Nine lives has been my least favorite of Peter Swanson’s books, mostly because the pacing seemed really stilted. Some characters got minimal development, and some were overdeveloped. That said, I love his writing style, and I appreciate that the way he kills people off is never gratuitously violent (which is a hard balance in a thriller). I honestly think most mystery/thriller lovers will enjoy this, even though I found it lacking in some areas.

I really enjoyed Swanson's Eight Perfect Murders so of course I enjoyed this book that felt like an original continuation of the last. There is something about a re-imagining of great mysteries that just checks all my boxes!

Enjoyable, straightforward, and fast paced while retaining a dark edge that feels more fluffy than sinister. You know these characters are going to die, and because it's Swanson, you guess that the murderer probably won't get caught. (No spoilers?)

Not as windy and tricksy as 8 perfect murders (my fave of his) but plenty readable.

He's still like reading Christopher Pike, and apparently, that's what I like about him.

Despite numerical relativism, NINE LIVES by Peter Swanson is not a sequel to EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS by Peter Swanson. It's true! I thought this book was great - the author has been extremely hit or miss for me before but this book moved along at a pleasant clip. The pace of this type of book cannot be overstated. NINE LIVES gets it right.

This mystery suspense will thrill fans of Agatha Christie. I read it in one plane ride and now have to wait months for others to be able to read it! This author really helps me get out of my reading slumps.

Peter Swanson never fails to deliver a terrific read. This had a unique and original plot line and all that elements that constitute an excellent psychological thriller. Swanson did his own interpretation of Christie’s And Then There Were None with lots twists and intricacies. There were one or two things that I found to be a bit of a reach, but this did not affect the overall outcome. Fans of Swanson’s will be thrilled.

This is definitely one of his better books although I LOVED "Every Vow You Break" this was a close second to that one. Worth the read!

Unfortunately, this book proved to me that Peter Swanson is not the author for me. I wanted to give him another try despite not being a fan of his 2021 release, Every Vow You Break. My main issue with this book was how repetitive the storytelling was. I felt that the concept of this book could have worked if each chapter from a new perspective continued the story rather than repeated it so it didn't feel so slow. Sadly, the book ended up being too slow-paced for me and I felt that it lost a lot of momentum because of how it was told.

Peter Swanson had already rocketed onto my "must-read" authors list. He gives me absolutely no reason to re-consider that decision with his latest, Nine Lives. Who doesn't love a good Agatha Christie inspired mystery, especially when it's done right? The pages practically turn themselves!

Nine Lives is an engrossing, thrilling murder mystery that successfully evokes the tradition of Agatha Christy's And Then There Were None. Nine strangers receive a printed list of names in the mail, including their own. One by one, the people on the list start turning up dead, with the FBI desperately trying to figure out what connects the names on the list. I read it one sitting; I couldn't put it down! This is a fast-paced read that mystery fans will love trying to puzzle out.

Nine names. Nine random people living all over the country working in vastly different fields from an oncologist nurse to an FBI agent. What do they have in common? They all received an envelope with a single sheet of paper bearing nine names . . . including their own. What does it mean? A joke? A mistake? Some trash it without a second thought. Others lay it aside to think about later. FBI agent Jessica Winslow has an inclination that it's bad news and starts a search to identify the other people listed while seeking answers, looking for connections between herself and anyone on the list and finding none. When she hears reports of a man drowned on a beach whose head was held down in a pool of water and his identity matches a name from the list, the agent's gut feeling is confirmed . . . she's in possession of a kill list with her own name on it. When a second and then third person are murdered, Agent Winslow is pulled from the case and put under police protection as are the other identified people on the list while authorities frantically search for the unknown people to inform them their lives are in danger. The race is on to figure out what connects these people and why someone would want them all dead. Meantime, everyone is looking over their shoulder wondering which one of them will be next?

Peter Swanson renders a complex murder mystery in Nine Lives and challenges readers to solve it. Alternating chapters with multiple points of view exposes the internal turmoil occurring in each of the listed nine people's lives. One can easily deduce that all is not as it appears, secrets are being kept and information withheld. And the elusive thread that connects these people one to the other as well as to a murderer remains just out of grasp. Chapters count down from nine to none, lending a sense of urgency to the story as each lower number means another victim. First there are nine . . . until finally there are none. Are you getting vibes of Agatha Christies' And Then There Were None? I did.

Swanson's unique, clean writing style proves to be the perfect tool for delivering Nine Lives in a highly effective, look over your shoulder kind of way. Short chapters deliver the details with a mysterious, eerie tone of impending doom, pulling readers into each of these people's lives - just in time to snuff them out. No one is safe - police protection or not. The rapidly escalating pace is like a time bomb seconds from blowing - time growing ever shorter as the chapters and lives dwindle down. I found the delivery of this highly atmospheric story to be brilliant as it really puts solving the mystery in readers' hands. We know what's in each person's head, but we don't know the identity of the villain . . . and neither do authorities. As the list grew shorter, I had an inkling of what was going on and yet, the insane twist right at the end knocked me for a loop. Readers who love to dive deep into a mystery and work the clues with the clock ticking will devour Nine Lives. Highly recommended.

Nine people with seemingly nothing in common all receive a letter that just includes a list with their names on it. One by one, they are murdered which leaves the reader trying to piece together who will be next , who is doing this and why.

If you love a fast paced thriller with Agatha Christie vibes, this is definitely the book for you. With a similar plot structure to And Then There Were None, this book keeps you guessing to the end. 9 people get a printed list of names in the mail that lists their name and 8 other people they do not know and seemingly have no connection to. Then slowly, they begin to die in tragic accidents. I enjoyed this one a lot. Nice, fast paced, engaging thriller.

Peter Swanson is probably my favorite thriller author! I am never disappointed with any of his books, and have read them all. I find it interesting that he seems to have a few different writing styles. Nine Lives was more similar to Eight Perfect Murders than his other books, as they both tie in classic mysteries and focus on various murders rather than just one story. In Nine Lives, there are nine different people who receive a list of those nine names and you (and they) are not sure how they are all related until the story progresses. I liked how the chapter headings counted down as each character was killed off, and there were a few good twists at the end.

This is a perfect one-day read for fans of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Nine people receive a letter that lists just their names. They don’t know each other and, apparently, have nothing in common. They live all over the US and have a variety of occupations from an FBI agent to a wannabe actor. Eight of them receive the letter in the mail, one of them finds it on his daily walk just before he is murdered.

At the beginning, it’s confusing to have so many characters to deal with but the author does a sterling, if broad, job of distinguishing them and creating distinctive personalities. The similarity to And Then There Were None does not go unnoticed by the detectives on the case as, one by one, the nine meet their untimely ends. Who is behind the murders?

It was a fun puzzle to try and Miss Marple my way to a solution and, even though I was wrong, the ending was satisfying if a little convoluted. I enjoyed this bloodless and slightly tame mystery much more than I enjoyed the author’s previous Every Vow You Break.

Thanks to Wlliam Morrow and Netgalley for the digital review copy

Thank you Netgally for this ARC, I predict a best seller here.

What would you think if you received an unidentifiable single sheet of folded paper in the mail listing nine names. And your name is one of the nine. Creepy, huh?

This is the story of nine strangers who receive a cryptic list with their names on it in the mail…and then begin to die in various and sundry circumstances .

They of course report this strange mystery to the authorities, but .it seems none of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. Maybe it’s just junk mail or , a fluke. No that can’t be right because, very, very bad things are happening to people on the list.

First, a well-liked older 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 begins to manifest. But what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they live all over the country. . So why are these particular individuals all on the list, and more importantly, who is behind this horrible deed?

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. There must be some dark secret that binds them all together, or is this just the work of a murderous madman?

As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly suspicious of everyone and everything as they wonder who will be crossed off next. It seems he/she can’t be stopped.

I love mysteries especially when the author skillfully and intricately answers all questions and ties everything up in the end very neatly. Peter Swanson did this masterfully. I found the the tie in of Agatha Christie’s book And Then There Were None and the Peter Pan story to be especially clever.

Thus should be written into a screen play.

I am a huge fan of Peter Swanson's thrillers, after having adored Eight Perfect Murders last year. This is another great, compulsive read. I couldn't put it down, an absolute pleasure to read.

Nine random people receive a list of nine names in the mail. Their own name and those of eight strangers. There is nothing else to indicate who these other people are, or why they find themselves on a list with them. Like most people, they puzzle over it for a moment or two before going on about their lives, except for one of the names who happens to be an FBI agent. She can't help looking into it but comes up with nothing until there is a murder victim who had his own copy of the list in his hand when he died.

I like the way the story was told. There was no discernable connection between any of the people so alternating sections revealed them from the time they got the list until they met their unfortunate end. There were references to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None as well as subtle references to Eliot's classic poem, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock.

This reminded me of Swanson's previous book, Eight Perfect Murders which I liked a lot.

Nine strangers receive a mysterious letter in the mail. Nine strangers receive a list of names in that letter. Each one of those nine individuals names are on the list. One by one the nine strangers begin to die…

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, you will greatly enjoy Peter Swanson’s Nine Lives. This book will keep readers on their toes and constantly guessing who the murderer is because everyone is a suspect. This book was a quick read and I tore through it in one sitting. Vastly enjoyable and perfect for any fan of mystery/thrillers.

The pacing was good, and I always like it when an author makes it seem like anyone could be the killer. However, I did figure out who the killer was fairly quickly, although this did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. I haven’t read any of Swanson’s previous works, but I will definitely be going back for more. 4.25 stars.

I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.

One of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. Short chapters with characters that had enough description. Straight to the point everything written added and completed the story. Usually with a lot of characters my mind spins worrying if I can keep track. Not the case for this well written and executed. I am so used to figuring out plot twists that this book had me going until towards the end. I didn't see it coming. Loved the ending. One of the best mystery books I have ever read.