The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

The Execution of  Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver

Death Row. For ten years now Noa has called this God-forsaken cell her home, knowing that in six months her life ends. The jury has spoken. In all those years, not a single word was spoken in Noa's defense. No explanations, not even at the short trial that determined her fate. How does the salutatorian of her high school class become an inmate in a maximum-security prison?  How does a life once so promising become one of despair and hopelessness?

Noa was convicted of  murdering Sarah. A fairly non-descript young lady, she and Noa had only one thing in common; Caleb, Noa's estranged father. The endless days and endless nights in prison are interrupted when Marlene Dixon, Sarah's mother,  unexpectedly visits, bringing with her a young, eager attorney by the name of Oliver. Marlene assures Noa that if she is willing to tell the true story of why she killed Sarah, they will do everything in their power to get the courts to grant clemency and overturn the death penalty. Now the story begins as the reader goes back in time learning all the details of Noa's life leading up to the moment when she unwittingly fell into a trap resulting in her own demise.

We meet Caleb, the father she never knew, until ridden with guilt, he painstakingly maneuvers a way into her life-a life riddled with unfulfilled dreams. We meet Marlene, manipulative, bitter, vindictive with a hidden agenda. We meet Oliver who sees the good in another human being, still naive enough to believe that a life can be saved. And of course we meet Noa, a woman resigned to death, hiding secrets she refuses to reveal.

Far from light and not for everyone, this debut novel from Silver is brooding, complicated, and engrossing. We don't guess who committed a crime because we already know. As the story progresses, the reader is exposed to many, many details of troubled lives and secrets from the past. Characters linked to one another, all determined to find their own salvation.

A psychological thriller.