NATIONAL BESTSELLER\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0NEW YORK TIMES<\/i><\/b>\u00a0BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cDefiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . .\u00a0Notes on an Execution<\/i>\u00a0is nuanced, ambitious and compelling.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Katie Kitamura,\u00a0<\/b>NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW\u00a0<\/i><\/b>(Editors’ Choice)<\/b><\/p>\n
“A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. . . . Compassionate and thought-provoking.”\u00a0\u2013BRIT BENNETT, #1\u00a0<\/b>New York Times<\/i><\/b>\u00a0bestselling author of\u00a0<\/b>The Vanishing Half<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Recommended by\u00a0<\/b>New York Times Book Review<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Washington Post<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Entertainment Weekly\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u2022\u00a0Esquire<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0Good Housekeeping<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0USA Today\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0Buzzfeed<\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Goodreads\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0Real Simple<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Marie Claire<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Business Insider<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Bustle\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0PopSugar\u00a0<\/b>\u2022\u00a0The Millions<\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0The Guardian<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2022\u00a0and many more!<\/b><\/p>\n
In the tradition of\u00a0<\/b>Long Bright River\u00a0<\/i><\/b>and\u00a0<\/b>The Mars Room,\u00a0<\/i><\/b>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\u2014from the bestselling author of\u00a0<\/b>Girl in Snow<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he\u2019s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn\u2019t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood.<\/p>\n
Through a kaleidoscope of women\u2014a mother, a sister, a homicide detective\u2014we learn the story of Ansel\u2019s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel\u2019s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy,\u00a0Notes on an Execution<\/i>\u00a0presents 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 listeners to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men.<\/p>\n
“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.”\u00a0<\/b>\u2014USA TODAY<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cA 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.”\u2014ASHLEY AUDRAIN,\u00a0<\/b>New York Times<\/i><\/b>\u00a0bestselling author of\u00a0<\/b>The Push<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n