The Kind Worth Saving
William Morrow
March 7, 2022
Praise for The Kind Worth Saving:
In this spectacularly devious novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson—featuring the smart and complex Lily Kintner from his acclaimed novel, The Kind Worth Killing—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, 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.
Foreign Sales:
Prunsoop / Korea
Faber / U.K.
Kampa Verlag / Germany
"THE KIND WORTH SAVING is a joy to read and is catnip for fans of top-level
psychological thrillers. It will consistently keep readers off-balance as each wave of
truth hits you and sends you down another road towards the next twist."
--Bookreporter.com
“The inventive Mr. Swanson never lets the willing reader down. With
The Kind Worth Saving, he surpasses his own high standard.”
--The Wall Street Journal
“This isn't exactly a sequel to Swanson's The Kind Worth Killing, though several
of the characters, including the gloriously warped Lily Kintner, reappear here,
but it does reprise the same creepy theme: sociopathic spiders and the
not-quite-innocent flies they attempt to entrap in their labyrinthine webs
(when they aren't trapping one another). Only this time Swanson ups the
ante dramatically. . . It isn't so much plot twists that keep the reader reeling
here (though there are plenty of those) as it is the growing realization of the
horrors lurking within the minds of seemingly ordinary people.”
-- Booklist Magazine (Starred Review)
“This is a sequel to Swanson’s smash hit The Kind Worth Killing, but you don’t have to
have read it to enjoy this one, as Kimball’s riveting back story is stitched seamlessly into
the narrative. The suspense filled plot means The Kind Worth Saving will be another
sure-fire winner and I’ve no doubt this won’t be the last we’ll hear of Henry Kimball.”
--Irish Independent
“A complex tale of multiple killings over many years involving at least one, and
possibly more, murderous psychopaths. The story is told in alternating
timelines. . . How those two stories converge, and the shocking sleight-of-hand
twist that is, trust me, impossible to predict, are just two of the many balls
that Swanson juggles in this entertaining story.”
--New York Times Book Review
“A spine-tingling quest to expose evil before evil wins. Psychological thriller
fanatics will scramble to complete this satisfyingly twisty novel.”
--Library Journal
“Peter Swanson is a master at sticking knives into familiar tropes and then
giving them a twist, and his latest is a twin narrative page-turner of the highest order.”
--The Crack Magazine
“Readers will be hard-pressed not to devour this in one sitting.”
--Publishers Weekly
“The Kind Worth Saving is a pitch perfect mystery with all the humanity and
depth we’ve come to expect from this master of suspense.”
-- CrimeReads
“Complex, twist-filled.”
-- Associated Press (by Bruce Desilva)
Praise for The Kind Worth Killing:
“A twisty tale of warring sociopaths [and] a good companion to similar stories
by Laura Lippman and Gillian Flynn.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Revenge has rarely been served colder than in Swanson’s exceptional
thriller. . . .With scalpel-sharp prose, Swanson probes the nature of
coldblooded evil. Few will be prepared for the crushing climax.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Praise for Peter Swanson:
“Swanson hits the mystery writer's daily double: a devilish premise
combined with jaw-dropping execution.”
—Booklist, Starred Review for Eight Perfect Murders
“The perfect gift for well-read mystery mavens who complain that
they don't write them like they used to.”
—Kirkus, Starred Review for Eight Perfect Murders
“Swanson will keep most readers guessing until the end.
Classic whodunit fans will be in heaven.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review for Eight Perfect Murders
"Deliciously ingenious… With twist upon twist, and false clue upon false clue,
this is superb, elegant crime writing with more than a nod to the genre’s past."
—Daily Mail for Nine Lives
“. . . ingenious plotting and a clear, precise writing style.”
—Associated Press for Nine Lives
“Diving into the plot of a Peter Swanson novel is rather like getting involved,
if not quite in a game of chess, then in a particularly sharp game of
checkers. Swanson’s earlier bestselling “Eight Perfect Murders” qualified
as a solid book of this type. “Nine Lives” is even better.”
—Toronto Star for Nine Lives
“Psychological thriller devotees should block time to read
Swanson’s novel in one sitting, preferably in the daylight.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review; Top Ten “LibraryReads” title for Her Every Fear
“Swanson…introduces a delicious monster-under-the-bed creepiness to
the expected top-notch characterization and steadily mounting anxiety.”
—Booklist, Starred Review for Her Every Fear