Customer Reviews

Nine Lives

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Once again Sharon Sala has proved herself to be a wonderful writer with a great insight into the folibles of humanity. Her characters not only seem to be real but many times touch the inner darkness of the human condition. That is so with this one. A lonely heart that seems to hunger for companionship and yet fears the agony of loss, this seems to sum up the lead character, Catherine (Cat) Dupree.

Cat lost her mother in a car accident at age 6, then her father is murdered at age 13, and she is left for dead with a slit throat. Tossed into the foster care system she finds another girl alone like her, and the bond is forever and family. Each is alone in the world. Marsha Benton is a secretary for a powerful man. Cat is a bounty hunter, she is determined to find and punish the man who killed her father, and thinks that her work will help her find him.

Marsha tells Cat that she is pregnant and the father is her boss who is also married. When Marsha disappears Cat knows who to blame, but the police are not willing to start anything until they are sure, because Marsha's boss is a very important man. Cat is not willing or able to leave it to the police, they have never found the man who murdered her father.

Wilson McKay is also a bounty hunter, he owns his own bonding company. Although they both are bounty hunters they have never met until they are caught in an apartment fire togather. Wilson senses her desire to distant herself from others and the pain in her life. Nevertheless he finds he is very attracted to her.

When Cat finally goes to report Marsha's disappearance to the police, Wilson is there in the station and comes over to offer his help. After Cat leaves and turns him down he becomes more determined to get to know her and then offers his help to gather information on Mark Presley, Marsha's boss. Marsha has left an intreging phone message on Cat's machine. Three minutes of the sound of the inside of a helicopter.

With the tenacity of a bulldog and the help of Wilson, Cat is soon deep into the mystery. The pace is fast and the plot is great. Cat is weaving and bobbing but Wilson is as close as she will let him get.

I loved the book and while it leaves us at a good stopping place, we also know there will be a sequel. I can hardly wait. I recommend this one highly.

Not only is the blurb on the back of the book misleading, it is almost COMPLETELY wrong - I don't think the person writing it actually read the book, but just received a synopsis from someone whose cousin's best friend's husband's uncle's secretary read it without actually understanding it (perhaps the secretary only understands really Spanish yet was forced to read it in English?). I mean - good GRIEF! Anyway . . .

Cat Dupree has used of 2 of her 9 lives - first by surviving a car accident she was in with her mother at the age of 8, and then by surviving having her throat slit by a tattooed man who then killed her father when she was 13. She has dedicated her life to finding the killer and as such has become a skip tracer (aka, bounty hunter) for a bail bondsman. When her best friend Mimi (Marsha) Benton tells her she is pregnant with her boss' child and he has threatened her, and subsequently goes missing after saying she would be by to see Cat in a couple of hours, Cat is certain that Mimi's boss has killed her. Most of the book is taken up with Cat's search for Mimi and also Cat getting to know Wilson McKay, another bondsman who finds himself falling for her and helping her, despite her tough-as-nails, trust-no-one facade. When the killer does a runner to Mexico, Cat is on his tail, with Wilson a couple hours behind. The ending does have quite a coincidence, but hey, wouldn't want to leave things unresolved, would we?

The action is terrific, the romance doesn't interfere with the overall story, and the characters are terrific. I hope to see more about Cat in future books.

Sharon Sala was my favorite author for years. Over the last few years,
I've been disappointed more and more in her books. One of the things I liked about her writing was that the characters were always very likeable
and generally seemed to have a great chemistry. I also liked that she
didn't leave the characters at odds all the way through the book and her
male leads always seemed strong but sensitive. Perhaps she felt the need
to show flaws in her characters. She also has seemed to go deeper an deeper into dark issues in some of her recent books. The end result with
this book is that her characters are certainly flawed. I HATED Cat, and
cannot imagine a series with this totally disagreeable woman. Yeah, I get
she had a tough childhood, but I don't see that as a license to be a witch
with a capital B for the rest of your life. Wilson passed from "Sensitive"
to utter wimp. Why on earth would a man put up with this chick? Because
she's gorgeous? Now there's a basis for a great relationship. Of course,
the coincidences in this story were ridiculous and the neat little tie
in at the end almost laughable, but that was minor compared to the totally
awful characters introduced here. And really, when you only have two
characters in the book, is it really that hard to keep track of one of
their ages? Minor, I know, but annoying.
Overall I'd have to say, when I want a dose of Sharon Sala, I'll pull out
my dog-eared copies of "Deep In the Heart" or even one of her series romances. If I didn't know better, I'd swear this is a different author. Don't waste your money.

Cat Dupree is an emotionally-charged character in NINE LIVES. She lost her mother to a drunken driver when she was a child. Then, when she was barely a teen, a man with a tattooed face killed her father in front of her and cut Cat's throat. After surviving the attack and her years as a ward of the state in the foster care system, Cat became a bounty hunter, choosing to live and work in the same environment she believed had spawned her father's murderer. Unfortunately, Cat hasn't found her father's killer yet. But her sole friend through all her teen years has just been killed by her married boyfriend. Now Cat Dupree is on the trail of justice.

Sharon Sala is a bestselling author of romantic suspense. As Dinah McCall she writes romantic suspense with a paranormal flavor.

The thing I've always enjoyed about a Sharon Sala book is the quick pacing. No matter what your intentions are, you just keep flipping pages, trying to keep up with the charactes and with the plot. Sala brings enough emotional depth to her leads, Cat Dupree and Wilson McKay, to ground the book. But the villain, Mark Presley, even has a lot of stage presence. You can almost feel sorry for the guy -- for a few momentary flashes because he's a sleazy, self-centered sleazeball.

NINE LIVES is the first of a projected trilogy, and the conclusion puts Cat on the trail of her father's murderer. It's going to be interesting to watch the paces Sala puts her characters and her readers through.

Sharon Sala's writing is lightning-quick. Nora Roberts on amphetamines. Even at 432 pages, NINE LIVES can be read in a few sittings (and probably will be whether you want to or not!). She establishes her characters and her stories in eyeblinks, while the movie credits are still rolling, then you're part of the chase. People who want to be yanked out of an everyday world and propelled through one filled with excitement and danger are going to love this one.

I like Sharon Sala books, but I did not enjoy this one. To begin with, the synopsis on the back cover was misleading. I know sometimes editors embelish with the info on the back cover, but..... It implies that Cat is going to search for her father's killer when its really about the murder of her best friend. This left me a bit confused as I kept reading along to see when the search for her father's killer would begin. Never happened. Also, it says that she first cheated death at 13, when at the beginning of the book it says that she first cheated death at 6. PUBLISHING 101 - a book's back cover should match what is inside the book.

Another thing - in the first chapter it says that the male character has just turned 40. Later he tells Cat that he is 38. Either he is insecure and was lying to Cat about his age, or someone at the publishing house was not doing their job. My guess is its the latter.

The book is supposed to be a romantic suspense, but there was virtually no romance and even less suspense. The murderer was revealed during the actual murder and Cat knew it was him from the get go. Props to Cat though, for proving her theory so quickly. But honestly, how was the murderer able to fake a coma by "relaxing"? And did the police really buy that?

Overall, I think this book could have been compressed into some sort of prolouge for the sequel where Cat goes on the search for her father's killer (as implied at the end of the book). I was really disappointed though, I could not believe that this book was published without someone noticing that the synopsis did not match with the plot. If I handed something like this to my english professor I would get an F for sure. Too bad there is no money back guarantee....

I would first like to say be warned. The blurb on the back of this book is EXTREMELY misleading. Not that it's a bad thing. On the contrary, this book is one of Sala's best, in my opinion.

Cat Dupree has a mission in life. That mission is to find the tattooed man that killed her father, slashed her throat, and left her for dead. She was eight years old. Becoming a Bounty Hunter is a means to an end for Cat. While she enjoys getting scum off the streets, it was the entry into the criminal world that she needed. When her best friend and sister at heart, Marsha (Mimi) Benton goes missing, Cat knows something bad happened. She knows who did it and she knows why. It's only a matter of proving it.

Wilson McKay has heard about the legendary Cat Dupree, he just had never met her. When their paths cross, Wilson is charmed, infuriated, and frustrated by Cat. She is unlike any woman he has ever known. Impossible to get close to, all he can do is try to stay a part of Cat's life. When she asks him for help in locating her missing friend, he can do nothing other than help.

While it's never a secret who the killer is, it doesn't take away from the book. We get a peek into the killer's head and he is one sick puppy. Cat and Wilson's chase eventually leads them to something they least expected: the man who killed Cat's father. Sala left the end of the book wide open for a sequel where Cat will finally get to hunt down the man that destroyed her childhood.

This book was interesting. It was the first of this authors that I have read. It was a fast read, and kept me interested until the end. I wonder if maybe the author ran out of time before the book needed to be published, and just threw together the quickest ending she could think of. The ending leaves a lot to be desired. I hope that there is a sequel that will tie up all the loose ends, otherwise this book is a disappointment.

Sharon Sala is one of my favorite authors of romantic suspense. She grabs you in the beginning and doesn't let go until the end. In this case, being let go never happens and you finish the book wondering if a sequel will come or if speculation is what she intended. Either way you'll enjoy this ride!

Catherine Dupree is known as Cat to her friends. She has lived a life with one tragedy after another. First, when she was four years old, she and her mother are involved in a car crash that leaves her with injuries that land her in intensive care and her mother is killed. If that isn't enough, when she's a teenager, she witnesses her father being killed and the murderer slashes her throat during his exit. She miraculously survives and is said to have used up two of her nine lives.

Now Cat is an adult and has made it her life's mission to catch her father's killer - he's unique in the fact that he has geometric shaped tattoos on his face, neck, arms and possibly all over his body. She's a bounty hunter, is as tough as they come, and is a loner. Well, she's a loner except for her best friend, Mimi, who grew up in foster care with Cat. When Mimi comes up missing, Cat knows she was in trouble and believes she's been killed. So begins the race is on to catch her killer.

Along the way, Cat keeps bumping into Wilson McKay another bounty hunter in the oddest places. He's instantly smitten with Cat but she has other ideas and keeps everyone at arm's length. He volunteers to help her with her quest so he can stay close to her. She refuses, goes it alone and again he keeps turning up. She can't seem to shake him and realizes that maybe he's good to have around. But she's definitely determined not to get involved in a relationship with him.

The character development is excellent down to the raspy voice of Cat, her tough as nails persona, and we're even given a glimpse as to her soft side that stays hidden from everyone at all times. Wilson is sexy, tough, and like a bulldog with a bone - he refuses to give up on Cat and is determined to break through the walls she's erected. Sub-characters are also well developed and the reader is thrown into the mix with enough information that I thought I was part of the storyline.

The plot is great but the back of the book lies. According to the summary there, this book was supposed to be about Cat's chase after her father's killer. Wrong! This book was about her seeking her friend's killer and just happened to stumble onto her father's killer in route. That was a bit far-fetched, but if you agree that this was the worst that Sala did wrong then you'll understand why I enjoyed this story!

This is definitely a book to keep your heart racing and the pages turning. A perfect read on a cold winter night!

Cat Dupree's life has taken many downward turns, starting with surviving an accident that killed her mother, followed by the murder of her father with the assailant slashing her throat and leaving a thirteen year old child to die. Now Cat is all grown up and has taken a job in bounty hunting to search for the man that haunts her nightmares, the man who killed her childhood, the man with the tattoos covering his face.

Mimi is the only person in Cat's life that she trusts and loves wholeheartedly, now she has gone missing. Cat suspects Mimi has been met with an untimely death following the information that she is expecting a child with her adulterous boss Mark Presley. No one is taking Cat seriously that her friend is dead until she comes across rival bounty hunter Wilson McKay. Unexplainably attracted to the tough rough edged Cat Dupree he will stop at nothing to keep her safe this time.

Cat is a very strong character that has faced so many hardships and yet has only been pushed forward by them. Her inability for emotional attachment has both been her safety net and her curse and for her to let someone in is a major stepping stone. Wilson McKay is a very persistent and very thoughtful man , the type you want by your side through thick and thin. The combination of the two characters sends an emotional charge that transcends the pages.

Nine Lives is a great read by a master of romantic suspense, while this one is not this reviewer's favorite it is still highly recommended. Sharon Sala has a way of connecting to her readers on a personal and emotional level that is unlike many other authors. It has been a rough time for literature without her novels lately, and am very pleased to see her return. She starts the book with her dedication that brings tears to the eyes, anyone who is a fan will understand how devastating life can be and for that reason it is inspiring to see her persevere.
Reviewed by Joyce



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While the book was fast-paced and the characters engaging, I felt cheated of an ending by the time I got to the last few pages of this book and knew that the killer was still on the loose. If I'm going to read a 400+ page book, I expect it to be the full story, not a prelude to another book I'm going to have to buy in order of know what happens to the heroine and hero. And speaking of the heroine, I'm not sure I've ever read a romantic suspense novel with a more controlled and emotionally stubborn and distant heroine. She lives a lie emotionally, and I sometimes got fed up with her. Why, I wondered, was the hero investing so much caring in the hopes of a relationship with her. I have to admit that Sala's writing has gotten stronger, but I found her earlier novels more satisfying as far as resolution and character involvement.