Ansel Packer has exactly twelve hours left to live. Even while awaiting execution, he doesn’t want to be seen as just a criminal: he’s prepared to do everything so that his story is heard. But whose story is it really? Of the convicted murderer who created his “Theory” in an attempt to justify evil and find meaning within it—or of the girls who will never see the sunrise again?
A mother driven to despair; a young woman watching how her sister’s relationship threatens to destroy the entire family; a detective who tirelessly follows the murderer’s trail—together, their accounts form a sinister portrait of the criminal: frighteningly realistic, at once alluring and repelling.
Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award and named the best crime novel of the year by The New York Times, Dani Kukafka’s book shook up the American press. In an era obsessed with stories about maniacs, a young writer speaks on behalf of the victims and asks a crucial question: when nothing can be fixed, is repentance, forgiveness, and starting over still possible?