Peter Swanson – Nine Lives

Peter Swanson – Nine Lives

Nine people, seemingly chosen at random, get the same letter: no sender or return address and in the envelope just a sheet of paper with nine names. One of them is theirs.  They have no idea what this is supposed to mean and react quite differently to it. Some of them are worried, others just throw it away. But when the first person listed is murdered, mood shifts a bit. When the second body is discovered, they get nervous as it becomes more and more obvious: this is a kill list. And the strangers will all be dead just a short time after. FBI agent Jessica is among them and she is the first to discover a possible connection: the reason for the murderer lies in the past, many decades ago, there must have been an event that links them.

“Nine Lives” is only the second novel I read by Peter Swanson after “Before She Knew Him” which I also thoroughly enjoyed. His newest novel, too, keeps you long in the dark, just like the police, you wonder what the characters might have brought on the list, how nine – why nine and not ten? – people spread all over the country might be linked. What I liked especially and what came to my mind immediately after starting to read, was Agatha Christie’s crime mystery “And Then There Were None” which is referred to several times throughout the novel. A tricky puzzle where the pieces do not seem to fit for quite a long time and while you still ponder about the reason behind it all, you can only watch how one after the other is killed.

“It wasn’t simply revenge. It felt like something much more than that. Karma, maybe. I had the money, and I had the will, to do what the natural world would never do. I could set the world to rights, in one small way.”

What I appreciated most was how the people reacted to their death announcement. Swanson created quite diverse characters who cope with this challenging situation in very different ways. Ethan and Caroline’s way of bonding over the shared fate was for me the most loveable story as I could relate to this most – just having the feeling of not being alone in it, of having somebody to share the fears and thoughts with, and somehow accepting fate or whatever it is.

There are some noteworthy minor characters – a wannabe victim, a contract killer – whose motives and points of view bring some new spin to the plot, too. However, what is most remarkable is the personality of the character who is behind it all. Normally, you come to hate a serial killer who takes himself for God, emotionally, I found it not that easy here, which alone already makes it a great read since life is never just black and white, good or bad.

A very cleverly composed plot which is not totally nerve-wrecking but full of suspense and also thought-provoking: what would you do if you were on such a list?

Stefan Ahnhem – Meeressarg

Stefan Ahnheim – Meeressarg

Theo ist tot, er hat sich in der Untersuchungshaft das Leben genommen. Fabian Risk weiß nicht, wie er damit leben soll, immerhin war er es, Theos eigener Vater, der den Jugendlichen gedrängt hatte, sich freiwillig der Polizei zu stellen. Doch als Fabian und Sonja die Leiche sehen, kommen ihm Zweifel, war es wirklich so, wie die Kopenhagener Beamten behaupten? Unzählige Fragen nagen an dem Ermittler und blind vor Verzweiflung verfolgt er eine ganz eigene Spur, die ihn immer weiter von seiner Frau und Tochter entfernen. Für seine ehemalige Kollegin Dunja Hougard hingegen scheint endlich der Moment gekommen zu sein, auf den sie seit zwei Jahren hingearbeitet hat. So lange schon beobachtet sie Kim Sleizner, ihren ehemaligen Chef und ranghohen Polizist der dänischen Hauptstadt mit besten Connections. Jetzt endlich kann sie ihm das Handwerk legen, doch sie hat ihn einmal mehr unterschätzt.

Stefan Ahnhems aktueller Roman ist bereits der sechste der Reihe um den schwedischen Kommissar Fabian Risk. Er setzt die Geschichte des Vorgängers nahtlos fort und ist doch dieses Mal ganz anders als die vorangegangenen. Wir erleben einen gänzlich anderen Protagonisten, der durch die Trauer und Wut über sich selbst bestimmt wird, die eigentliche Kriminalhandlung spielt sich derweil rund um Dunja bzw. das Kopenhagener Polizeipräsidium ab. Die bisherige Randfigur, die zwar regelmäßig in Erscheinung trat, deren Geschichte jedoch hinter jener von Fabian zurücktreten musste, rückt nun in den Fokus und steht den bisherigen in nichts nach. Wieder einmal eine komplexe, spannende Tour de Force, in der sich die Kontrahenten nichts schenken.

Ein Quereinstieg in die Reihe mit diesem Band ist sicherlich nicht empfehlenswert. Ob er den Abschluss bildet, wird nicht eindeutig klar, jedoch werden eine ganze Reihe von Erzählsträngen zu einem Ende geführt. Zunächst jener um Theo, dem typisch jugendliche Vergehen zum Verhängnis wurden, der immer tiefer in einen Sumpf geraten ist und dann Opfer eines Krieges wurde, der eigentlich nicht seiner war. Eine tragische Figur durch und durch, ebenso wie seine Schwester Matilda. Dass sich Fabians Familie jemals von den Schicksalsschlägen erholen wird, kann bezweifelt werden. Sehr überzeugend jedoch die Emotionen, die den Vater leiten und an den Rand des Wahnsinns treiben.

Dunjas ungleicher Kampf gegen Sleizner nimmt den Hauptteil der Handlung ein. Eine clever aufgebaute Geschichte, die durch die Charaktere angetrieben und mit immer neuen Höhepunkten umgesetzt wird. Für mich genau das, was ich von einem Spannungsroman erwarte.

Auch wenn der letzte Aufschlag so ganz anders gestaltet ist als die vorherigen, überzeugt er doch restlos. Der veränderte Fokus hat mir gut gefallen, Dunja trägt locker ebenso durch die Geschichte wie Fabian.

Daisy Johnson – Sisters

Daisy Johnson – Sisters

Two sisters, September and July, just 10 months apart in age but sticking together like twins, even more, just as if they were only one person. In Oxford, where they first lived with their mother, an author of children’s books featuring two girls just like her own daughters, they were always in trouble and didn’t make friends with the other kids. By moving to the old family house, their mother hopes things will get easier. However, the spooky surroundings with walls who could tell decades of dark stories, triggers something between the girls which makes their unhealthy bond even more dangerous for the younger and weaker of the two sisters.

Daisy Johnson portrays a sisterly connection which goes far beyond what is known to link siblings. The fact that the girls are born within only a couple of months makes them grow up and experience everything together. They are like one person separated incidentally, also their character seems to have split in the two: September the wild and furious one, July, in contrast, obedient and more thoughtful. Since she is younger, she easily gives in to her sister’s will and thus follows without ever challenging her.

The atmosphere is gloomy in every line. Right from the start, you sense that some catastrophe is looming and just waiting to present itself. Even though at times, the sisterly bond also seems to be protective, the negative impact is obvious. Their mother is detached, she suffers from a depression which makes it impossible for her to see what is coming, she senses that the relationship her daughters have formed in detrimental, even harmful for July, but she is unable to do something about it.

An intense and vivid narrative with quite some eerie notes.