Before I opened this book, everything about it screamed, “Don’t Read Me”. The outside page blurbs indicated that it was ‘recommended’ by NYT, LA Times, Washington Post, etc, but it also referred to as a story of ‘a serial killer’, not my usual bed time reading.  And the inside cover blurbs were from GoodReads and Publisher’s Weekly, but no signed blurbs from those top level periodicals with signed reviews.

Nevertheless, since the book had been given to me by dear friends, I felt the need to read it, plunged in, and having finished its 306 pages in record time, I’m pleased that I did.

It’s a compelling story told in vivid prose from multiple viewpoints.  Lavender is a teen aged mom of two boys living in a falling down shack in rural upstate New York with her threatening and often violent husband. When she has had enough, she flees leaving the 4 and 1 year old boys alone, calling 911 to report their location.  The story picks up with the older son, Ansel, in foster care, and in a parallel set of alternating chapters, we are brought up to date with Ansel. Lavender, Jenny, Hazel and others while the present day Ansel is facing execution on death row in Texas in 12 hours.

The story shifts back and forth between Ansel’s Death Row thoughts and the back story provided by multiple characters including two of Ansel’s fellow foster kids, one of whom he has murdered and one of whom has become a Captain in the NY State Police.  Chapters from the viewpoint of Jenny, Ansel’s wife, Hazel, Jenny’s twin sister, Lavender, and Saffy, the state policewoman, alternate with chapters with Ansel’s thoughts as the clock ticks down towards his zero hour.  Further opportunity for ‘what ifs’ are provided by Ansel’s opus which he calls The Theory which explores how small decisions and events could lead to vastly different universes and outcomes. The question of whether any human is all evil or all good is posed but not answered.

If this sounds complicated, it is, but Kukafka pulls it off with a vibrant style and superb descriptions of nature and personalities. The NYT reviewer refers to the books as “nuanced, ambitious and compelling.” I’d simply say that it’s a terrific read, but not before bedtime.