow! I had so much fun with Nine Lives. I found it unputdownable and pretty much devoured it in one go.

Nine strangers receive the most puzzling piece of mail: an identical list with their names on it. What could it possibly mean? They each chalk it up to nothing, and move on. But soon, bad things start happening to them, one by one, and they can no longer dismiss it as coincidence.

If you're thinking that sounds a bit familiar, you're right. It's a nod to And Then There Were None, arguably Agatha Christie's most well-known and beloved mystery. But rest assured that Swanson has put his own spin on it with this tale. And the end result is fresh and exciting.

It must not be easy to write a book that riffs off of such a famous work. You have to appeal to two different audiences, those who have already read the original work and those who haven't. I think Swanson does a good job balancing the two and appealing to both. This is a wholly self-contained story if you haven't read the original (although, what are you waiting for?) but it's still surprising and fun if you have.

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.

I particularly enjoyed how mystery-focused and concise the narrative is here. Other than the initial 30 pages of introduction to all the characters, which is a bit slower due to the setup, the rest is so tautly paced. There is no meandering, no wasted time, no eye-rolling pages spent in a paranoid narrator's head. We just dive right into the unfolding story and are treated to one development after another.

One thing to note: if you haven't read And Then There Were None, this spoils it thoroughly, which would be a crying shame. So do read that first and without delay. It's one of the most beloved mysteries of all time for good reason, and lately so many books are either retelling it or taking inspiration from it.

I feel like Peter Swanson really outdid himself with this one. It's thoroughly entertaining and a marvelous homage to one of the most famous mysteries of all time.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

My heartfelt thanks for the advance copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.