Notes on an Execution

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.

A killer is on death row but this is not his story. It's the narratives of three women affected by his actions: his mother, Lavender; his ex-wife's sister, Hazel; and the female detective, Saffy, who tracked him down. Exploring the effects of violence by men and the worlds that are ruined, this is a breakout book for 2022, At once blistering with righteous anger and radical empathy, Notes on an Execution is destined to become a contemporary classic., This novel is defiantly populated with living women; it ruminates on trauma, the criminal justice system and guilt . . . In particular, the relationships between women - sisters, friends, colleagues - are beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling, 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., 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.

Danya Kukafka is the internationally bestselling author of Girl in Snow. She is a graduate of New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She works as a literary agent.

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