Nine lives by Peter Swanson – book review

I’ve been following this author ever since I read his first book and have posted about every single book of his in this space. Compared to his last couple of books, this one is much better is the verdict upfront. The author has been an unabashed fan of Agatha christie, as proclaimed in his past few books as well. In this novel, he has outright tried to produce an adaptation of the famous “And then there were none” by the queen of mystery novels. The fact that, this is going to be the premise is revealed the moment, 9 people get a motta kaduthaasu with just 9 names, theirs including. The author, keep stressing the same that this novel is an inspiration from the famous book several times towards the end, especially when the “reveal” letter has to be “found”. For those who are familiar with the master class from Agatha, the story is a given. In her version, the 10 victims land on an Island where each of them get murdered. The Modus Operandi remains the same here as well, with the killer going about his mission of striking out the people from the list. The only curious knot being, the connection between the 9 victims. Till almost close to the end of the story, the motive is not explained but clever clues are thrown randomly on the ending. When the grand reveal does happen, it proves to be bit underwhelming but from the standpoint that this book is a fanboy dedication to the original, it comes through. The biggest plus about the original being its unpredictable and mind blowing twist. With the USP of the thrill being known from the moment, it is known to be a take on the original, the author has a tougher chance of holding the readers attention, with the only saving grace being the connection between the 9 victims and the motive. Execution wise, it has been a laborious attempt to detail the backstory and present life of all 9 of the characters and even though the books runs under 300 pages, with quick edit, it still feels dragging in several places. If I remember right, the original was much longer and used to drag even more with all 10 characters having been placed at same location. But still the novelty of being the first to the plot and the fantastic finish justified the presentation. Unfortunately neither is available to save this version of the story. It is not a bad book and for those who have not read or heard or seen the original, which I really doubt, this one may still be fanciful. I honestly believe the author is not trying to fit in the shoes of the mystery queen and that is not his intent as well. As a fanboy attempt, he has imitated the original plot quite well. All this mention about the other book has made me yearn to read it once more : )