As much as I was fascinated by all that was going on with Ansel in his final hours, I found myself completely captivated by these three women. This character-driven novel grabbed me from the get-go and I just loved the way it was told – we are given Ansel’s story, a serial killer on death row in the hours leading up to his execution, and three women’s stories who are linked to him and have somehow been affected by his violence. 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.Ī few years back, I picked up a copy of Girl in Snow, the debut novel by Danya Kukafka and I absolutely loved! So when I saw she had a new book coming out I knew I had to read it…and I think I loved it even more!

We meet his mother, Lavender, a 17-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 homicide 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.

He hoped it wouldn’t end like this, not for him. 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 best-selling author of ‘Girl in Snow’.Īnsel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. Source: Print – ARC Paperback via William Morrow / Audio – ALC via Netgalley

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