Dead Reckoning

Carys Cragg

Image | BOOK COVER: Dead Reckoning by Carys Cragg

Caption:

When Carys Cragg was 11, her father, a respected doctor, was brutally murdered in his own home by an intruder. Twenty years later, and despite the reservations of her family and friends, she decides to contact his murderer in prison, and the two correspond for a period of two years. She learns of his horrific childhood, and the reasons he lied about the murder; in turn, he learns about the man he killed. She mines his letters for clues about the past before agreeing to meet him in person, when she learns startling new information about the crime.
With gripping suspense and raw honesty, Dead Reckoning follows one woman's determination to confront the man who murdered her father, revealing her need for understanding and the murderer's reluctance to tell ― an uneasy negotiation between two people from different worlds both undone by tragedy. This is a powerful and emotional memoir about how reconciling with the past doesn't necessarily provide comfort, but it can reveal the truth. (From Arsenal Pulp Press)

From the book

"I just wish—" She pauses.
Her mother listens from the driver's seat.
Purpose fills her teenage body as she finds her words. "I wish that everyone who knew Daddy could have something like a device, a buzzer thing." She worries her mother will interpret this as something violent, so she retraces the description. "Nothing hurtful, no. The thousands of people who came to his memorials — all of his family, his friends around the world, all of his patients — we would all get one. And on the other end would be him, the man who killed him.
"Every time we miss Daddy, or want to be near him, or want to tell him something, we could push it," she continues. "For the rest of our lives. And then that guy would know. Then he would know what he took away."

From Dead Reckoning by Carys Cragg ©2017. Published by Arsenal Pulp Press.

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