Notes on an Execution

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The main characters are going to lodge themselves in your head. While it is easy to judge Ansel – who wouldn’t judge a convict facing execution, there are so many emotions that the plot stirs up about him that you can’t help wondering what category to slot him in: is he a plain old psychopath, or can you justify, maybe even forgive, at least a part of his behaviour? The main woman characters are also well-layered and not with typical 2D characteristics. Danya Kukafka's Notes on an Execution deserves to stand along Ivy Pochoda's These Women, Nicola Maye Goldberg's Nothing Can Hurt You, and Carolyn Ferrell's Dear Miss Metropolitan as victim-focused narratives that call out the exploitation of women's suffering in crime stories * CrimeReads, January's Best New Crime Fiction * Do note, it is not a book for everyone. Literary fiction lovers will find it a treat as the writing style is right up their alley. 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.

The story gives us both his story, as well as the stories of his mother, wife (told through the eyes of her twin sister) and the detective who caught him. I love that it explains what brought him to this point while not excusing him. It’s an intense, dark story. Ansel is a psychopath and admits he can’t feel. He’s been let down numerous times, by various people (mostly women). But did that make him into a psychopath or was he a bad seed? There are some interesting connections between the characters. I especially appreciated Saffy, the police captain who knew Ansel from child care. She suffers guilt from wondering if she could have done something sooner. I struggled with his mother and the decision she made and I would have liked the author to spend more time on her rationale. Thus those attempting to combat evil through force become implicated in evil: “Saffy had not saved anyone.” In fact she precipitated a death. She failed. But not because she might have turned “Ansel into exactly the monster she needed him to be.” Rather, she had become the monster in his image. For me, 'Notes on an Execution' has also got a perfect ending, placing the focus where it should be - with the victims. As Danya kukafka says in her foreword: NOTES ON AN EXECUTION is, at its heart, a portrait of an evil man wrapped in even more detailed portraits of the women drawn into his orbit. But to leave the novel here would be a disservice to Kukafka’s genius; this surface-level read is only half of what the book does. In drawing us into Ansel’s life and the ripples he has caused in the lives of his mother, sister-in-law and victims, she confronts some of the hardest-hitting questions about our fascination with crime: Why are we obsessed with men who kill? Why do we romanticize them and their actions? And why, in the end, do we almost never think about or discuss the women left in a killer’s wake?In the respect that it makes you think about the nature of trauma and who some become as a result, I found this fascinating. I liked that the story showed the impact of Ansel’s parents on his life without making his choices look sympathetic. I also liked that the focus was more on the women whose lives he affected. It’s definitely a thought-provoking, almost philosophical book that would be fantastic for discussion. Practice Disciplined Engagement: The book emphasizes the importance of staying engaged and committed to the execution process even when faced with distractions or competing priorities.

Engage in WIG Sessions: Regular WIG sessions involve teams reviewing and strategizing around their progress, discussing challenges, and identifying solutions to overcome obstacles.You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, unapologetically—to say no to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside." There is evidence that psychopathy is the consequence of genetics. There is other evidence that such genetic predisposition is ‘activated’ by traumatic up-bringing. It may even be the case that horrible childhood experience is enough to establish psychopathic behaviour in otherwise ‘normal’ individuals. But according to our traditions, psychopathic behaviour, even when it is observed and documented, is tolerated until it becomes illegal, that is until some other person is injured or murdered. It is only then that the barn door is closed on the animal who is actually a non-human life form. Bruising, chilling, powerful and brilliant. Notes on an Execution is that rare book that transcends genre, moving from a deft thriller to an examination of fractured lives and the ripples of violent crime. Staggeringly accomplished * Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End * Establish Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly defining individual roles and responsibilities helps ensure that everyone understands their contribution and can work effectively towards the WIG.