NOTES ON AN EXECUTION

 NOTES ON AN EXECUTION

Reviewed By  Nan van Dissel       February 3, 2022

 

Author  Danya Kukafka

Distributor:      Hachette Australia
ISBN:                 9781474625951
Publisher:         Hachette Australia
Release Date:   February 2022  

   Website:   https://www.hachette.com.au

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Serial killer Ansel Packer, known as ‘The Girly Killer’, is on death row in Polunsky Prison, Texas; he has 12 hours to live. He doesn’t want to die. He wants to be celebrated and understood. Now he is paying the ultimate price for the brutal crimes, which he has committed.

Not wanting this book to be another about a classic murderer it goes beyond the typical serial killer fiction. The author, Danya Kukafka tells Ansel’s story via the 12-hour countdown to his execution and from the perspective of the women who knew him the best; the women whose lives he touched, his mother, sister-in-law and foster home ‘sister’.

Lavender, his mother abandoned Ansel Packer, aged four, to fend for his newborn brother and to escape an abusive marriage.  Hazel knew her twin sister’s husband was not who he portrayed himself to be; she’d seen the façade fall from his face in a trice. While Saffy, the detective, who spent years following her gut feeling that Ansel was ‘The Girly Killer’, ultimately caught him. She had spent time with him in the same foster home. They had all seen the dark side of Ansel Packer.

As the women’s stories are unraveled, the reader is not only given an insight into Packers life prior to becoming a murderer, but also into their lives which have been so greatly impacted. As the reader is exposed to Ansel’s early years, they will no doubt question their own stance in the nature verses nurture debate.

Although slow moving at times, I highly recommend this masterfully written, suspenseful, thought provoking book; Dayna Kukafka’s second and no doubt there are many more to follow.

Crime, Fiction, Non Fiction