Book Recommendation – The 22 Murders of Maddie May

It isn’t always the case, but many times the title of a book is enough to peak my curiosity. Many times, I am pleasantly surprised and the book was worth the read. That was the case with the latest read.

This is the first book I have read from Max Berry. The 22 Murders of Madison May had me wondering. Is Madison the one who kills 22 times? Nope. It is Madison that is murdered 22 times. How can that happen? Let’s look at the Goodreads Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon comes mind-bending speculative psychological suspense about a serial killer pursuing his victim across time and space, and the woman who is determined to stop him, even if it upends her own reality.

I love you. In every world.

Young real estate agent Madison May is shocked when a client at an open house says these words to her. The man, a stranger, seems to know far too much about her, and professes his love–shortly before he murders her.

Felicity Staples hates reporting on murders. As a journalist for a midsize New York City paper, she knows she must take on the assignment to research Madison May’s shocking murder, but the crime seems random and the suspect is in the wind. That is, until Felicity spots the killer on the subway, right before he vanishes.

Soon, Felicity senses her entire universe has shifted. No one remembers Madison May, or Felicity’s encounter with the mysterious man. And her cat is missing. Felicity realizes that in her pursuit of Madison’s killer, she followed him into a different dimension–one where everything about her existence is slightly altered. At first, she is determined to return to the reality she knows, but when Madison May–in this world, a struggling actress–is murdered again, Felicity decides she must find the killer–and learns that she is not the only one hunting him.

Traveling through different realities, Felicity uncovers the opportunity–and danger–of living more than one life.

You may be saying to yourself, “Oh great. Here is another time travel book Keith read.” However, it really isn’t time travel. The synopsis references other dimensions. In a sense each dimension is an alternate reality of the previous one. In the various dimensions, Madison’s jobs seem to change. Strangely, it seems that Felicity’s does not. That was my only real hang up in the story.

It is an exciting race against time, in almost each dimension to prevent the murder of Madison. It’s also sort of a cat and mouse game. It is a constant pursuit of a killer who is always after the same target. How can they stop these murders? Can Felicity get back to the dimension she started from? Will she forever be jumping from one dimension to the other?

I didn’t have any high expectations because I picked the book without reading the synopsis. I picked it on the title alone and enjoyed a great read because of that.

4 out of 5 stars.