Name: The Death Row Club
Rating: 3.75 (2 reviews)

V.A. Vazquez

The Death Row Club

Heather

Sloppy review, not polished. 🆃🅷🅴 🅳🅴🅰🆃🅷 🆁🅾🆆 🅲🅻🆄🅱 "You're watching a murder. That's what it is: You're watching a murder through this thick Plexiglas window, and you think to yourself, 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. But then you remember the police, the courts, they're the murderers, and there's nothing you can do to stop them,” (p. 94-95). They may have committed the crimes, but it’s their children who inherit the scars. Their only crime is being the offspring of murderers, looked down upon by the public and branded with an invisible scarlet letter they’ll carry throughout their lives is their punishment. The Death Row Club by V.A. Vazquez is the kind of dark, unconventional thriller that had me hooked immediately. The premise alone had me intrigued but actually reading the book was so much more. I know this book was a hit or miss overall, but I really enjoyed it. Nicola was betrayed in the worst way when she learned her dad was being arrested for multiple murders. They say he was the serial killer, the one responsible for her friend’s murder. But Nicola was befriended - targeted - by Greer so that she could get closer to turning Nicola’s father over, to save her own father from execution. This book explores what happens when you’re born into a family whose name is synonymous with murder. What really stood out to me was the exploration of that inherited notoriety and what it means to be permanently marked in society by someone else’s actions. Now Nicola has received an invitation to join an all expenses paid getaway for children whose parents ended up being killers. But she’s in for the getaway of her life - if she survives it. But she’s about to come face-to-face with Greer since the night she betrayed her. They haven’t spoken since that night and Greer has been ghosting her, but that all ends soon. I especially liked how the story focused on how we become obsessed with serial killers - merch, bidding, the curiosity behind wanting to understand them. Tying in our reality TV obsession and “catching” predators into the larger story was the cherry on top. Explores themes of betrayal, murder, culpability, and more. While I do think this book could have had a little more action, a little more suspense, I still enjoyed it overall. It does start to get more exciting about a quarter of the way in and finishes out spectacularly. I’d say the book is somewhat predictable while also not being predictable. It was the perfect balance. Also loved that the FMC was gay - that was a pleasant surprise. 𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖: “…your patties are more like White Castle sliders-lean wartime rations…” 🤣🤣 Shit-chat Shit drawer 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℚ𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕤: "True, and I would never want anyone who's been failed by our legal system to be executed. However, there are cases in which everyone knows who's guilty, in which the evidence is irrefutable, and in those cases, the death penalty might be an appropriate punishment." (135). ^ COULD NOT AGREE MORE! 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤: It’s crazy to me that we’ve had to resort to putting nets up around bridges to stop being from jumping off of them. It’s such a sad thing, so much suffering.

The Death Row Club

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