Notes on an Execution

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEARDefiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling. Katie Kitamura, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Editors' Choice)'A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. . . . Compassionate and thought-provoking.' BRIT BENNETT, #1 New York Times bestselling author ofThe Vanishing HalfRecommended byNew York Times Book ReviewLos Angeles TimesWashington Post Entertainment WeeklyEsquireGood Housekeeping USA Today BuzzfeedGoodreadsReal Simple Marie Claire Rolling Stone Business InsiderBustlePopSugarThe MillionsThe Guardianand many more!In the tradition ofLong Bright RiverandThe 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 lifefrom the bestselling author ofGirl in Snow.Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what hes done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesnt want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood.Through a kaleidoscope of womena mother, a sister, a homicide detectivewe learn the story of Ansels life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansels wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sisters 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. 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.Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy,Notes on an Executionpresents 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.'Poetic and mesmerizing . . . Powerful, important, intensely human, and filled with a unique examination of tragedy, one where the reader is left with a curious emotion: hope.' USA TODAYA profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. . . . I relished every page of this brilliant and gripping masterpiece.'ASHLEY AUDRAIN, New York Times bestselling author of The Push