In Elizabeth L. Silver’s
debut novel The Execution of Noa. P.
Singleton, the reader counts down the months until the title character is
put to death for her murder crime. As is
often the case with books nowadays, Silver switches back and forth between time
periods…very effectively I might add.
As Noa is waiting for her
November execution date for the murder of Sara, she gets a prison visit from
two people: Oliver, a new lawyer eager to look into her case and surprisingly,
Sara’s mother, Marlene. Marlene has had
a change of heart since Noa’s trial, and even though she still believes Noa
killed her daughter, she does not want her to die for it. Noa does not want any part of clemency
because of the guilt she feels over a twist I guarantee you won’t see coming.
With the narrative told in present day, by Noa herself, and through Marlene’s
letters to a deceased Sara, the reader is in for a treat with a
multidimensional, layered tale that’s filled with suspense.
That being said, the
ending was disappointing and was left way too open-ended for my liking. With
the exception of one or two characters, none of them were very likeable or
entirely innocent for that matter.
However, for a debut novel, The
Execution of Noa P. Singleton is fascinating and Silver definitely kept me
reading into the night…until she left me hanging at the end.
