Another enjoyable, quirky story from Bernice Rubens.
Three narrators for this one which gives the reader more of an insight than any one character. ( )

Nine Lives is a dark (very dark) comedy set in relatively modern-day London. The tale is told via three alternating viewpoints. First we have Donald Dorricks, a serial killer who is, for reasons of his own, garroting psychotherapists one by one. We enter his mind through his diary, as he describes the killings. His stated goal is to dispatch nine shrinks. He doesn't tell us why, but little by little we begin to guess. The next viewpoint is the detective trying to catch this killer, who never leaves a clue and is willing to wait months, sometimes more than a year, to commit his next crime. Third is Dorricks' wife, Verry. Her first person accounts take place later in time, as we listen to her talk through her experiences visiting her husband in prison.

So, this is, really a book about obsession. Dorricks is obsessed with his "mission," the inspector is obsessed with his case, and Verry is, for reasons she describes, too obsessed with her husband and her dependence on him to cut him loose, although he has confessed to the killings (we read this at the very beginning of the book) and is serving a life sentence.

All of these viewpoints make for good readng, although the killer's, not surprisingly, is very dark. By far the most effective and most interesting is that of Verry. What keeps her going back to this monster of a man? The rendering of this question seems quite human and quite real. ( )

Bernice Rubens' Nine Lives is an intense and compelling book. It tells the story of the murders of nine psychotherapists, alternating between the diary of the killer, his wife, the detective in charge of the case, and the aftermath of each killing. It's an incredibly good book, the three main characters, Verine Dorricks, Detective Wilkins, and Donald Dorricks tell their stories alongside each other, giving their unique and very human insights on the tale. Nine Lives is a great "whydunit", and I'd reccomend it to anyone. ( )