NINE LIVES

by Catherine Steadman

pub date: 23-June-2026

Ballantine | Bantam

Publisher’s Summary:

“Everything you want in a summer thriller: voyeuristic, atmospheric and ingenious . . . a read-it-in-one-sitting type of book.”—Emiko Jean, People (Most Anticipated Summer Reads)

“Catherine Steadman more than delivers.”—Lucy Foley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Feast

A woman spying on her glamorous neighbors discovers a terrifying secret in this twisty psychological thriller from the bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club “Something in the Water”…

These are your neighbors. One is a killer.

Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. This is a new chapter in her life. She’s decided to put down roots with Blue, the beautiful Persian cat she left her marriage with.

But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn’t, Frankie’s concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused “cat cam” collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they’re hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep.

A riveting thriller about the terrible secrets hidden behind the pastel-colored façade of one of London’s most upscale enclaves, Nine Lives is catnip for suspense readers everywhere and perfect for fans of modern classics like The Girl on the Train and The Woman in the Window.

Review:

Trigger Warnings: kidnapping and captivity, sexual assault, coercion, murder, violence against women

This is my first CATHERINE STEADMAN novel and definitely will not be my last. The NINE LIVES Prologue proves that readers should never skip over a prologue as some manipulative book influencers will do to increase their completion stats. This prologue catapults the story of a grey Persian cat named Blue and one of the disturbing things he captures on his collar’s camera. The prologue is the first taste of how Steadman shows a glimpse—in graphic detail—of the sort of panic-inducing chapters she has in store. After about three pages, a reader only has questions and will be gripping the book for answers.

Steadman isn’t the first writer to give people an animal’s point of view of the world, but the way it’s done makes you feel like this story about Frankie Green, her cat named Blue, and a kidnapped woman could not be told any other way.

Frankie Green is a freshly divorced, unemployed woman who packed up her life to buy a new house in North London. She’s chosen a modest house in a posh neighborhood where other residents include a movie star, an award-winning architect, a house flipper, and other people who harbor secrets. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own privacy. These neighbors also know a secret about Frankie’s new house. Surprisingly, of all the B-plot mysteries to solve, the house’s history isn’t the most interesting, but is tragic.

Steadman’s details of Frankie’s mental health, which includes panic attacks and insomnia, are composed with real life authenticity. Everything Frankie does from a behavior standpoint is relatable. She starts off by keeping her own secret from her wealthy neighbors that she doesn’t have a job. That’s not a spoiler. Frankie received a small golden parachute when she was sacked from her own company. As the story begins, Frankie has used up most of that severance pay and has around six months worth left in the bank. Before buckling down to send out resumes a marketing and branding executive, she gets distracted spying on her new neighbors. Something feels wrong, not quite right.

Frankie shifts her focus from obsessing about her cheating ex-husband, Ben and his new life in the United States with his fiancée. The neighborhood provides this distraction. Fortunately for Frankie and other people who come into her life, it’s a blessing that she took custody of Blue, a cat Ben never had interest in anyway. Blue lives a fairly free-wheeling lifestyle. He gets to go outside and roam as much as he wants. As the publisher’s summary states: Blue comes home and slips through a window. Frankie begins to snuggle him and notices something on his collar doesn’t feel right. Carved into it are the words: HELP ME.

Steadman had to come up with ways that modern technology could work in the story. There are only so many plots readers can tolerate where a cell phone happens to die at a crucial moment when the protagonist is separated from safety. The technology here is diverse. The most crucial element being a camera on a cat collar that unlocks the entire A-story about a woman in danger. This neighborhood is also filled with doorbell cameras, but a couple of blocks away where buildings are more in need of upgrades, there aren’t any cameras. Her first full day in the new house, Frankie is introduced to Arabella, one of the nicest neighbors. She adds Frankie to the neighborhood’s text group. In a nearly sitcom way, this group text is helpful and dangerous. People quickly discover that Blue belongs to Frankie when she posts a photo of him because he’s been gone too long.

Frankie is pushed further into panic and anxiety when she sees the words on Blue’s collar. She switches his collar for the one with the camera attached. Blue doesn’t mind. He still gets to explore. Blue captures footage of the woman who wrote the secret message.

There are many ways Steadman could have had her protagonist respond to this found footage. Frankie is not a brawny, ass-kicking retired MI6 agent. She’s a marketing specialist whose insomnia is driving her into madness. She could try the Metro Police. She could try going to the only neighbor she’s met. She could wait and see if anything else happens because the woman could be creating an elaborate hoax (for clicks or whatever gets young people to do anything). London is filled with crime like any city. Steadman walks Frankie through logical paces. Unfortunately, Frankie learns that Blue’s recordings of other people in their private homes and yards is against the law.

What is she to do without that important element of technology?

Steadman gives Frankie other distractions that get in her way of immediately pressing forward. A single man comes around and asks her to coffee (the architect). Unknown neighbors send her threats. She still needs to find a job and sends out resumes as rejections come in. To her credit, Frankie is exactly the “strong female character” who doesn’t need to be a superhero in order to want to do the right things. She moves forward constantly. She makes plenty of misguided decisions and mistakes. What makes her strong is her willpower, a lot of which comes from her intuition and gut feeling.

If readers are familiar with the episodic formulas of miniseries like Broadchurch and Criminal, this style is something Steadman also utilizes. The chapters are grouped into the nine days of Frankie having moved into this enclave. After each day, readers will have changed their minds about who to suspect of doing what (possibly) nefarious thing. Though following a formula (Steadman is also a talented screenwriter), that doesn’t mean anything is ever boring. Quite the opposite. Even though it’s clear the hero and villain will have a showdown, so it’s not a surprise to any reader when it happens, the mood Steadman creates is filled by the building up of tension and suspense.

Steadman is also a master of cliffhangers for the end of each chapter! There is always a reason to turn the page. Of course, once you do, there’s a new chapter and you don’t want to stop in the middle of it.

The chapters themselves are sometimes given a character’s name to inform on the perspective. “Cat Camera” is of course when Blue is exploring and investigating his surroundings. There are three that start with “The Woman” and have a back date leading up to her disappearance. Then there’s “Simon,” who doesn’t get his own chapter until 66% through. After that, he becomes more prominent. What’s noteworthy is when a character only gets a single chapter focused on their perspective. One of them is Aoife Doherty, the famous young movie star. The Epilogue is the ownership of Frankie’s ex-husband, Ben. I didn’t think Ben deserved his own chapter until I read it. It’s impeccable and satisfying.

Since this is not a police procedural, some minutiae has to be overlooked. A couple of examples that are not spoilers include: someone with medical knowledge fantasizing about drowning being a peaceful death when in reality, it is probably the worst way to go; and, a suspect wipes off their own fingerprints from an object, but it belongs to Frankie and would have her fingerprints on it.

Summary:

Catherine Steadman absolutely nails it with her 2026 thriller, Nine Lives! This book is page-to-page curiosity, suspense, action, and difficult decisions. Protagonist Frankie Green and her Persian cat, Blue, are the best human/animal partnership since Dog’s Jackson Briggs and Lulu (starring Channing Tatum).

Rating: 5 paws

This review was possible with access from NetGalley and the publisher.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.