“Notes on an Execution,” by Danya Kukafka (William Morrow, fiction) Perry always delivers,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.ģ. The buzz: “A graceful, finely crafted examination of America’s racial, cultural, and political identity. If America’s soul is inextricably linked to the South, understanding the region’s history and culture is essential to understanding the entire country. What it’s about: A Black scholar and native Alabaman returns to the South with fresh eyes. “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation,” by Imani Perry (Ecco, nonfiction) More: Roseanne’s daughter Jenny Pentland recalls growing up in 'comedy clubs and mental institutions'Ģ. The buzz: “An impressively meta work that delivers the pleasures of true-crime while skewering it,” says a starred review for Kirkus Reviews. (Jan.What it’s about: From the singer-songwriter of The Mountain Goats and author of “Universal Harvester” comes a dark new novel about true-crime writer Gage Chandler, who moves into a house that was the site of some notorious murders. Kukafka skillfully uses the second-person present tense to heighten the drama, and toward the end she makes devastatingly clear the toll taken by Packer’s killings. Those sections alternate with passages from the points of view of his mother, who was also abused, and of a New York State police investigator devoted to getting justice for Packer’s victims.

He grew up with an abusive father and began killing and mutilating animals when he was three. Flashbacks, starting with Packer’s birth to a 17-year-old mother in 1973, trace his path from childhood to what seem to be his final hours. That surprising attitude is accounted for by the early revelation that he befriended one of the prison guards and is plotting a last-minute escape.

However, Packer, who’s killed multiple women across the country, including in Texas and New York, isn’t worried. This masterly thriller from Kukafka ( Girl in Snow) opens on death row in a Texas prison, where Ansel Packer is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in 12 hours.

Book review notes kukafka