Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering her husband. She had an alibi and no known motive, yet Talia’s unwavering protestations of innocence have always been ignored. Then one day in the visiting area, she sees a recognizable stranger she’s certain is her husband. It turns out the man she’s been convicted of killing may not be dead after all. But as the days tick away toward Talia’s execution, what will it take for her to be believed?
Freida McFadden’s Death Row is part of Alibis, a collection of stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a matter of what you can get away with. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.
My name is Talia Kemper, and with my time running short, there are a few things I need you to know about me (PROLOGUE).
(Amazon Original Stories, Kindle Book, 1 June 2025, 50 pages, bought from Amazon Kindle, Amazon First Reads)
This is my first read by the author. If this is an indicator of her writing style I don’t think I’ll bother reading anything else. Her books are raved about especially on TikTok so I hope she offers something better than Death Row. Until three chapters from the end, I was enjoying this short read, plenty of intrigue and suspense. I had lots of questions. Did Talia kill her husband? If so, why? Is the man she’s seen her husband? If so, did he fake his death and frame her? I was looking forward to seeing where the book went. And then three chapters from the end the author introduced a crass, ridiculous twist. Talia’s been in a coma this whole time. Everything prior to this point has been a coma dream. WTF? Oh, and the book ends with her husband switching off her life machine. WTF. What a turd of an ending to what was shaping up to be a pretty decent read. I’d have DNF’d this book if this stupid twist had come sooner. What a crass cop-out instead of actually concluding the story. I loathe it was all a dream twists.
