‘Nine Lives’ by Kevin McManus

Synopsis

Ray Logue returns

1979

In Western Ireland, Hazel Devereaux, a student of Trinity College in Dublin, goes missing while working at a summer job. Six months later her body is discovered in a shallow grave. A line from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe entitled “A Paean” is discovered in an envelope at the house Hazel was renting.

Thirty Years Later

Detective Ray Logue discovers that a series of murders in Boston appear to be connected to the killings in 1979. Each victim also received a line from the poem by Edgar Allan Poe delivered to their homes.

A serial killer is at work and has claimed seven lives so far. The murderer kills two victims every ten years, always on a year ending in nine , always on the same dates in June and December.

With less than two weeks until the killer strikes again , Logue is dispatched to Boston to work alongside Detective Olivia Callaghan and Inspector Sam Harper to discover the identity of the murderer and to stop him before he strikes again.

The race is on to catch a killer before he claims his next victim , A killer who has managed to stay hidden for 30 years…

My Review

I absolutely love discovering new characters and Ray Logue is certainly a new character for me.  I read the synopsis for ‘Nine Lives’ and it certainly sounded like I was in for a treat and then some.  So I eagerly grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for an interesting afternoon of reading.  Having just finished reading ‘Nine Lives’ all I can say is wowzers.  If you haven’t already guessed I flipping well loved reading ‘Nine Lives’ but more about that in a bit.

As soon as I started to read, I instinctively knew that I wasn’t going to be putting this book down any time soon.  I must be psychic (or should that be psychopathic) because that is exactly what happened.  My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere.  I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story.  I became so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the book.  All too quickly I reached the end of the book and I had to say farewell to Ray Logue.  I found ‘Nine Lives’ to be a gripping read, which certainly kept me guessing and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

‘Nine Lives’ is well written.  The author certainly knows how to grab your attention, draw you into the story and then takes you on one hell of a journey.  For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fast pace throughout.  I loved the fact that the story is partly set in Ireland and partly set in the United States Of America.  I loved the fact that there is focus on Ireland’s past whilst at the same time there is a focus on present day Ireland.  Kevin certainly doesn’t shy away from the problems that existed back then and today.  I did wonder if the use of two timelines might prove to be a bit distracting but I needn’t have worried because the story flowed seamlessly.  ‘Nine Lives’ isn’t a particularly long story but it is well plotted and jam packed full of drama, intrigue, shocks and twists.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Nine Lives’ by Kevin McManus and I would recommend it to other readers.  I will certainly be reading more of Kevin’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Bok Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.