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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's fine if you want to read something distracting, but I found Kimball very frustrating to follow, seeming, to me, very incompetent
idk what’s up with this author and sexy sociopathic sirens but again, pretty tepid story full of crazies that love killing people
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When I learnt that Peter Swanson was returning to the characters of [b:The Kind Worth Killing|21936809|The Kind Worth Killing (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #1)|Peter Swanson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417981750l/21936809._SY75_.jpg|41240456], I was a little surprised because I believed that everything had been tied up neatly in the original, standalone novel. The Kind Worth Saving, as it turns out, is also a strong standalone mystery/thriller, although it still be better to read the earlier book so that you get a feel of the characters and their history. Notwithstanding this, the mystery also still reads well alone and there are twists that I didn't see coming. Peter Swanson really has come back to form with this book.
Henry Kimball is no longer working with the Boston Police, after the events of The Kind Worth Killing and his entanglement with Lily Kintner. Instead, Kimball has opened a private detective agency and has mostly had very mundane work - catching cheating husbands and the like. When an old student, Joan, walks in, it appears to be more of the same:
Joan comes from a part of Kimball's history that he doesn't really like to recall - a time when he had been a high school teacher and where he believed that he had failed his class during a school shooting by not protecting them. Meeting with her makes him recall those old memories but since this is a cut-and-dry case where either Joan's husband Richard is having an affair or he's completely innocent, Henry agrees to take it.
But the more Henry investigates, the more he finds that there are parts of the case that doesn't make sense to him. It may be that the affair partner, Pam, just appears too sweet-natured. Or it may be that there's something about Joan that seems off.
The book begins with a dual perspective, between Kimball in the present and Joan in the past. The plot was absolutely gripping, as I wanted to find out what Henry would manage to uncover and there were also twists that I didn't see coming.
Henry Kimball is no longer working with the Boston Police, after the events of The Kind Worth Killing and his entanglement with Lily Kintner. Instead, Kimball has opened a private detective agency and has mostly had very mundane work - catching cheating husbands and the like. When an old student, Joan, walks in, it appears to be more of the same:
I lowered myself into my leather swivel chair, and asked Joan Whalen what I could help her with.
"Ugh," she said, and rolled her eyes a little. "It's so pedestrian."
I could tell she wanted me to guess why she'd come, but I kept quiet.
"It's about my husband," she said at last.
"Uh-huh."
"Like I said, it's probably something year hear all the time, but I'm pretty sure...no, I know that he's cheating on me. The thing is, I don't really care all that much - he can do whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned - but even though I know he's doing it, I don't have proof yet. I don't really know."
Joan comes from a part of Kimball's history that he doesn't really like to recall - a time when he had been a high school teacher and where he believed that he had failed his class during a school shooting by not protecting them. Meeting with her makes him recall those old memories but since this is a cut-and-dry case where either Joan's husband Richard is having an affair or he's completely innocent, Henry agrees to take it.
But the more Henry investigates, the more he finds that there are parts of the case that doesn't make sense to him. It may be that the affair partner, Pam, just appears too sweet-natured. Or it may be that there's something about Joan that seems off.
The book begins with a dual perspective, between Kimball in the present and Joan in the past.
Spoiler
It turns out that there are two Richards that are being referred to, which I thought was a clever misdirection. The Richard from Joan's past, where they had hatched the perfect murder plot, is not the same Richard that she had married. Instead, the two of them had gone on to mastermind the school shooting and also faked the murder-suicide of Joan's husband Richard and Pam, his affair partner.Spoiler
Who would've thought that Lily would be the one to put the puzzle pieces together and hatch her own murder plot against Joan?
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No