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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Not sure how, but the author made this murder mystery of 9 people turn out to be, well, rather mundane. Written in the spirit of Agatha Christie's famous "And Then There Were None", the style was there but the characters were just not that engaging nor was the suspense that suspenseful.
I will say the author did a fairly good job of maintaining the mystery for most of the book and it was a fun and easy read. I certainly don't mind having read it and will possibly reread it later.
But overall, I'm just a little let down - so much potential with so little payoff.
I will say the author did a fairly good job of maintaining the mystery for most of the book and it was a fun and easy read. I certainly don't mind having read it and will possibly reread it later.
But overall, I'm just a little let down - so much potential with so little payoff.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Nine Lives was very similar to one of Agatha Christie’s novels. By the title, I’m sure you can guess which one. The plot was exciting, and the book was well-written. I enjoyed both reading and then later listening to the audiobook. If you like quick murder mysteries, this novel is for you.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A modern day [b:And Then There Were None|16299|And Then There Were None|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638425885l/16299._SY75_.jpg|3038872], nine people receive a list of names, theirs being one of them, and slowly each person is killed off. Each chapter is a different victim's POV until their death, so the reader starts to get to know the character and then can decide to mourn or cheer when they meet their ultimate demise. I read this because I previously enjoyed [b:Eight Perfect Murders|52225186|Eight Perfect Murders|Peter Swanson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562582942l/52225186._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71665754] by the same author (Swanson really likes to reference old murder mystery novels in his work which is fun), however, this one was not as good. I knew who the killer was halfway through the book, and figured out the motive about two-thirds the way in. The twist in the last chapter makes up for the easy predictability a little bit.
My biggest take away from this book is that Peter Swanson needs a better editor. I found many errors including the glaring mistake that FBI agent Aaron Berlin starts the book with that surname but ends the book with the surname Levin. It changed somewhere in the middle and I looked back just to confirm this was the same person. And don't worry, it has nothing to do with the red herring in the story, this is a very minor character, in fact this character doesn't even need to be in the book, which makes the whole bad editing so unnecessary and annoying. Another mistake is that another character recalls something significant that happened when she was "12 or 13", then later it repeats that she was "14 or 15". It's just sloppy editing! I saw this sloppiness play out in other ways, such as bad writing: "he had booked two nights at the cabin for the following Friday and Saturday nights" p255; I know it's ticky-tacky, but "nights" is redundant and, though it doesn't make that much of a difference, all the writing throughout the book is clunky like this making it earn 2 stars instead of 3.
That being said, it is a clever premise to modernize a classic that is an easy read that many will like, I just wish it had been written with more savvy.
My biggest take away from this book is that Peter Swanson needs a better editor. I found many errors including the glaring mistake that FBI agent Aaron Berlin starts the book with that surname but ends the book with the surname Levin. It changed somewhere in the middle and I looked back just to confirm this was the same person. And don't worry, it has nothing to do with the red herring in the story, this is a very minor character, in fact this character doesn't even need to be in the book, which makes the whole bad editing so unnecessary and annoying. Another mistake is that another character recalls something significant that happened when she was "12 or 13", then later it repeats that she was "14 or 15". It's just sloppy editing! I saw this sloppiness play out in other ways, such as bad writing: "he had booked two nights at the cabin for the following Friday and Saturday nights" p255; I know it's ticky-tacky, but "nights" is redundant and, though it doesn't make that much of a difference, all the writing throughout the book is clunky like this making it earn 2 stars instead of 3.
That being said, it is a clever premise to modernize a classic that is an easy read that many will like, I just wish it had been written with more savvy.
Not much character development, which is something that really makes or breaks a book for me. While there were some parts that surprised me, I wasn’t overly impressed.