Waterstones Thriller of the Month for January 2023
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours.
He knows what he's done,and now awaits the same fate he forced on those girls,years ago. Ansel doesn't want to die; he wants to be celebrated,understood.
But this is not his story.
As the clock ticks down,three women uncover the history of a tragedy and the long shadow it casts. Lavender,Ansel's mother,is a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation. Hazel,twin sister to his wife,is forced to watch helplessly as the relationship threatens to devour them all. And Saffy,the detective hot on his trail,is devoted to bringing bad men to justice but struggling to see her own life clearly.
This is the story of the women left behind. Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy,Notes On An Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer,interrogating our cultural obsession with crime stories,and asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the minds of violent men.
Publisher: Orion Publishing CoISBN: 9781474625975Number of pages: 320Weight: 280 gDimensions: 196 x 126 x 32 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Spellbinding and beautifully written. Danya Kukafka's Notes on an Execution is an irresistible,unbearably tense thriller,a poignant,deeply compassionate tale of resilience,and a vital intervention in the way we talk about violent crime,its endless reverberations and foremost its survivors.'- Megan Abbott,author of Dare Me
'A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. Notes on an Execution examines a culture that romanticizes men who kill while also exploring the lives of the overlooked women altered by this violence. Compassionate and thought-provoking.'- Brit Bennett,bestselling author of The Vanishing Half
'Reading Danya Kukafka's Notes on an Execution is a profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. The stories of these richly drawn characters are layered like nesting dolls,each one revealing more about how we love and how we survive. Kukafka's prose,alive and poetic,is unforgettable. I relished every page of this brilliant and gripping masterpiece.'- Ashley Audrain,author of The Push
'Provocative,intelligent,thrilling,moving.'- Paula Hawkins,author of The Girl on the Train
'Notes On An Execution is seriously important crime fiction that trains the lens on a serial killer's victims rather than on the criminal himself and shows how the legacy of violence endures decades and leaves a tidal wave of collateral damage in its wake. Kukakfa's story is unflinching and unromantic,yet wrenching and devastating in equal measure. Never falling into the easy trap of sensationalism,Notes On An Execution pushes women to the forefront of a narrative that has too often overlooked them and all they suffer.'- Ivy Pachoda,author of These Women
'In Notes on an Execution, Danya Kukafka gives us something wrenchingly original,a rare and unsettling reading experience that challenges us to peel back what we believe about the criminal justice system,good and evil,and what human beings are capable of,both in darkness and in light. A moving tour de force of empathy and insight. I loved this book.'- Paula McLain,author of The Paris Wife
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