The Kind Worth Saving is the sequel to The Kind Worth Killing and the second book in the Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner series by Peter Swanson. It opens with Kimball working as a private investigator when he is approached by a former student, Joan, wishing to hire him, she claims it is because her husband is cheating and she would like verification. However, interwoven into his narrative we see Joan’s which slowly reveals how she arranged a murder when she was still just a teenager. As Kimball starts investigating the husband he slowly becomes uneasy about both the assignment and about Joan. When he finds himself as a potential witness to her husband committing a murder-suicide with the mistress he really starts wondering just what is actually going on. Convinced there is more to the story he starts looking into Joan and discovers there may be more murders in her background and she may have ties to a school shooting that occurred during Kimball’s one year of teaching. Being unsure of what he might be looking for he reaches out to Lily Kintner for help and for her perspective on whether or not Joan is a killer.
This book was a great sequel to the first book but it was interesting in how it switched the main focus. Before it was heavily focused on Lily but this time it is more focused on Kimball instead where he was only a minor character previously. I don’t actually mind the change in focus as it allows for a similar setup to the previous book where we see the three part structure and alternating perspectives. There were changes but also still some parallels. The plot was again pretty complex and did a great job of slowly building the tension. Honestly, I think this book might have done an even better job than the previous book in some respects. The buildup in the first part was especially intense as it worked its way to the reveal of Joan’s past and whether she was actually a killer. It was also interesting to see how it played out after that with readers knowing the truth but with Kimball not knowing. There were a lot of interconnected elements there that must have taken some juggling to keep balanced as well as it was. Something else that I liked about this book is how it also adds considerable character growth, some for Lily but a lot for Kimball. We learn a lot more about who he is and how he became that person as quite a bit about his past is revealed. This book was incredible and seriously kept me enthralled throughout. I had a hard time putting it down and wanted to just keep reading. It earns four out five stars from me.
This is a good example of a thriller and would hold the most appeal for readers who tend to prefer that but it also holds some elements of the mystery genre so it might appeal to readers who prefer that as well. It obviously contains some pretty graphic descriptions of murder and hints to several more as well as references to other adult content. I would caution younger readers against reading this and would suggest only readers older than sixteen. If any of this sounds like it might be difficult, be careful when considering this book. That being said the book is actually a great read and well worth trying so go ahead and consider it. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.