22 Murders Of Madison May - Max Barry

Sci-Fi/Mystery

Rating: 7.5/10

Imagine your killer stalked you across parallel worlds. Worlds where you get to be a slightly different version of yourself, but still up end dead at his hands. 21 times over. What happens with the 22nd you might ask given the title and all, I’m certainly not telling.

Maddy’s killer is on the hunt for the perfect version of her. The one that doesn’t disappoint him. The one that doesn’t force him to kill her. But she never gets it right.

Felicity gets pulled into the story by accident, waking up after an altercation with the killer with no one around her remembering how things were the day before. Except for her. No matter how many times she must upend her own reality, she is determined to save Maddy. Even if it means that the culmination brings her to world not quite recognizable.

An utterly unique novel of worlds that detach and refold themselves in a slightly new way, rethreading the path of the story.

Footnote: By now you know I love a noteworthy opening. This author sets the stage for the reader to witness Maddy’s first murder, at least the first known to us. As her killer plays a game of cat and mouse to lure her to his kill spot, he says the following…”I’m sorry to have to do it like this, but I’m out of time.” End scene.

Book Pairing(s): Lexicon by Max Barry, The Last Murder At The End Of The World by Stuart Turton, The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart