The Executioner's Tale


Book Description

The Executioner’s Tale is a vigilante plot with a twist: justice is in the shape of a female pensioner – a reluctant one at that, who is accidentally drawn into the role of executioner. “I believe most people have considered murder at one time or other in their lives. Some actually go so far as imagining the act. A very few put their fantasies into action. An accident made me one of that number.” This is the fictionalised autobiography of a serial killer, or, as she would see herself, ‘an instrument of justice’. The first death is accidental, when she confronts the husband of her neighbour, a notorious wife-beater. But at this point she realises that her age, rather than being a negative, is actually a positive. No one would look at an older woman with suspicion: in fact, most people barely notice the elderly at all. So begins her new ‘career’. “I’m not a monster. I am someone who crossed a line and chose not to step back.” One of the significant factors is her loss of faith, but in its place she adopts the utilitarian principle of ‘the greatest good’. All the ‘victims’ are, to her mind, worthy of removal, and range from murderous nurses to paedophiles and drug dealers. In fact, every killing is made to protect or save the vulnerable. Our anonymous subject sees that the courts so often do not, or cannot, provide this justice, and believes in the Old Testament ideal of ‘an eye for an eye’ – or at least a punishment to fit the crime... The Executioner’s Tale is a gripping, refreshingly original crime novel whose heroine Ginny dubs ‘a modern Miss Marple’ who goes beyond detection to judge – and executioner.




The Hangman's Tale


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The Executionerand's Son


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Book Delisted




War Against the Mafia


Book Description

The first book in the classic vigilante action series from a “writer who spawned a genre” (The New York Times). Overseas, Mack Bolan was dubbed “Sgt. Mercy” for the compassion he showed the innocent. On the home front, they’re calling him the Executioner for what he’s doing to the guilty. In the jungles of Southeast Asia, American sniper Mack Bolan honed his skills. After twelve years, with ninety-five confirmed hits, he returns home to Massachusetts. But it’s not to reunite with his family, it’s to bury them—victims in a mass murder/suicide. Even though Bolan’s own father pulled the trigger, he knows the old man was no killer. He was driven to madness by Mafia thugs who have turned his idyllic hometown into a new kind of war zone. Duty calls . . . Introducing an action hero “who would make Jack Reacher think twice,” this is the first book in the iconic series of vigilante justice that has become a publishing phenomenon (Empireonline.com). With more than two hundred million Executioner books sold since its debut, the series continues to stimulate. Gerry Conway, cocreator of Marvel Comics’ The Punisher, credits the Executioner as “my inspiration . . . that’s what gave me the idea for the lone, slightly psychotic avenger.” The series is also now in development as a major motion picture. War Against the Mafia is the 1st book in the Executioner series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.




The Executioner's Song


Book Description

In what is arguably his greatest book--written in 1979 and reissued here in trade paperback--America's most heroically ambitious writer follows the short, blighted career of Gary Gilmore, an intractably violent product of America's prisons who---after robbing two men and killing them in cold blood--insisted on dying for his crime.




The Executioner's Daughter


Book Description

All her life, Moss has lived in the Tower of London with her father, who serves as the executioner for King Henry VIII. Prisoners condemned to death must face Pa and his axe—and Moss catches their severed heads. Her father insists he has no choice: if he leaves the Tower, he will be killed. But Moss can't bear to be the executioner's daughter any longer. When she finally finds a way out of the Tower, she discovers the river holds more dangers than she imagined—including the Riverwitch's curse. The Riverwitch once helped Moss's family in exchange for a terrible bargain; now she expects Moss to pay the debt.




I Am an Executioner


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A vivid, glittering, savage collection of stories from an astonishing literary talent.




The Hangman's Daughter


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Hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is being practiced in the small town of Schongau in 1659 after a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder.




The Executioner's Daughter


Book Description

The riveting tale of an executioner's daughter who struggles to find a different path in life Born into the family of an executioner, Lily has always been sheltered by her mother from the horrors of her father's occupation. But when her ailing mother takes a turn for the worse, Lily is suddenly thrust into the paralyzing role of executioner's assistant. Aside from preparing healing concoctions for the suffering and maimed, Lily must now accompany her father at the town executions, something she has never done before. Though she loves her father, the emotional burden of his disturbing profession is just too much for her to bear. Lily must find a way to change her destiny, no matter the consequences. Set in medieval England, this well-researched and beautifully written novel tells the story of one girl's fight to rise above her fate.




History of an Executioner


Book Description

Fiction. For years, the executioner has faithfully performed his duties in a provincial corner of the Republic, enduring the disdain of his fellow citizens. After an uproar over a botched execution in the distant capital, his work is suspended, and he begins disrupting the routines that have defined his life. When rebels attack the town, he must decide whether to resume his old ways. "HISTORY OF AN EXECUTIONER is a triumph of empathy, imagination, and lucidity. A haunting examination of a humble, civil-servant killer whose lonely existence has arrived at a crossroads. Is he the last of his kind? Would he even know how to be his own man? Could there be any escape from this life of blood and gloom? This first book by Clancy McGilligan truly swept me away--a stunning debut from a spectacularly talented writer."--Skip Horack "In powerful prose, McGilligan tells a fully inventive and engaging story. You'll want to linger with the sentences and turn the pages. This is a haunting and hauntingly atmospheric novella."--Olivia Clare "With his first novella, HISTORY OF AN EXECUTIONER, Clancy McGilligan has written a dystopian tale with flawless control, compression, and, in the end, compassion. The story is, by turns, hopeless and hopeful, passionless and passionate, and always, always, interesting. I could not put it down."--Richard Wiley "HISTORY OF AN EXECUTIONER takes a thoughtful look at the moments that disrupt normalcy. The familiar rhythms of the protagonist's life are replaced with questions about nation, love, and purpose. Clancy McGilligan creates an executioner who grapples with layers of aftermath and the ways these confine and liberate. This imaginative debut examines the meaning of consequence, showing how both subtle and dramatic changes create new challenges and pathways."--Ravi Howard