In THE NINTH LIFE, we get to meet Blackie, a black cat who is saved by a young girl called Care. Care is out to avenge the death of her mentor who was murdered. Blackie can't remember his life before his near-death experience, but he feels the need to repay Care for saving him. But that's not easy when one is a cat and the world is filled with murderers, criminals, and drug dealers. At least, Blackie and Care have each other.

THE NINTH LIFE is the first book in a new series by Clea Simon. This is the first book I have read by her. When I first saw the book was I intrigued by the lovely cover and the blurb. I felt this was a book for me, and I was looking forward to reading it.

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THE NINTH LIFE was an unusual reading experience for me. It's not often I read a book where the cat is the narrator. And, that unusual way of telling a story makes the reading experience so much greater. We get to follow Blackie throughout the book, his thoughts, and doings. And the reader is just as clueless about what's going on as Blackie is who has amnesia. As the story progress, Blackie gets flashbacks to what happened to him before Care found him, and they also get closer to finding out what really happened to the Care's mentor.

I admit the story was a bit confusing sometimes with Blackie and Care running around trying to find out what happened to her mentor. He is never mentioned by his name, but apparently he was a very good detective, and he was training her to be one too. We also met Tick, a younger boy who Care feels responsibility for. Apparently they are both foster home children who are now living on the street. Blackie isn't trusting Tick, and that is understandable since the young boy has a drug addiction, and despite Tick's obvious care for Care Blackie doesn't feel the boy is trustworthy.

I like THE NINTH LIFE because it is unusual; I did have a feeling throughout the book about Blackie—a suspicion that turned out to be right. I found, despite a bit of confusion now and then, THE NINTH LIFE to be quite good and I'm looking forward to reading more books in the Blackie and Care Cat Mystery series.

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