 Intriguing new series grabs your attention before you even know the characters
Clea Simon caught my attention immediately when I started to read her new dark novel THE NINTH LIFE. We are introduced to the main characters right away, but we really don’t know anything about them. The thin, scrawny girl in her early teenage years cares almost too much about the group of street kids that have gathered to live, look out for each other, and wait for their next job.
He remembers nothing of his life when she saves him from the rushing water where he was drowning. Soaking wet and gasping for air, he is grateful to the pink haired girl who has saved him. When he recovers enough to look about, he sees that she is small and frail and can hardly take care of herself, but she is determined to help a young boy she seems to love. The scrawny crowd she lives with out of fear, hunger, and companionship scares her. She wants to leave since men are chasing her, men that killed her mentor whom she is determined to avenge. The “old man” was a private investigator teaching her the trade. The boy Tick seems to be holding her back despite his pleas to go if that’s what she wants.
The saved one would like to go with her and protect her, but he realizes he is a cat, one who is aging. He straightens his body and licks his fur and is determined to go with her. He is so frustrated at times because he cannot express what he feels or what he wants or simple directions to the girl. He gives her credit for trying. He has named her Care, for that is what she shows him, whom she has named Blackie the cat, along with her mentor and Tick. She barely remembers her parents. She remembers more about the foster home where she met Tick. It is clear that Care is fond of Tick, but Blackie is certain that he cannot be trusted.
They walk the dirty streets scavenging food and shelter. Tick left the group on a dangerous “job”. Care and Blackie see him in the streets and then witness him at a distance delivering his message to some men at the back door of a jewelry store. When he turns to leave, the men he’s been talking to suddenly grab him and take him inside. Care is determined to follow the men who have Tick, and Blackie is determined to help her and keep her safe. The two small friends begin to search for Tick throughout their urban landscape. It is not a pretty journey but one through streets and dark alleys and dark places to hide.
Clea Simon grabbed me almost from inside the book and brought me into this story. If you love cats, as quite a number of her readers must since her books always seem to include them in some way or another, you are drawn in right away, as I was, when Blackie is being drowned by three shady men. I began to breathe again when Care saves Blackie from certain death when she saves him from the murderous men. I cringed when I witness the squalor Care and Tick had been living in. I am almost nauseous when Care is delighted to have found a chicken wing in the trash, which she shares with Blackie. I have to wonder how these two young creatures are going to survive let alone rescue Tick. Clea Simon shows no mercy or a hint of an answer until they reach it themselves. I said it rather early into the story that this book was mesmerizing. It remained that way through to the end.

I really enjoyed this mystery. This is a dark cat mystery. The story is told from the viewpoint of Blackie, a very different type of cat. He is rescued from drowning by Care who has her own set of problems. He sets out to solve the mystery of how he almost drowned. Care was working with a private detective who was murdered. She sets out to solve his final case and his murder and Blackie helps. The mystery was good but it was gritty. I really liked the relationship between Blackie and Care. I really enjoyed the ending. I am looking for word to reading more of their adventures. Enjoy