Nine Lives by Peter Swanson is a cleverly written mystery by a current master of plot-driven, fast-paced suspense. The premise is straightforward—nine, seemingly unrelated, people in different areas of the US are sent the same list of nine names, which includes their own! Once the authorities realize that, one by one, those named on the list are being killed, the plot is stoked by their race against time to locate and protect those on the list, and catch the serial killer.
Swanson unabashedly references his inspiration by Agatha Christie’s famous “And Then There Were None,” and his lead detective, Sam, a Christie fan, even rereads said novel, hoping to gain insight into the murders and possible motives. The writing is clean, succinct, and perfect for the short, action-packed chapters. The story unfurls from multiple POV, giving the reader insight into the victims’ lives and motivations, but none are greater than the sum of the parts in this intricate mystery. As those on the list become fewer, the plot grows richer and ends with a clever twist.
Peter Swanson is adept at the murder mystery-thriller genre. I always look forward to finding the “crumbs” of clues he drops along the way, and to his nods and references to famous mystery writers of previous times. Eight Perfect Murders is a good example, and now Nine Lives shines again with his clever storytelling and homage to masterful mystery writers. I recommend this book to classic mystery lovers and fans of well-plotted suspense!

Thank you to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime Facebook Group for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I really liked the first few books by this author. But I did not think that "Nine Lives" was one of his strongest. It seemed almost a little dull and boring to me.

When FBI agent Jessica Winslow first got the list, she didn’t know what it was. It was just a list of nine names that had been sent to her from New York City, nothing else in the envelope. Just a list of nine names. Her name was at the bottom, but they were in alphabetical order. However, as an FBI agent, she had resources to help her. She sent the letter and envelope to the lab to be tested, and she could research the other names. While she didn’t know any of the other people on the list, she did find one name to sound familiar, like it was a friend of her father’s from way back. Or maybe not. She couldn’t remember for sure.

When one of the other people on the list is murdered, that’s when she is officially taken off the case. Other agents are put in charge of tracking down the people on the list. Matthew Beaumont, the suburban father in Massachusetts. Ethan Dart, the singer/songwriter in Austin, Texas. Caroline Geddes, the English professor at the University of Michigan. And five others, plus Jessica.

The first one on the list to die was Frank Hopkins, who owned a rundown hotel in Maine. It had been his parents’ hotel, the Windwood Resort, and when they died he took it over. When he was a kid, back in the 1950s, families would come for a month in the summer, the adults enjoying the peace and quiet, the kids running around on the beach and playing games with the other kids who were staying there. Now, no one can afford to take off an entire month, and while he’s been able to keep the Wildwood open all those years, it had been a long time since it had been thriving.

The local police had found Frank on the beach, drowned in a tide pool. He had his list gripped in his fist, along with the envelope it had come in, but it hadn’t come in the mail. There was no stamp, no postmark. It had been left there for him to discover right before his death.

Jessica feels in her gut that it’s not a random list, that there is a reason those people have been chosen. But will she and her fellow FBI agents figure out what that reason is before they all end up dead?

Nine Lives is the latest from suspense master Peter Swanson. A reimagining of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, this is a modern retelling of the story of a murder list, with those involved trying to figure out who the people on the list are and why they were included.

This compelling story has an interesting variety of characters, a compelling plot, and that twist at the end that makes you want to hit your head and yell, “Of course! I didn’t even think of that!” It was quite the magic trick for me, sucking me in to these characters’ lives while setting me up for the kill (so to speak). I thought Nine Lives was beautifully written, and the perfect read for fans of Dame Christie and her smart, taut mysteries.

Egalleys for Nine Lives were provided by William Morrow through NetGalley, with many thanks.

✨Happy pub day to Nine Lives and Peter Swanson✨

And a big thank you to @harpercollinsca @williammorrowbooks @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this gem early.

It’s no news that I’m a big fan of Swanson’s books and Nine Lives is no exception. It’s murder mystery perfection and perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and complex whodunnits.

What would you do if you received a mysterious list of nine names, including yours? What’s the connection between each person? Why do people on the list keeping dying ?

This is such a clever mystery. At the beginning, it did take me some time to get oriented to all the characters, but once the stage and players were set (in classic Christie form), the narrative moves quickly. I love how the mystery played centre stage and drove the plot and we as readers could play detective.

It’s not easy to do an homage that doesn’t feel like a cheap imitation of the original. With Nine Lives and Eight Perfect Strangers, Swanson has proven himself the master. I can’t wait to see what he does next !

Disclaimer- if you haven’t read Christie’s Then There We’re None, this will spoil it. So read them both! You won’t regret it.

Nine Lives is a quick and dirty thriller. It starts out with each of 9 people receiving a letter with their name and 8 others on it. They don’t know who the others are or why their names are on this list. Each chapter has one less person as they are killed off. I thought this was such a fun literary device.

The novel is very fast paced with short chapters and it’s easy to fly through the book. I really enjoyed that it was easy to follow and really left you wanting more at the end of each chapter. I will say it does have a lot of characters and names, but you get the hang of it quickly.

Thank you so much to @petermswanson and @williammorrowbooks for my gifted copy. Today is pub day for Nine Lives so get your copy now!

A thrilling ode to And Then There Were None.
Imagine receiving a letter in the mail, a single sheet of paper that only contains the names of nine individuals and one of the nine is you. You don't recognize any of the other names. What would you do? Do you investigate? save it for later? Or ignore it? What if the people whose names are on the list start showing up dead?
This entertaining thriller is written from the POV's of the nine individuals in sections titled Nine, Eight, Seven... And although the chapters in each section are relatively short, a lot of character development takes place that you get a good sense of who that person is. An oncology nurse, an actor, an FBI investigator, an author, a resort owner, a father, a songwriter, a retired, divorced business owner and a mistress from all walks of life with nothing in common. Or do they?
I really enjoyed this fast paced mystery and it kept me on my toes trying to figure out who the killer was. Not all of the nine were 'good' people so could it be one of them? I will tell you I was surprised by the answer and the ending was very satisfying and I'm glad to see the author back in top form as I was slightly disappointed by his last effort.

Soooo… I’m a little embarrassed to say that this was my first Swanson book and I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to jump on the very worthy train!
Nine Lives has a very Agatha Christie-esque feel to it and it makes me want to go back and read a bunch of her books after reading the rest of Swanson’s!
So full disclosure: I was nervous AF when I read the Cast of Characters before Chapter 1. Nervous? Maybe terrified. NINE characters to keep track of??? I forget character names the page after I read them! BUTTTT!!!!! I just bookmarked that CoC page in my Kindle (I would have flipped back to it if I was reading a physical book) and I dove right in.
I. Was. CAPTIVATED!!!
Learning the characters was immediate and easy. How the heck did he DO that???
And I finished this book in a day. I even woke up at 2am and rather than turning over to go to sleep, I finished the book!
My heart broke with each killing because Swanson made me connect with them all (except one but I’ll let you decide which one…).
Side note: My husband, who does NOT read AT ALL, asked me about the book I was reading as we played a game of pool last night and I started talking about it (I was only at 40% at the time) and he wanted to know more! This morning he asked me what happened at the end because he was as invested in the story as I was!
This is definitely a book you need to read!!!
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Told in sections of 9 based on a list of random names who seem to be dying is the way this novel begins. All the 9 people seem regular if not a little imperfect but definitely don’t deserve to die. This was quick read. It was easy to read in one sitting. I was entertained the entire time and I enjoyed it. It’s fast paced and I enjoyed the Christie knowledge sprinkled throughout the novel. Did I guess the killer? No. Was I shocked by the ending? No. Did the murder make sense? Kind of. I will say that as always Swanson’s writing keeps your interest and is always well done. I thought the concept fresh and I enjoyed the wide variety of characters.

Thank you Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Nine people, who seem to have nothing in common and no connections, receive a list with their names on it. Then they start dying.

I flew through this story even though there’s a large cast of characters. I didn’t have any difficulty keeping track of who was who. I liked that the focus was on the victims throughout most of the story. This is an homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The Christie book is referenced several times throughout the story. This was a fun, fast paced read that’s sure to delight any mystery fan.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the digital review copy.

“Nine Lives,” by Peter Swanson, William Morrow, 336 pages, March 15, 2022.

Nine people receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else; just a list of names on a single sheet of paper.

As far as they know, none of the nine people have ever met the others on the list. They have various careers including an aspiring actor, a singer-songwriter, an English professor and an oncology nurse.

Frank Hopkins, 72, is the first on the list to be murdered. He is forcibly drowned on a beach in Kennewick, Maine. While Detective Sam Hamilton first investigates, the state police and the FBI soon take over the case. Hamilton keeps looking into it.

Then, Matthew Beaumont is shot in the back while running through his neighborhood in Dartford, Mass. FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out who is killing people. She is pulled from the case and put under protection. The FBI finds everybody on the list, except for Alison Horne.

The alternating chapters with multiple points of view show how the investigation impacts the people on the list. This pays homage to the Agatha Christie mystery “And Then There Were None.” It is unusual and entertaining. The ending is surprising.

Swanson is also the author of “Eight Perfect Murders.”

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

From my blog: Always With a Book

Peter Swanson has become a must-read author for me when it comes to crime fiction and I love that his books are so thrilling and binge-worthy and this latest one is no exception – I read this one in a day! This newest one was a most-anticipated read for this month and it totally delivered!

Even though I have not read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which this book pays homage to, I absolutely loved Peter Swanson’s take on it and found myself hooked right from the get-go. I was so intrigued by the puzzle that he gave us, the list of nine seemingly random people on a list who start to get killed one by one. In fact, me being the geek that I am, I made my own list to keep track of who was who so I didn’t have to keep flipping back to the beginning – yes there is a character list in the front of the book that I found extremely helpful! – and as each character was knocked off, I made note of it on my list.

This book really kept me on my toes as I felt I was working just as hard as the detectives in trying to figure out just what was going here. I loved that the story is told from multiple points of view, allowing us to get to know everyone on the list, however briefly. It really does keep you hooked and the short chapters move the story along at a rather brisk pace. The twists were just right – not too many and not too over the top – but just enough to keep you engaged and on uneven footing, occurring when you least expected them, which is just how I like them. And that ending…I definitely did not see that coming!

I cannot recommend this book enough. It is entertaining, thrilling and just a great story. And now I cannot wait to pick up And Then There Were None to see how it compares! Peter Swanson continues to amaze me with just how clever and talented a writer he is and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next!

3.5 stars. This is my 3rd Peter Swanson book and the one I liked the least. It’s about nine strangers whose names are on a “list” to die!

I liked that is was short chapters, a quick read, an interesting storyline!

I didn’t like SO MANY CHARACTERS. I kept forgetting who was who AND never really connected/liked/cared about them. I was surprised who the killer was but not shocked. And the extra ending was disappointing. Wished it hadn’t been put in. I really felt like this was a rough draft waiting for someone to take out what needed to be gone and put in what needed to enhance the story.

4.5 stars

What would you do if you received a cryptic envelope in the mail that contained nine names on it? What if your name was on that list? And what would you do if the other people on that list were being murdered one by one?

Nine Lives was a fast-paced thriller that kept my attention the entire time. I loved how the book was written in sections and each section ended with one of the people on the list being murdered. It was basically a countdown to see who would be murdered next which made me not want to put the book down.

I enjoyed trying to figure out what connection there was with each of the nine characters and why the killer was murdering them. I focused more on this and less on who actually was the killer throughout most of the book and was therefore surprised when the twist was revealed.

I don’t normally finish a book in one sitting, but I did with this one so that says a lot. I did have some small issues with the ending, but I don’t want to spoil anything so can’t say more. I would highly recommend this book though!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the short chapters and the writing style, and although there are a lot of characters, I did not find it too confusing. What I didn’t like was the Agatha Christie reliance and Eight Perfect Murders was similar in this way too. It isn’t very thrilling, but it’s an easy quick mysterious read.

Nine Lives is Peter Swanson's version of Agatha Christie's "And then there were none". Swanson is a favorite author and I loved reading it. Nine people receive a list with 9 names on it - including their own - None know each other and they aren't quite sure what to make of this list. - BUT as you can see from the tagline on the cover - if your on the list - someone wants you dead. This was so intriguing and I loved reading about each of the 9 characters and seeing how the story ultimately played out. I liked how the author wrapped the story up and I was pleased with the ending. Thank you to William Morrow and Scene of the Crime for a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

What a ride! This story kept me guessing whodunit all the way to the very last page.

Nine people receive a list with their name on it along with 8 other names and nothing else. None of the listed know one another nor do they know why they have received this cryptic list. But one of the names happens to be an agent with the FBI so when one person from the list is found dead, the FBI springs into action to contact the others on the list but for some it will be too late. There are multiple storylines going on and it’s easy to get tripped up in trying to find the connections and that’s what makes this book so great! The twists are amazing and even though I had my suspicions in a couple of places, I didn’t see the major twist coming!

Told from multiple POVs, Swanson’s writing makes it easy to keep track of the stories and different characters—something I’m always weary of when picking up a multiple POV read—but the different perspectives contribute to the intrigue.

This one reads more like a mystery than a thriller. I think I still enjoyed THE KIND WORTH KILLING more (I’ve only read two Swansons so far), but this one was still hard to put down. Written as a homage to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, I want to acknowledge I haven’t read the book, but the history of the book title’s horrible past cannot be forgotten.

A list with nine names on it. How are they connected? What does this list mean? One name on the list is an FBI agent and seeks to find out the why and meaning of the list. So...we get nine POVs plus some others thrown in there. It's a lot to keep track of. Some of the POVs were more interesting than others. Some POVs I just didn't care about until the chapters leading up to their death. Because that's what happened. One by one, the people on the list end of up dead. (and we get one less POV!)

The reveal of the killer and the reasoning behind it was very underwhelming. The motive is also somewhat questionable and there aren't any clues given leading up to the reveal of who it could be. Quick read, short chapters.

Thank you to @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for my advanced readers copy and finished copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book, and always love when chapters alternate between characters. In this case nine characters. It was fun playing detective to try and figure out how all of these strangers were connected. The only one of the nine who came remotely close was the FBI Agent, but I won't spoil it.

This was on its way to being a 5 star read for me, but the ending bothered me. I didn’t like the reasoning behind some of what was happening, and it felt like the killer didn’t like it either, but was able to justify and move on.

Don’t worry, all your questions that pop up while reading will be answered and then some.

Nine people who have never met each other all receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Then they start dying, one-by-one.

This was a super-bingeable thriller. The little snippets you learn about each of the list members were just enough to make you hope they survived (or didn't). The ultimate explanation behind the list was kind of bonkers, but I didn't predict it, and the book was overall entertaining enough that I didn't really care that the ending was not my favorite. This is a perfect vacation/beach/pool book.