The Kind Worth Saving: 'Nobody writes psychopaths like Swanson.' Mark Edwards

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Not unlike its predecessor, The Kind Worth Saving features unlikely people coming together and plotting the perfect murder. Or four. When no one even knows they've talked to one another, who could possibly link them? As with The Kind Worth Killing, we are handed the answers early in the novel and the rest of the story becomes about the characters, the moves they play, and how they figure out the truth. Swanson makes this style of storytelling work well. Instead of hanging everything on a twist that we may or may not figure out, he draws us into his characters' minds and makes wondering what will happen to them the real pull of the book.

The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson | Waterstones

The story then switches to Joan’s point of view, with something that happened when she was a teenager, on a rather reluctant holiday on the coast of Maine with her parents. Duane, a slightly older boy, starts to pursue her, invites her to a beach party which turns out to be just himself and Joan, and attempts to rape her. Furious, Joan hatches a plot for revenge, and involves Duane’s cousin Richard, who is only too happy to help as he also loathes Duane. All goes well, Duane is disposed of, and nobody suspects a thing. This is hardly a spoiler, as it takes place in the second chapter. But there’s so much more to come.

Life in Massachusetts should be a lot more peaceful for Henry these days, but his snooping on Richard Whalen comes to an abrupt end when he finds the cheating husband and the man’s mistress dead in an apparent murder-suicide. Or… could it be just plain murder? It gives the investigator a sense of deja vu, and something else… Henry’s gut tells him things aren’t as cut and dried as they might first appear.

The Kind Worth Saving – HarperCollins The Kind Worth Saving – HarperCollins

All I am going to say is enjoy. There are plenty of twists and games happening throughout, and who do you trust? Who do you believe? Read it and find out, you will not be sorry. What do you think? Did you read the first book, are you reading this and if so, which book was better? When Joan Whalen, (nee Grieve) an ex-student from his decades-old short stint as a high school English teacher which ended in a horrific tragedy, enlists his services to find proof of her husband’s infidelity Kimball has no idea what he is getting into. Joan is confident that her husband is cheating on her and also claims to be sure of who he is romantically involved with. All she wants is proof of the same. As Kimball begins to follow Joan’s husband and the woman he is supposedly having an affair with, he finds himself unwittingly drawn into a tangled web of murder, manipulation, deceit, lies and old secrets. It takes one to know one, so Henry turns to the only person he knows who can help him figure out what’s actually going on. Henry Kimball is a PI. Previously, he was a HS Honors English teacher and taught his current client. Joan suspects her husband of cheating on her (not that she’s sure she cares, she just wants confirmation) and hires Henry. In alternating chapters in the first half, we also get a bit from one summer during Joan’s teenage years. This is one of those stories when the reader knows who’s to blame and it’s just a question of how Henry will figure it out. The story moves at a brisk pace with short chapters. It covers the normal psychopath situation with a twist about justice. My problem was that there was nothing unique. Also, Henry felt flat and Joan never came across as real. When an attractive young woman walks into his office at the start of the novel, Kimball takes a moment to recognise her as the Joan Grieve who was in his Senior honors English class during his short spell as a schoolteacher many years earlier. She tells him that her husband Richard is having an affair – she knows it for certain but she needs evidence to get a divorce, and she’s willing to pay Kimball the going rate to provide the proof she needs. He agrees. He does remember her but she’s associated in his mind with a very disturbing event that took place in the classroom one day. That’s all the information the reader gets for the moment.I received a digital review copy of this novel from the publisher via Edelweiss+ . All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Lily is beautiful and seductive, and definitely the kind of woman who can be your best friend or your worst enemy and she caught Kimball’s attention years ago when he was investigating a crime. 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. Although "Kind #2" was fast-paced, well-plotted, entertaining, and compulsively readable, it was not in the same league as "Kind #1". I AM SO HAPPY. my fave thriller (THE KIND WORTH KILLING) got a sequel and it answered all my questions from the cliffhanger ending and it was a hell of a ride 👀🖤🫢🔪📖🙌🏼

The Kind Worth Saving: A Novel - Peter Swanson - Google Books The Kind Worth Saving: A Novel - Peter Swanson - Google Books

The Kind Worth Saving can be read as a standalone – but honestly I would not recommend it because The Kind Worth Killing is utterly brilliant and a masterclass in psychological thrillers – so do yourself a HUGE favour and buy both books. Former high school teacher-turned police officer-turned private eye, Henry is surprised when a former pupil comes to his office and asks him to do some surveillance on her husband. Joan Whalen (nee Grieve) thinks her other half is cheating and wants Henry to get to the truth, no matter how much it costs. Henry and Joan have a shared history – they were both witnesses when the school loner killed another pupil in English class and then turned the gun on himself. The trauma of that experience led Henry to leave teaching and go into law enforcement, until an equally dramatic encounter with Lily Kintner had him reevaluating his life and finding yet another new career.In this story, we meet Joan Grieves/Whalen, who was a former student of Henry Kimball when he taught English classes at the local high school. Henry Kimball is now a Private Investigator working at his own office due to circumstances that happened in book #1. Joan approaches Henry, because she thinks that her husband, Richard is cheating on her, and she would like Henry to follow him and confirm her suspicions. There are quite a few morally questionable and conflicted characters and choices in this one - it often gets one thinking deeper and that can be a sign of a good story IMO.

The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson Review: The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson

Henry Kimball is now a private investigator after being asked to resign from the police force after the incidents that occurred with Lily Kintner. He is hired by Joan Whalen, who Henry had as a student during his one traumatic year of teaching. Joan believes her husband is cheating, and she wants Henry to confirm this fact. Yet as we have come to know from Swanson's other books, nothing is as it seems on the surface. Present day incidents are woven in with Joan's past to create an unbelievable tale of secrets, lies, and murder. But I am going to edit that post to add this new book. I might argue that The Kind Worth Saving is a better book because following Henry Kimball gives the book (and some character relationships) a greater depth and level of complexity. A mystery bookstore blog post inspires a serial killer in Swanson’s 'Eight Perfect Murders' (Morrow, Mar.). The most intriguing character is Lily Kintner who doesn't appear until the second half of this book. Lily apparently features prominently in The Kind Worth Killing, which I am now intent on reading. She and Henry have a strange relationship, but one where they are each very protective of the other. Not just as an unnecessary sequel to my favorite thriller of all time, but just in general... it was bad.As Henry begins to investigate Joan's husband, he begins to take a closer look at the past, and as he begins to put things together in his mind, he begins to become aware of connections, and realizes that things are not as they seem. I was one of the few people who didn’t understand the cult following of Peter Swanson’s first book in the series. While I enjoyed some of the twists, it was a three star read for me. After reading the second book in the series, I have realized that the reason I struggled to enjoy it was because the plot glorifies murder and killing. Regardless of the fact that it is fiction, I just can’t get behind that. Additionally, one of the major plot points in this book is a school shooting. This is a hard NO for me.