'This novel is defiantly populated with living women. I relished every page of this brilliant and gripping masterpiece.'-ASHLEY AUDRAIN, New York Times bestselling author of The Push “A profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. Powerful, important, intensely human, and filled with a unique examination of tragedy, one where the reader is left with a curious emotion: hope.' -USA TODAY As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.īlending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all and finally, Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. Through a kaleidoscope of women-a mother, a sister, a homicide detective-we learn the story of Ansel’s life. But Ansel doesn’t want to die he wants to be celebrated, understood. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago.

In the tradition of Long Bright River and The Mars Room, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life-from the bestselling author of Girl in Snow.Īnsel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. Recommended by New York Times Book Review Compassionate and thought-provoking.' –BRIT BENNETT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half 'A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling.” -Katie Kitamura, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Editors' Choice)

beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity. NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR.WINNER OF THE 2023 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL.

Book review notes danya