Serial killer Ansel Parker is awaiting execution for the three lives that he ended over twenty years ago, but what about his surviving victims? Lavender, Hazel, and Saffy may not have been physically harmed by Ansel, but the scars he left on these women are obvious. Notes on an Execution by debut author Danya Kukafka explores the aftermath of murder, from the viewpoints of a mother, a sister, and a female homicide detective. This dark, emotive thriller weaves their memories with a narrative of the last few hours of Ansel’s life. Their voices make clear the hurt and trauma they’ve sustained; what remains murky is whether the state sanctioned execution will be at all curative for these women.

DNF at 25%

Will not be rating on Goodreads-I would rather not rate, than post a rating that would bring the rating down.

The writing is lyrical and several passages are “highlight worthy” but the characters are not relatable, and I am not connecting emotionally.

Thank You for the opportunity to read and review early, but clearly I am not the right reader for this particular book since my friends have all found it to be 5 ⭐️ worthy.

I'm not sure I can do this book justice with my review. The life of Ansel Packer and how his existence and his choices influenced the lives of those around him, all started because of the tragic beginnings of his young life. It's heartbreaking, well written, and moving. Add this one to your list.

What an interesting book! Notes on An Execution tells the story of Ansel Packer, who is on Death Row for murder, and tells the story of how he got there. It shows an interesting view into why Ansel did what he did and also the lives he affected in the process.
I really enjoyed the originality of the story. It showed you both sides of the story without making excuses for his behavior. Ansel lived a difficult life but ultimately it showed that he ended up where he did because of choices he made.
Thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow, and the Scene of the Crime Early Reads for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

This book was difficult to put down. It focuses on the women whose lives were torn apart by a serial killer. It shows how weak the serial killer is, how he manipulates women because he believes he is innately better than everyone else. In his final moments he is reduced to his true form, a scared child, while the women are able to be strong. The book made me think a lot about my own interest in true crime and the nature of good and evil. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Raw, wrenching, poetic, heartbreaking. this is a story of the choices we make or are made for us and what alternate paths could have happened. It is the story of a killer on death row, counting down his last hours, his mother, his wife, the police who knew him briefly as a child. and it is the story of so much more

Notes on an Execution is a powerful story. It is told from four viewpoints, a man on death row, his mother, a young woman he met early in his life, and his sister-in-law. The reader quickly learns that Anser is no innocent, contrite man; even as his execution looms he plots to convince a prison guard to help him escape by playing on her emotions. But the questions that he obsesses over is one that will play out in the reader's mind throughout the story - is anyone ever completely good or completely evil? Do chance connections and events doom us to making poor choices? Anser's mother Lavender is in an abusive relationship with his father, but when a chance to escape arises it means leaving him behind and hoping for a better life for both of them, apart. Did this early childhood and abandonment make Anser the way he is? Was it genetic, passed down from his father? Was it a product of his environment away from his biological parents? Saffy is a young girl when she meets Anser, and an experience with him early on has a profound impact on her life, her career choice, and a future encounter with him. Last but not least, Hazel also shares her point of view. Initially seeing her future brother-in-law as charismatic, she quickly becomes concerned about what type of person he is, but can't help but wonder if it is actually an ongoing sense of inferiority to her sister. The story constantly leaves the reader thinking about the paths we take and why we take them. And while more than a little chilling to read a story told quite impassively from the perspective of a character that could be described as a psychopath, it's very thought provoking. I don't have a lot of trigger warnings, but animal abuse is one of them, and it does appear in this story, for anyone else that struggles with this. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

With just over a month left in 2021, I’m calling it. Danya Kukafka’s brilliant sophomore novel, Notes on an Execution, will take top honors as the best book I’ve read this year. (Out of 200+.)

It’s the rare unicorn of a novel that is masterfully written, has a page-turning plot, and manages to make a statement about our society all at the same time. I savored every word. I reread paragraphs to make sure I’d fully absorbed them. I wanted to get back to it whenever I had to put it down.

As author Kukafka sees it, America has a serial killer problem. It’s not that there’s a real one on the loose, but rather we obsess over - and glorify - their mythology. She writes in the Author’s Note that precedes the novel, “Average men become interesting when they start hurting women. Notes on an Execution was born from a desire to dissect this exhausting narrative.” Amen, sister.

This book does indeed belong to the women. While murderer Ansel Packer counts down the hours until his imminent execution on death row, chapters are interspersed unraveling the stories of his mother, his wife’s sister, and the (female) detective who caught him. His victims are there, too, although the violence towards them happens largely off the page. (So does some animal harm when he kills squirrels and foxes in his youth.) The killings aren’t the main event here though. Lives aren’t defined by those few fleeting moments when Ansel stole control.

I am a self-proclaimed “murderino” and have always been fascinated by the true crime narrative being eviscerated by Danya Kukafka’s razor-sharp pen. Her words kicked me right in the heart and made me realize the hypocrisy of my Friday night serial killer documentary viewings that are followed up by Saturday mornings rolling my eyes when yet another girl is ravaged in yet another thriller I’m reading. If that was her objective, then mission accomplished. Bravo.

My thanks to William Morrow and the author for the gifted advance readers copy. Notes on an Execution is scheduled for US publication on January 25, 2022.

Ansel Packer will die in 12 hours. He will be executed for the murders of multiple women and yet is more focused on his Theory, a book he has hastily written over many years explaining how no person is all good or all evil. Told through various viewpoints of women from his tragic past as well as from his own second person narrative, Notes on an Execution will haunt and mesmorize you as every second ticks by....

I absolutely devoured this book. It hooked me almost immediately and gripped me until the last moment. I was enraptured by all the characters, ached in their grief, fascinated by their interwoven connections. This one took me by surprise, made me question nature vs nurture, human bonds, loss, grieve, connections, summonings. I will remember this book for a long time and the impact it had on my heart and mind. What a fascinating gem

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for opportunity to read this book. And special thanks to the author for getting this story out of your head and onto paper. I adored it!

Wow. Beautiful writing. This book was captivating and emotional, while also disturbing and heartbreaking.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a really interesting psychological look through a fictional story of someone on death row and the women in his life, whether by birth or choice or coincidence. Each character had their own unique voice and they were all really well developed. It kept me turning the pages to see how it would all come together and connect and I wasn't disappointed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about what makes people tick and how simple choices can change the course of someone's entire life. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book was well written. I liked that it gave the perspectives of the woman effected by a serial killer and wasn’t just a who done it book. Some parts of the book did not use quotation marks but those parts were still easy to follow and were not large portions of the book. This coming from someone who strongly dislikes when authors do not use quotation marks.

Ansel Packer is an abandoned boy, left by his mother in her desperate act to flee an abusive marriage and is also deserted by his father. Ansel's mother, Lavender, last act of love for both Ansel and his baby brother is to call 911 to get someone out to the farm to save her boys. Ansel Packer was raised in foster homes and seemed to notice from a young age he was different, special and desired acknowledgement of that specialness. Ansel Packer is also a killer of multiple women.
Notes on an Execution doesn't stop at Ansel. It is a book about the women in his life and now that he is a middle-aged man awaiting the execution that is hours away, the story of what brought him here spills out within the pages. The writing is so intelligent that it doesn't have to linger on the violence to make its point. The detective, Saffy, is heart rending in her need to fit in which she does so differently than Ansel. They are the opposite sides of the same coin.
Ideas of good and evil co-existing within an individual simultaneously or dependent upon what society determines is bad is Ansel Packer's life's thesis. There is a hard won peace for some of the women while others seem doomed in the search. And finally, Capital Punishment is explored and gives one food for thought.
Thank you to The BookClub Girl Facebook Group and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wicked, raw and yet sad.I found the book compelling from the first page. its not a thriller nor fictor, not biography.

Age: 18+
Gender: F/M

This book is a masterpiece and I do not say that lightly.

This is a story based on Ansel Packer. Abandoned by his parents and left alone to fend for himself and his newborn brother. Once discovered he's put into the foster care system. This is a story about Ansel Packer and who he grew to become. With four dead women as evidence.

Ansel Packer is due to be executed and the clock is ticking down.

We hear from the women that knew him throughout his life. The women he killed and the women that survived knowing him. This is their story and it is as chilling as it is compelling. I could hardly look away from the page. The hurt, the anger, the turmoil he caused so many is palpable. My heart broke for their loss and their furious, righteous anger. Kukafka turned the serial killer novel on it's head by writing about the victims and the families left behind. As so often is the case murderers become infamous but the victims forgotten or only remembered for the brutality in which they died. Their is so much more to them than that and Kukafka explores this with beautiful, lyrical prose that is absolutely mesmerizing. I am in awe of her writing skills and lovely turns of phrase. She could make the hideous the most beautiful thing you have ever read. That is a testament to her talent.

"The night was an open sore. The heart was an organ that beat on and on. The trees creaked their unanimous sorrow."

If this book doesn't win any awards I will be shocked. It deserves every bit of praise it receives. An astounding accomplishment. Bravo! ALL THE STARS!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for my complimentary copy.

Powerful. Emotional. Haunting.

Just a few ways to describe Notes on an Execution by the uber-talented Danya Kukafka.

The story starts with 12 hours to go until Ansel Parker’s execution. He has killed four women, but never thought it would have come to this. He always thought he’d be able to explain himself.

This story isn’t just about another serial killer and his perspective. It’s about the women he has come into contact with...those who knew him.

Lavender was very young when she gave birth to Ansel. Living in desperate and unsafe conditions, she goes to the extreme to try and ensure her family is kept safe.

Hazel and Jenny are twins, and Jenny eventually marries Ansel. Hazel has seen the happy facade fall from Ansel’s face at the blink of an eye.

Saffy is the detective who has been keeping track of Ansel for years. Not many people know that they’ve crossed paths many moons ago.

Through these perspectives, we learn more about Ansel and his life before and after becoming a murderer. We also learn about these strong, powerful women who will all come to terms with what they know of him in different ways.

Everything about this book is mesmerizing. It’s intense and powerful. It’s dark, but written in such beautiful prose that makes it easy to get lost in the grip of the plot and the rich characters. It’s a thought-provoking read that doesn’t shy away from toughness, but has a gentle and caring way of displaying it.

The author’s note at the beginning sets the tone, as Kukafka explains what made her write this brilliant novel. In her own words:

“I am tired of seeing Ted Bundy’s face. This is a book for the women who survive.”

Though we do get Ansel’s POV, it is a wonderful balance that goes way beyond the typical serial killer novel. I hope, and truly believe, this book will be a huge success.

4.5 stars

TW: Harm to animals. The worst parts are off the page. While I don’t enjoy it, I can understand why it’s included in the case of this book.

Thank you to William Morrow for a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 1/25/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow and Custom House for this ARC. The beautiful writing made me want to run out and buy Danya Kukafka's previous book because I was enthralled from the beginning. The characters were so well-written I felt like I knew them.
I did not put the book down until I had to sleep. When I picked up the book again, it took me a few pages to recapture the feeling, but it soon came back. The story was such an interesting take on a serial killer book. It was less about what he had done and more about what he and other characters thought and felt.
If you are getting bored with typical serial killer books, or you appreciate good, lyrical writing, this book is for you.

“Notes on an Execution” is primarily about Ansel Packer, a serial killer who murders three girls in the summer of 1990. Their bodies aren’t discovered until nearly ten years later, and he is not caught until 2012. The book begins with Ansel in prison in Texas, waiting to see if his final appeal will be granted. The first 25 percent of the book details Ansel’s childhood. He was born into poverty on a rural farm in upstate New York with his abused mother and abusive father. When he is four years old, his mother finds a way to escape, calling 911 to rescue her children, Ansel and a baby brother who was never given a name, who she left behind in the farmhouse. Ansel lives the rest of his childhood in foster homes, where Saffron, another of the residents, discovers him with two squirrels and a fox which he had killed and staked out on the ground. To guarantee her silence, he places the dead, decaying fox in her bunk bed.

The book then segues into Saffron’s point of view. Saffron has gone into law enforcement, but is still haunted by her experience with Ansel in her foster home. She is on the team that discovers the missing girls, and recognizes the backpack on one of the remains as belonging to a girl that shared a foster home with herself and Ansel. Saffron spends the next 12 years trying to discover the girls’ murderer, suspecting that it is Ansel. Other points of view are those of Lavender, Ansel’s mother, and Hazel, whose sister met Ansel in college. The book intermittently flashes forward to Ansel waiting on death row, his appeal having been denied.

The novel is beautifully and hauntingly written with sparse yet elegant prose. An underlying theme is what life could have been like for Ansel and the girls, had Ansel made other choices and not murdered the three girls that summer in 1990. This is shown through Saffron’s dreams of these alternate realities for the girls, where they grow up to become women and reach their full potential. It also manifests in Ansel’s obsession with the “Theory” he has spent his life writing, in which he imagines alternate universes branching out from different choices made. Another theme is how there is good amidst evil and not everyone is wholly evil.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written, haunting psychological story with fully drawn, multi-faceted characters.

(Note: Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me an ARC of this book for my review).

An amazing thriller! Answl is born I to a family in which he learns the dark sides of life. From there, he puts those lessons into practice and finds himself on death row. The bar on the thriller has been raised. Absolutely tense and gripping. A must read!