THE EXECUTION

Australian-born, now London-based, Wilcken’s exceptionally well-done debut: the story of a professional do-gooder who, trying to save a man from the gallows, finds himself entangled in a web of his own devising.

Matthew Bourne works for Africa Action, a London NGO that monitors human-rights abuses across the continent. His particular concern there is one Jarawa, a dissident who has been condemned to death on suspicious murder charges, and he hopes that he can rouse enough public indignation over the case to bring political pressure to bear on Jarawa’s government. But Matt has some diplomatic crises of his own. He has begun an affair with a South African art dealer who wants to represent his painter wife Marianne, and he soon learns that Marianne is simultaneously carrying on with Oxford professor Richard Weldon. Even worse, from Matt’s point of view, is the discovery that Richard is connected with Freedom Africa, a rival NGO trying to take over Jarawa’s defense. In fact, Matt suspects that interference from Richard and his organization may account for the strange unwillingness of Jarawa’s wife, now exiled in London, to cooperate with his efforts on the dissident’s behalf. All this is in the back of Matt’s mind when he murders Richard in a fit of rage, but his first concern (after disposing of the body) is how he will work out his life with Marianne. Now pregnant with their second child, she is increasingly despondent, and her depression turns to hysteria as the mystery of Richard’s disappearance drags on. The situation at work does not improve with Richard’s disposal, either: Matt receives an odd, rambling letter from Jarawa himself, claiming that he has “come to terms” with his guilt and wants Matt to drop his case. Guilt is certainly an issue at hand for Matt, but unlike his Catholic wife he has no one to confess to except the police. Can he bring himself to that?

Nuanced, compelling, and fresh.