Nine Lives

A Novel

By: Peter Swanson

Narrated by: Jacques Roy, Mark Bramhall

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

If you’re on the list, someone wants you dead.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Eight Perfect Murders comes the heart-pounding story of nine strangers who receive a cryptic list with their names on it—and then begin to die in highly unusual circumstances.

Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke—until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list.

First, a well-liked old 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 is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next…

©2022 Peter Swanson (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Great listen!

I binge listened to the whole book. really wonderful plotting and narration. Enjoyed every minute.

Just so so

Narration was very annoying. It was as though he was reading a business journal and trying to make it exciting. The story lacked intrigue or excitement. I got this because of the NYT review but was very disappointed.

Meh

Quite disappointed with this lackluster story from an author I like. The characters are one-dimensional. The plot never takes off.

Great short listen

Had a couple of twists I didn't see coming, was a good little listen, short and entertaining

Good Book But...

I am reading this book now, it's very interesting and the narrator is really good. If you didn't know this book was published within the last year or so, you could certainly tell by the fact that the author has followed the script and ensured he included all of the overt concepts of untraditional unions and viewers of one particular news network being portrayed as transphobic and prejudiced. I'm not sure why some writers feel the need to make such comments in a fiction book. It feels uncivil, unnecessary, out of place, and is very likely to alienate a good portion of the readers. Without that, my overall score would have been higher.

Pretty solid book!

Was wondering about this one! But came out to be really good, great story that kept me interested. Great narration gotta share that for sure!

Kept me guessing

I wish the narrator had been a little more lively, but he gets the job done. I didn’t figure out the plot twist until the reveal, which is always a nice surprise.

It’s like a puzzle

This was one that you had to really listen to stay on track, sometimes you may need to go back and relist if you missed a detail, but I enjoyed it very much!

Intriguing storyline ran out of gas

The plot is an elaboration of Agatha Christie's, "And Then There Were None," which is mentioned throughout the story. Instead of an island, there is this list of seemingly unconnected people. Even though I knew what was coming, the author did a great job of twisting it and kept me guessing. There were no sensationalized death moments or false build-ups. I appreciated that. What disappointed me was when everything was explained, it was too far-fetched. I felt the author was working much too hard at being clever. The main narrator (for all but 15 min of the book) could have put a lot more effort into varying his cadence, tone, and energy. It sounded like someone reading a very long newspaper article.

not worth a credit

Peter Swanson can be hit or miss for me and this one was mostly a miss. The story just wasn't all that compelling and it seemed like there was a good idea in there that might have made a great short story, but the book was dragged out with unnecessary detail. It needed more twists and thrills. I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this one