Book Review: NINE LIVES by Peter Swanson

Title: NINE LIVES

Author:  Peter Swanson

Publisher:  Faber and Faber Ltd

Read: April 2022

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

 

Book Description:

 

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.

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....

 

My musings:

 

I’m not usually a fan of too many characters because it often prevents me from bonding with any of them and it takes a lot of energy to keep them all straight in my mind. However, after a few doubts in the beginning of NINE LIVES, I found that this wasn’t a problem here, as Swanson managed to highlight those particular character traits in each person that made them stand out from the rest. They all piqued my interest, even though a few of them barely made it through one chapter before the grim reaper got to them. I soon regretted any bond I had with a few of the more intriguing characters, as they gradually fell victim to the murderer. If you have read Agatha Christie’s book AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (which is referred to often as the nine ill fated members of the murder list contemplate their lot), then you will know that no one gets spared.

NINE LIVES was a quick read from beginning to end as the list of survivors got ever smaller, and the body count mounted quickly. Swanson’s prose is sparse and he kept his multi-perspective chapters short and on track, which moved the story along at a good pace. Blink, and there’s been another death. Keeping with Christie’s style, the murders are not exactly cosy, but not too gruesome or distressing either, and I was more intrigued than distressed as even my favourite characters fell off the perch.

Did I guess the culprit? No. Then again, I was not particularly impressed with the final denouement or the killer’s motivation for the murder spree, which ultimately let the story down for me. However, I did like the matter of fact way Swanson presented his nine victims, which made me feel invested and kept me reading and guessing until the end. Whilst this didn’t come anywhere close to the magic of THE KIND WORTH KILLING, it was entertaining enough and would make for a quick holiday or weekend read.

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

 

Book Review: HOSTAGE by Clare Mackintosh

 

Title: HOSTAGE

Author:  Clare Mackintosh

Read: July 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina's assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.

It's twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours.

My musings:

 

Clare Mackintosh is one of my auto-buy authors and I would line up to read one of her shopping lists, so I was doing a little happy dance when I first heard that her new book would be released mid-year. Despite this, the book and I were off to a rocky start. Firstly, I got a “computer says no” message from Netgalley and – oh horror – I had to wait a few agonising months for the publishing date. Then I thought – hey, audio would be great, it would make my commute so much more fun! Only to find that the narrator was about as exciting as listening to a lecture on the life of a garden snail. Heads up, there are about 100 characters in the book and the monotone voice of the narrator made them all blend into bland same-ness, totally confusing me. Not to be easily deterred, I then went out and bought the book to settle in for a great read. And I must say that Mackintosh knows how to start her novels with a bang – quite literally. I was going to be in for a treat!

 

I can see you looking at my three star universe and anticipating the “however”. It’s one of those books that left me feel torn. I wanted to love it, escape into it. And I did love some aspects of the story and the way the author initially built tension and included the POV of several passengers on the doomed plane. As a locked-door, claustrophobic setting the 20-hour non-stop flight was just perfect and held so much potential to be truly terrifying. I also really appreciated getting an insight into the life of an airhostess, especially trying to balance such a demanding job with motherhood and marriage. I found Mina to be an enigmatic and interesting character for most of the book. Mackintosh is a great writer and she knows how to slowly hook her readers and make her characters come to life. So why did I feel underwhelmed?

 

Despite (or maybe because of) the multitude of current affairs issues the author packs into her story, it didn’t quite hit the spot for me. You will hear about the pitfalls of adoption, addiction, marriage problems, parenthood, mummy-guilt, climate change, extremism, childhood trauma, grooming, infertility and probably others I missed. The plot, which in itself could have been thrilling, is practically being drowned in not-so-subtle messages about things we see every day on the news. All that was missing was the pandemic. And to be honest, I would have found it more believable if a bunch of anti-vaxxers had threatened to blow up the plane. Adam’s narrative added very little to the plot for me and fitted too many stereotypes to make him believable. The scenes on the plane were just bit too much over the top dramatic and some of the other passengers’ stories just hung there without context. And the final “killer twist” that hallmarks most of the author’s books was so far-fetched that it merely induced an eye roll from me.

 

Summary:

 

In summary, I felt that the book needed some serious editing. Pick three issues and concentrate on them rather than just about every first-world problem we have right now. That way, Mina’s decision under pressure could have included a bit more soul searching before she went with Option B in the famous trolley dilemma. Adam could have been a normal bloke and father, and it would have made zero difference to the plot and been more believable than the stereotype he had to live up to. I could go on, but that would give spoilers and I would hate to take away any reading pleasure from others who can enjoy the story without analysing it too much.

 

Ah well. *Shrug* Not every book can be winner for everyone and this one just missed the mark for me. But will I line up to read Mackintosh’ next book? Most definitely! 

Book Review: THE LOST VILLAGE by Camilla Sten

 

Title: THE LOST VILLAGE

Author:  Camilla Sten

Read: May 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:

They are not alone.

They’re looking for the truth…

But what if it finds them first?

 

My musings:

 

First of all, let me say that THE LOST VILLAGE has one of the best, most intriguing premises I have ever come across. An entire village of people has disappeared overnight, leaving behind a mutilated corpse and a newborn baby. Despite an extensive police investigation, no one has ever found out what happened to them. Now a film crew has set out to explore the isolated ghost town and make a documentary about it. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? What a brilliant story this could make, it has so much potential to be creepy, suspenseful and mysterious. Also, Scandinavian writers have a reputation for bringing out the dark side of humanity in a thriller, so I was ready to settle in for the night and be scared out of my wits.

 

Did the book deliver? I shall start by saying that the setting here was unique and atmospheric, and it immediately got my attention. Silvertjärn is a remote mining town nestled deeply into a Swedish forest, and since the disappearance of all its residents 60 years ago no one has set foot in the town. It can only be reached by a rugged, unsealed road, and its only entry and exit point lead over a dilapidated bridge. Also, due to being surrounded by iron ore deposits, there is no cell phone reception or internet for miles around. Ta da! Isn’t that just the best stage-set for a horror story?

 

Now enter our cast: Alice, who is the granddaughter of one of Silvertjärn’s only surviving residents (on account of her having moved to the city prior to the mysterious disappearance of the townfolk) has always been intrigued by the mystery surrounding the town. She decides to gather a small trope of friends and colleagues and travel to Silvertjärn to film a documentary about the town, secretly hoping to uncover some clues that might solve the mystery. So far so good. So the group sets off in three hired vans to complete their mission. It didn’t take long for me to discover that this was one of the most clueless group of people when it comes to survival skills, with Alice, their expedition leader, being the worst decision maker of them all. But hey, I learned a few things from her mistakes:

 

1)    When trying to climb a structurally unsafe staircase in an abandoned building, it is not a great idea to let 4 people get on it all at once.

2)    When venturing out into the wild, at least one of you should remember that your phones and electronic equipment need batteries to operate, so maybe take a battery pack.

3)    If you discover something that could endanger the whole group, it’s maybe not a great idea to keep it to yourself just because you think that your friends think you’re a scaredy-cat.

4)    If your friend gets badly injured whilst on location, just feeding her a couple of ibuprofen is probably not going to fix her broken ankle.

 

And whilst I am very grateful to Alice for giving me such important life lessons should I ever have to lead an expedition into the wilderness, this did not make up for the utter frustration I felt every time she made a stupid decision.

 

However, that said, the timeline that explored the events leading up to the villagers’ disappearance intrigued me enough to keep reading. Where Alice and her companions seem to have only escaped natural selection by the skin of their teeth, here we have a more developed character, strong and enigmatic Elsa, who is driving the 1950’s timeline. Elsa’s recounting of events soon drew me in and I eagerly devoured her narrative. It may not have been creepy in the traditional sense, but an aura of despair clearly shone through as the underlying atmosphere of danger and menace grew stronger.

 

And then, at last, came the final reveal. I am not good at suspending disbelief and therefore found it less than satisfying, but readers who are more forgiving of inconsistencies and plot holes (especially in regards to the restrictions imposed on us by our own human bodies) may find it quite original and chilling. Personally, I had hoped for a bit more.

 

Summary:

 

All in all, whilst I absolutely loved the way the author set the stage and presented us with an intriguing premise and a claustrophobic backdrop, the story did not deliver the thrills and chills I had hoped for. I found this particularly frustrating as all the elements were there, but it just didn’t come together for me. Even though it kept me reading to find out the final reveal it left me wanting more in the end.

Book Review: THE MISSING YEARS by Lexie Elliott

Title: THE MISSING YEARS

Author: Lexie Elliott
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Read: April 2019

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.

Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.

Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighbourhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.

When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything.

My musings:

Is there anything more compelling than a mystery featuring an old spooky mansion in the country? Few settings are as irresistible for me, and of course I added this book to my TBR list immediately when I heard that one of the starring role went to an old deserted manor house in rural Scotland.

Picture this: you have just found out that you have inherited The Manse, an old stately manor house in the country where you spent a few of your early childhood years. The place where your father went missing, and your family life totally unravelled. Which is probably why Ailsa is eager to sort through her mother’s old stuff at the house and get her affairs in order so she can put the house on the market as quickly as possible. But there is a hitch: her father, who has been missing for 27 years is still officially part owner of the property, and without his consent she cannot sell, lease or convert the old mansion. And the ghosts of the past are about to catch up with her ....

There are two things I particularly loved about this book:

1. The Manse: the old manor house is one of those settings that features almost like a character in itself and plays a huge role in the whole mystery. And it has such potential for spookiness! Doors mysteriously open and close even though there is no draught. Animals are refusing to enter the grounds, acting terrified as soon as they get near it. There are mysterious sightings of shadowy animals and people that no one else can see. It was just so perfect!
2. The mystery of Ailsa’s father’s disappearance: what really happened to him 27 years ago when he vanished without a trace, carrying a load of precious diamonds he was meant to deliver to a local jeweller. Throughout the novel we get to hear different Ailsa has made up about her father’s fate. He is living in Australia / South America / a mental hospital in the next county with a new family / a male partner / a new wife. Her theories are endless. As the story gets a bit more sinister, so do Ailsa’s theories, until .... Well, you will have to find out for yourself!

You are probably wondering: so, what’s not to love here? Alas, it was the ending that ruined this one for me. There are more plot holes than in Swiss cheese in the way this one panned out, and I didn’t get answers to some of the most important questions I had – which I will not discuss here because – you know – spoilers. *sigh* it’s the year of implausible endings for me, and the trend continues. No doubt it won’t bother many of you, so take my review with a large grain of salt. I’m trying to become more adept at suspension of disbelief, but I think this one pushed too many boundaries!

Summary:

To sum it up: great setting, very intriguing premise but a totally implausible ending for me. However, I loved Elliott’s writing style and have just bought The French Girl, and look forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley Publishing for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE STILLWATER GIRLS by Minka Kent

Title: THE STILLWATER GIRLS

Author: Minka Kent
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Read: April 2019

Expected publication: 9 April 2019

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows gravely ill, their mother leaves with the child to get help from a nearby town. And they never return.

As months pass, hope vanishes. Supplies are low. Livestock are dying. A brutal winter is bearing down. Then comes the stranger. He claims to be looking for the girls’ mother, and he’s not leaving without them.

To escape, Wren and her sister must break the rule they’ve grown up with: never go beyond the forest.

Past the thicket of dread, they come upon a house on the other side of the pines. This is where Wren and Sage must confront something more chilling than the unknowable. They’ll discover what’s been hidden from them, what they’re running from, and the secrets that have left them in the dark their entire lives.

My musings:

I remember when I first picked up Minka Kent’s THE MEMORY WATCHER and thought – wow! This is an author I will have to look out for! As I had hoped, Kent drew me in immediately with her latest story. There is something totally irresistible about a crazy survivalist theme, and as soon as we meet the two girls Sage and Wren alone in their primitive cabin in the woods, anxiously waiting for their mother to return, I was hooked!

The story initially rolls out in two very separate narratives. Here we have the two young girls in the woods, fearing for their lives, and on the other side there is Nicolette, a wealthy but unhappy housewife living in a large mansion at the edge of the forest who is suspecting her husband of cheating on her. How are these two storylines ever going to intersect? I had a few theories and suspicions, which was half of the fun of reading this interesting tale. Kent’s writing flows easily, her characters come to life on the page and the whole premise was thoroughly intriguing.

I will tell you now that in a million years and with all the crazy conspiracy theories in the world, and after a few bottles of wine and perhaps smoking some green stuff, I would have never been able to guess the final reveal of this one! I do appreciate the pressure on authors to come up with a new, original premise and that “killer twist” that makes it into the “twister hall of fame”. Sometimes it works, and other times it pushes the boundaries a bit too far. This one fell into the latter category for me, but everyone knows that I am terrible at suspending disbelief. I think I would have preferred a more ordinary, boring plot, because the characters alone were enough for me to be intriguing and engaging. My jaw actually dropped when the story took a hairpin turn and went into the land of the implausible plotline.

But let’s focus on the things I really enjoyed: Kent’s writing. It flowed easily and carried me along, with characters that were intriguing and rounded. I loved the survivalist theme and the clash of worlds as the girls are being confronted with the commodities of 21^st century living after growing up in a primitive cabin in the woods without ever coming into contact with the outside world. I think that this theme could have been even more prominent and I would have devoured every page of it. Then there were the husband-wife dynamics between Nic and Brant. I disliked him and didn’t trust him - at all. There was something selfish and arrogant about this man who seemed to expect his wife to give up her life to support his career. There was great potential here also – all my emotions were fully engaged and on the side of the sisterhood!

Summary:

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed about 2/3 of this book until the bomb of implausibility dropped into the story and shattered my happy reading world. If you are a reader who prefers an evidence-based, traditional type of plot that ties up in a neat bow, then you may need to brace yourself and let go of that expectation. Readers that can shrug it off with “ah well, it’s fiction after all” will probably get much more out of this story than the doubting, eye-rolling Thomas that I am.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review. And for the Traveling Sisters Group for yet another great group read and discussion!

Audiobook Review: THE THINNEST AIR by Minka Kent

Title: The Thinnest Air

Author: Minka Kent
Read: August 2018

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟

Book Description:

Meredith Price is the luckiest woman alive. Her husband, Andrew, is a charming and successful financial broker. She has two lovely stepchildren and is living in affluence in a mountain resort town. After three years of marriage, Meredith’s life has become predictable. Until the day she disappears.

Her car has been discovered in a grocery store parking lot—purse and phone undisturbed on the passenger seat, keys in the ignition, no sign of struggle, and no evidence of foul play. It’s as if she vanished into thin air.

It’s not like Meredith to simply abandon her loved ones. And no one in this town would have reason to harm her. When her desperate sister, Greer, arrives, she must face a disturbing question: What if no one really knows Meredith at all? For Greer, finding her sister isn’t going to be easy…because where she’s looking is going to get very, very dark.

My musings:

I recently read The Memory Watcher by Minka Kent and was totally blown away by it. It contained all the elements I hope to find in a twisty psychological thriller, and I couldn’t wait to read Kent’s latest novel, The Thinnest Air, settling in for another breath-taking experience.

Initially, Kent fully pandered to my wishes. I really enjoyed the dual POV: the elder sister, Greer, narrating the present, in which she is looking for her missing sibling; and Meredith, the younger sister, telling us about the last 3 years leading up to her disappearance. As in The Memory Watcher, all characters are flawed, some more unlikeable than others, and even though I did not feel warm and fuzzy about any of them they were all somehow relatable in our screwed up society. As the story unravels, some dark secrets come to light that had me construct all sorts of wild and wonderful theories about Meredith’s fate, remembering how Kent had totally blindsided me in the past. The author has a way of setting the scene that allowed me to vividly picture all characters and settings, which created an irresistible sense of tension and quickly drew me into the story.

Picture my jaw-dropping disappointment when the story made an unexpected turn about ¾ into the book, totally surprising me – unfortunately not in a good way. Really, that was it? None of my theories were even remotely in the ballpark, seeing how I had expected the unexpected (if that makes sense). Instead, the story followed the lead of thousands of other been-there-done-thats in the genre, predictable, boring, unoriginal. If I did not know what Kent is capable of in terms of delivering a well-constructed plot and a great twist, I could have seen this one a mile off! What happened? Where did it get bogged down so badly in clichés and stereotypes? I admit that I am feeling extremely let down right now and had to force myself to read to the end just in case there was a surprise lurking there. But no, it all meandered along the well-trodden path of same-old and fell totally flat for me. There was one element in the ending (which I can’t give away because of spoilers) that irked me so much that it knocked another star off my rating!

Summary:

In summary, the ending was a major let-down in what could otherwise have been a fast and entertaining read. Not only was it predictable, boring and unoriginal, but it also left some questions unanswered and hinged on some questionable actions by some of the characters. Some threads led nowhere at all and I was left wondering what the point had been to include them at all. I guess that part of my disappointment is related to the fact that I know what a brilliant writer Kent is, and how much I loved her earlier novel. That said, if you are new to the author and a reader who prefers a fairly straight forward and predictable story to a crazy twist that messes with your mind, then this will probably be a good read for you. I love my stories dark and unpredictable, with complex characters, so it didn’t live up to my expectations this time. However, I am looking forward to the author’s next novel, hoping she will return to her habit of delivering a well thought out plot with a gob-smacking finale!