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About the Book
Frankie Percival is cashing in her chips. To save her brother from financial ruin, Frankie—a single stage performer and mentalist who never made it big—agrees to be assassinated on the most popular television show on the planet: Death Warrant. Once she signs her life away, her memory is wiped clean of the agreement, leaving her with no idea she will soon be killed spectacularly for global entertainment.
After years of working in low-rent theaters, Frankie prepares for the biggest performance of her life as her Death Warrant assassin closes in on her. Every person she encounters could be her killer. Every day could be her last.
She could be a star, if only she lives that long.
My Review
This was one of my favorite stories that I encountered this year by far! Johnston has crafted a phenomenal novel that offers a scathing indictment of our reality TV- / other people’s train wrecks-obsessed Society, combined with a really touching and beautiful brother/sister narrative and a fabulous coming-into-her-own story all in one. The characters are fabulous and jump off the page. The quirkiness and detailed descriptions of the characters personalities were spot on and wholly believable. I want to go to the Zombean and sit down with each and every one of them for an afternoon of conversation and coffee!
The narration definitely helped in this regard. I am not normally a fan of more than one narrator, but the two women did such a fantastic job each presenting their character’s perspective in not only words but tone and timing and tenor, in a way that really added a depth to the story for me.
This was a brilliant tale and I did not see the twist coming at all – and I can almost never say that these days.. I definitely will recommend it enthusiastically in both audiobook and regular book format! I’ve already told my local library (where I work) we have to stock a copy.
A little research indicates that Johnston has primarily been a writer of nonfiction to date. I will definitely be checking those out, but I also sincerely hope he continues to create fictional worlds because he has done an exceptional job here… Sign me up for whatever he drops next!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
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