Review: Notes On An Execution: A Novel by Danya Kukafka

 Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  For the last week I made a clear departure from reading memoirs to reading a book that would most likely be classified as mystery/thriller.  The book's title, Notes On An Execution:  A Novel, by Danya Kukafka initially grabbed my attention.  When I read the book's summary that is when I thought, maybe I should just see if or how this book about a serial killer is or is not different from similar books I have read.  So the book is told not totally focused on the serial killer, rather we learn his story through the eyes of three distinct women he encountered throughout the course of his life.  And the book's timeline is depicted over the hours leading up to the serial killer's execution.  Highly Intriguing.

First, the author introduces you to Lavender who is the mother of the serial killer, Ansel.  We see Lavender as a teenage mother ill-equipped to handle a marriage much less motherhood.  She is living locked away in a farmhouse where she and her abusive husband reside.  Her husband is downright despicable as he locks cabinets and the refrigerator full of food when he is not at the house.  He may leave Lavender one can of beans to survive on as she tries to raise four year old Ansel and his four month old brother.  Eventually, Lavender convinces her husband to take her for a drive deliberately leaving the kids at the farmhouse.  While stopped at a convenience store, she locks herself in a supply closet and calls the police to tell them the 2 kids need to be rescued from the farmhouse.  She then boards a bus hoping to land anywhere but the hellish circumstances from which she has escaped.

Next we meet Saffron also known as Saffy who is a child sharing a foster home with Ansel.  She is suspicious of Ansel from the beginning as she discovers Ansel has left her a gift on the top of her twin bed.  It's so disgusting that she removes the sheets from her bed along with the gift and quickly deposits all of it in the trash.  Saffy will later grow up to become a police chief and the homicide investigator who ultimately captures and helps convict Ansel for the deaths of four women.

Hazel happens to be the twin sister of Jenny, the college gal that Ansel married.  Hazel and Jenny look almost identical and although Hazel grew up quite jealous of Jenny and her extrovert nature, she later realizes that her sister has married a man (Ansel) who makes her sister's life quite miserable enough that eventually, Jenny calls Hazel to help her escape her life with Ansel.  

Also along this journey, we meet Blue Harrison who is the daughter of Ansel's brother, Ellis, who was adopted quickly after the two boys were discovered by the police in the farmhouse.  Blue's father dies of cancer and she and her mom are left to manage the restaurant her father and mother started.  Eventually, Blue and her mother will meet Ansel.  Eventually though crime always leaves a footprint and Saffron will warn Blue and her mother to stay away from Ansel as she is quickly unfurling evidence that Ansel has killed three girls already.

The book analyzes how one criminal act has a ripple effect on the lives of many people and not just the person who has been murdered.  More people are victims of one criminal act other than just the person who paid the ultimate price with his/her life.  It is almost like watching a series of dominoes fall as you begin to see how many people in particular, women, have their lives upended because of one serial killer.  This novel will make you question if a person is all bad, all good, or a speck of gray matter combining both good and evil.  Also, I thought about whether people who commit heinous acts ever regret what they have done?  Can they ever really make amends to all the people whose lives have been adversely and ominously impacted by a criminal act?  And is the ultimate apology that the criminal and in this case serial killer, must pay the price by being put to death?  Will that bring a victim's family peace?  And also, when a beloved family member dies at the hands of a serial killer, is that person still alive through their spirit?  And finally the ultimate question:  if a serial killer repents at the end of his life, does God or a greater power forgive him?  

Needless to say, this was a deeply emotional book.  It is written quite poetically which helps give the reader an insight into the three women whose lives have been impacted negatively by Ansel making the choice to become a serial killer.  This book does not glorify the serial killer.  This book makes you witness the destruction the serial killer has on the lives of so many others and not just the people that he killed.  This book motivated me to keep turning the pages.  I wanted to know what happened next and what would be the next "big issue" the book would make me ponder.   A book that is a difficult but necessary read.

Best,

Grace (Amy)