This was a hard to read book. Through all the different viewpoints you really never knew how to feel. This is an uncomfortable book that deals with a very uncomfortable idea.

This book is about the last day of Ansel Packer's life before he is executed as a serial killer. Three characters guide us through Ansel's life, his mother; Hazel, his sister-in-law; and, Saffy, the detective. They each share what they know about the time that Ansel was part of their life. Through their recollections one can piece together an understanding of why Ansel did what he did.

All of the characters in this book are damaged by circumstances beyond their control. Some make their peace with their lives and just try to do better for their children, others thrive in their second chance stories, and Ansel. he cannot stop hearing the crying baby and wondering what happened to his mother.

Excellent read.

Serial killer Ansel Packer has twelve hours to live on death row. The story of his life is told in alternating chapters between his own thoughts and motives and the thoughts and experiences of his mother, his wife’s twin sister, and the homicide detective that investigated his case. This well-written novel is chilling and compelling. The emphasis on the women in his life is particularly powerful.

This was excellent. Told from the perspective of the women in his life and his perspective leading up to the execution, this is a book that will stay with me for sometime, it was wonderfully written and I can’t wait to read anything else by this author. The story kept me captivated all the way through and I did not want to put it down. Highly recommend for everyone to ready this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for an e-arc of this novel.

It's a literary suspense told from multiple viewpoints, the killer and the four women in his life.

I think I am the exception to the vast majority of readers on this one as I kept getting lost. I don't read much literary fiction. I found the writing to be okay, but I couldn't follow all the different viewpoints.

If you like literary suspense and don't have an issue with many different viewpoints, you'll probably love this book as I think most people do. I, however, was not a fan.

This book has received so much praise and I understand why. It took me a while to read it and I’m kicking myself for it. I normally am not into a book like this but it was a rare exception.

Wow, what a powerful and moving book. The story starts with 12 hours until Ansel Packer faces execution due to his horrendous crimes that he committed when he was younger. We are introduced to his story through the women in his life that have gotten him to this point.

This book will give you a lot to think about. There are great stories of success but then also the story of Ansel and the countdown to the ending of his life and the feelings that this creates with the women that have come and gone from his life.

This book brought out so many emotions for me. I was mad, sad, shocked. I know abuse happens as I was abused as a wife but to see such horrible abuse for the children. I for one do not think just because you are brought up that way that you will be a terrible person. My heart aches what the victims went through. The story was well written and I would recommend it but it would be hard for some to read.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka is about a man on death row and 3 women whose lives he has impacted. Ansel Packer is on death row, 12 hours from his execution, and thinking about his life and how he got to where he is. He has been convicted of killing four women.
The book alternates between Ansel and the stories of Lavender, Hazel, and Saffy. Lavender is Ansel’s mother and she has had a very rough and hard life. Hazel is Ansel’s former sister-in-law, and the sister of his last victim. Saffy is a New York State police detective who also happened to know Ansel as a child when they were in foster care together. All four of their stories converge and reveal the devastation Ansel’s action have caused.
I loved this book. It was such a heartbreaking story. This is not a thriller but more of a literary fiction book. The character development was fantastic and I felt like I really knew all of these characters personally. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

An interesting and unique storyline focusing on the backstory of a serial killer (Ansel Packer) who on the day of his scheduled execution, reminisces on his life and the reasonings he made to kill. The book also features several other narratives of characters who contributed to or were impacted by Ansel Packer's life.
While at times the story lagged, the writing was phenomenal psychologically. The ending felt a little political on the death penalty, but overall I liked this book.

Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours but the focus of the book is not on him. It focuses on the women that his life has affected - his mother, a police captain, the sister of his wife; and also the victims. The author doesn't want us to glorify the monsters but focus on the lives lost, the what ifs had these women lived and the affect they would have had on the world. I recommend it to shift all of our thinking and fascination with evil.

This book was chilling. It was one that really stuck with me. I am grateful that the publishers allowed me to read and review an advanced copy of this book. It was fascinating to live the last hours of a death row inmate from his point of view, while learning about his actions through the experiences of women connected to his victims. What a thriller!

Gripping story, did not want to put it down but ya know life. You see the making of a killer and the affect it has on everybody around them.

A story of a man on death row and now his time is up. The timeline flips between current and back to when he was a child. Ansel and his brother were abandoned as children because his mom was trying to escape an abusive husband. The story centers around how choices made affect the future and thoughts of what could have been. It is a moving story full of grief. It was interesting to see how all the characters turned out.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka was an unexpected moving story of Ansel, a convicted killer on death row. This book was so much more than I expected it to be. I really didn't think I would like it as much as I did. I finished it in two days! Notes on an Execution follows Ansel on his last 12 hours here on Earth wile also following his life in the background. Ansel was born in an old farmhouse to Lavender, who loved him so very much, despite his odd behaviors. Fast forward to his childhood, Ansel finds himself in foster care. Here he meets several girls also in the foster system and they pick up on his bizarre behavior. As a teenager out of the system, young girls turn up missing, presumed dead. Ansel manages to keep living under the radar. He meets Jenny, his first true love in college. Years later, Jenny and Ansel marry and live happy ever after until they don't. Jenny files for divorce and once again, Ansel is all alone. All the while Kukafka is telling the story of Ansel's life, the countdown to his execution is following along from 12 hours to the actual execution. Ansel keeps his hope alive the entire time, thinking something will intervene and save him.
No spoilers here....Kakafka writes a wonderfully sad story of a man looking death straight in the eye. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I will be recommending Notes on an Execution to others, especially ones that like crime and fiction. Special thanks to NetGalley, Danya Kukafka, and William Morrow-Custom House publishing for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 5 stars for me!
#NotesonanExecution #NetGalley

I found the book hard to get into initially because of a somewhat unusual format - chapters alternate between a present tense second person telling on Ansel Packer’s execution day and third person chapter from several points of view bringing the story from nearly forty years earlier to present - but it is certainly well constructed. Being forced into Ansel’s perspective was uncomfortable, but kept the emotional tension high as the book moved toward its inevitable end.

I had an opportunity to read this book as a Book Club Girl Early Read, and highly recommend it as a bookclub selection. I can’t say that I *liked* the book, but will say that Notes on an Execution is unsettling, thought provoking, and sure to prompt discussion about good, evil, capital punishment, what parents owe their children, the role of choice and chance and more.

This was a very intriguing story and I went in with high hopes based on the reviews I saw. I liked it, but I don’t think it quite met my expectations. The format was intriguing and unique. The story is about Ansel who is on Death Row with only half a day left to live. In between his story are pieces of his bigger story told by the women whose lives have intersected with his. I liked that we got multiple perspectives to the story and I understood the message that there is always more to a person than the narrative you have. I thought the constant bringing up alternative reality theory was odd and I wasn’t sure it worked for me. It was definitely a story that made you think and one that I think will stick with me for a while. I gave this one 3.5 stars rounded up for star selection.

Notes on An Execution by Danya Kukafka - I have NOT stopped thinking about this book. The story of a serial killer told through the stories of the women in his life. The writing is gorgeous! I had to stop, re-read and marinate on so many passages in this book. If I was a person who flagged or noted her books this one would be FULL!

'How I learned to love (and hate) a serial killer' This book was wonderfully written. A detailed view from multiple perspectives, I found this engrossing and engaging. Normally I steer clear of books from varied perspectives but this book offered a fresh take. Thought-provoking and exhausting are two words that sum up this novel. I literally laughed and cried reading this. Highly recommend and look forward to more from this author.

Notes on an Execution is a fast and fascinating read, a look inside the lives and minds of three women--Lavender, Saffy, and Hazel--and how they all intersect with that of Ansel Packer, who is about to be executed for the murders of multiple women.

This could easily be sensationalized but Danya Kukafka instead paints a deeply moving portrait of three women and the choices they make and the lives they build from them. Ansel impacts all their lives but they are so much more than he is, and the power of their voices when paired with his shows that.

Powerful and haunting, Notes on an Execution is going on my best of 2022 list even though it's barely 2022--it is that good! Very highly recommended.