Judith D Collins
Mar 2, 20235 min
Henry Kimball / Lily Kintner #2
By: Peter Swanson
Narrators: Keith Szarabaijk, Kathleen Early, Helen Laser, Micky Shiloah
Harper Audio
ISBN: 978-0063204980
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 03/07/2023
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars
In this spectacularly devious novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson, a private eye starts to follow a possibly adulterous husband, but little does he know that the twisted trail will lead back to the woman who hired him
There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So, when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he can’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: He knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.
Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a FOR SALE sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself, and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.
Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, enlisting help from his old nemesis Lily Kintner—but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.
Peter Swanson returns from his famous The Kind Worth Killing with some of the same FUN characters in his latest twisty highly anticipated sequel thriller, THE KIND WORTH SAVING.
Henry Kimball / Lily Kintner #2
Meet former Boston PI, Henry Kimball. He is now a PI after his last positions ended badly. Henry, a former high school English teacher, when a student pulled a gun and killed a classmate before killing himself. He is haunted by the past, thinking he could have stopped it.
Then his stent with the Boston PD ended after an obsession with a homicide suspect (after the last book). Henry is now a Private Investigator.
Joan Whalen wants to hire him to follow her real estate broker husband, who she says is unfaithful but needs proof.
Henry is not convinced his client is being truthful. He knew Joan previously when he was a teacher. They have a history back when he was the center of the issue at the school. The author provides information about Henry/Joan's past.
Then a discovery of two bodies in a house unoccupied with a for sale sign. Is the past repeating itself? Joan's cheating husband becomes a witness to a murder/suicide.
Does Joan know more about that day she has hidden long ago? Could a killer still be out there?
Henry is determined to find out, enlisting help from his old nemesis Lily Kintner—(from the previous book). She is a crackerjack! A race against time the closer he gets to the truth with this action-paced suspenseful cat-and-mouse game!
Swanson is always a pro at character development, keeping you glued to the pages with their backstories and connections. From past to present, all is connected, and hoping to see more of these characters in the future!
While THE KIND WORTH SAVING can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading The Kind Worth Killing first. You will want to revisit these FUN and FANTASTIC characters.
Swanson is a master storyteller. Do not miss these two!
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: March 7, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
“The mysterious letters that arrive for the unlucky folks in Peter Swanson’s terrific Nine Lives are all identical… The plot is an ingenious puzzle… Forget trying to solve the mystery yourself. But be aware that if you look closely, you may spot the murderer… hiding in plain sight.”
— New York Times Book Review
“[A] smartly entertaining reimagining of Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None… Swanson cunningly plays with readers’ heads as we hope so-and-so gets it next… In addition to the suspense — who’s doing this, and why? — there’s lots of literary wit.”
— Washington Post on Nine Lives
“Swanson honors genre traditions by arousing expectations only to subvert them—and then subvert them again. Some of the surprises are so unexpected, readers may be doing mental backflips to keep up. The author of Nine Lives has surpassed his own high standards.”
— Wall Street Journal
“Swanson again takes the idea of fiction as homage to deliriously vertiginous new heights… While the tension mounts deliciously as we wonder if there will be any survivors, the real fascination here is the explanation itself—and what it reveals about the cancerous effects of guilt and obsession.” — Booklist (starred review) on Nine Lives
“Swanson (Every Vow You Break) neatly riffs on Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None in this taut thriller… [A] well-crafted page-turner.”
— Publishers Weekly on Nine Lives
“I loved Nine Lives. Swanson's sharp and insightful characterization brought to life a fascinating premise. The whole resolution is beautifully worked out.”
— Ann Cleeves, author of The Heron’s Cry
“With economical strokes of his pen, Peter Swanson presents us with a clever homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and keeps us guessing right to the end.”
— Peter May, author of The Blackhouse on Nine Lives
“Hitchcockian chills and thrills abound in Swanson's latest mystery, a twisty tale of survival and deception."
— O, the Oprah Magazine on Every Vow You Break
“Swanson specializes in writing mesmerizing thrillers that subvert readers’ expectations. The author works his particular magic once again with Every Vow You Break… Swanson’s shape-shifting saga is reminiscent, by turns, of such foreboding films as Vertigo [and] Fatal Attraction.”
— Wall Street Journal
"Just when we think we have an idea of what Abigail is up against, Swanson pulls the rug away from under us. Strange events give way to sinister revelations... The last act cranks up tension to the breaking point. Sit back, suspend all disbelief, and watch those pages fly by.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune on Every Vow You Break
“With mounting tension and fraying nerves, it careens to the final stunning conclusion. A true tour de force.”
— Lisa Gardner on Eight Perfect Murders
“A devious whodunit”
— New York Times Book Review on Eight Perfect Murders
“Eight Perfect Murders creates expectations it then subverts, presents suspects only to eliminate them, and in general has its own way with the tropes of the mystery thriller—including that genre mainstay, the unreliable narrator.”
— Wall Street Journal
“In Peter Swanson’s expert hands, one woman’s discerning observation at a quiet suburban dinner party unfolds into a gripping, twisty, psychologically complex thriller. I could not put it down.”
— Alafair Burke on Before She Knew Him
By: Peter Swanson
Narrators: Johnny Heller, Karen White, Kathleen Early, Keith Szarabajka
ASIN: B00TGJST8Q
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Publication Date: 02/10/2015
Format: Audio
My Rating: 4 Stars
From the author of the acclaimed The Girl with a Clock for a Heart--hailed by the Washington Post as crime fiction's best first novel of 2014"--a devious tale of psychological suspense involving sex, deception, and an accidental encounter that leads to murder that is a modern reimagining of Patricia Highsmith's classic Strangers on a Train.
photo by Emily Tirella
Peter is the Sunday Times and New York Times best selling author of eight novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and his most recent, Nine Lives. His books have been translated into over 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts with his wife and cat. WEBSITE