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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
TRIGGER WARNING!!! School S****ing! Below are my thoughts summed up, into points:
- This is not a book that will have you guessing who the criminal is.
- The male narrator voice always did this weird swallowing noise that drove me MAD! I almost DNF’d the book because of it.
- This is a medium paced book, that could’ve been a lot shorter, since you know who the criminal is very early on in the book. A real bummer if you’re looking for a true mystery that’s not solved so immediately.
- The characters weren’t fleshed out, and were pretty unlikable.
- An easy read if you’re looking to take something in a hurry that’s mildly entertaining.
I DNF’d Peter Swanson’s Nine Lives and if I wasn’t committed to finishing this book, I would’ve DNF’d this one as well. I need mystery books to have MYSTERY in the entire book, not just the first 5 chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Murder
2.5. I was really looking forward to this sequel but disappointed. The ending was very anticlimactic. Parts of the book I couldn’t put down and other parts were so boring and repetitive.
good and easy to follow quick read. I liked that it was connected to the previous book but you did not need to read the prior book to understand. No crazy twists or turns which has been refreshing compared to some other books.
would write home about with others.
would write home about with others.
Very good follow up to a Kind Worth Killing, characters Henry and Lily are back. There are no big twists or shocks, this is a character driven book and I enjoyed the strangers on a train vibe.
4.5 stars
The plot was quite the typical Swanson's formula. The culprits were known quite early on, and no thrilling as to how the plot developed. The story itself was average but I loved how Swanson tied the loose ends left in the last book. I gave it a 4.5 stars not because of the quality of the thriller but more because of the execution. Enjoyable, fast-paced, decently plotted, interesting characters.
The plot was quite the typical Swanson's formula. The culprits were known quite early on, and no thrilling as to how the plot developed. The story itself was average but I loved how Swanson tied the loose ends left in the last book. I gave it a 4.5 stars not because of the quality of the thriller but more because of the execution. Enjoyable, fast-paced, decently plotted, interesting characters.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I enjoyed this one, but probably due to how much I liked the first book, I didn’t find it as engrossing as I hoped. While the first story (The Kind Worth Killing) was driven by the twists in characters as they developed in the story, this was driven more so by the plot, which didn’t develop quite as well. It discounted the first book’s highly enjoyable ending and didn’t deliver any major ‘whoa’ moments that allowed me to forget that. Not a bad book by any means on its own, and worth reading if you enjoyed the first and want to get into another twisty read, but divorce it as much as possible in your mind from the first book in the series to do that.
Good book. The follow up from the Kind worth killing. Kimball is back after being stabbed by a former student, Joan. He is approached by her. She is behind her school's shooting and drowning during her sophomore year and had her husband and mistress killed. Lilly kills Joan to save Kimball.
It was great to be reunited with Henry and Lily, two prominent characters in Peter Swanson's best book, ' The Kind Worth Killing.' A few pages into 'Saving,' I knew I needed to re-read 'Killing' and refresh the memory of all the ways former English teacher/turned cop/now private detective Henry Kimball and privileged curator/burgeoning serial killer Lily Kintner are connected. Theirs is a relationship that reminded me of Idris Elba's John Luther and sociopath Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), but the TKWS has a pretty good plot that makes good use of Henry and Lily.
Now a private eye, Henry is hired by a former student from his high school teaching days--Joan Whalen (Grieve), and these two share a tragic bond Henry would rather suppress. During one of his classes, a student killed Joan's friend Madison before killing himself. Seeing Joan again brings this trauma back to Henry, and now he's accepted her case to see if her husband is cheating on her. Things get trickier, and Henry wonders if he knows all the details. Of course, Lily, the woman who once tried to kill him, is the perfect person to help him unravel this mystery.
I might have had a few quibbles with character motivations, but it was nice to be sucked in by a well-plotted mystery filled with interesting characters.
Now a private eye, Henry is hired by a former student from his high school teaching days--Joan Whalen (Grieve), and these two share a tragic bond Henry would rather suppress. During one of his classes, a student killed Joan's friend Madison before killing himself. Seeing Joan again brings this trauma back to Henry, and now he's accepted her case to see if her husband is cheating on her. Things get trickier, and Henry wonders if he knows all the details. Of course, Lily, the woman who once tried to kill him, is the perfect person to help him unravel this mystery.
I might have had a few quibbles with character motivations, but it was nice to be sucked in by a well-plotted mystery filled with interesting characters.