The Death Row Club - a woman with a serial killer father attends a gathering of others in the same situation.

Nicola Fischer has lost everything. Her father has been convicted of being a serial killer. The Ellicott Creek Ripper case, which involved the murder of five young women, including Nicola's best friend Claire, had remained unsolved for a long time. Greer Woods, the host of the crime series To Catch a Killer, befriended Nicola and pieced together the clues to identity the killer. The program about the murders portrayed Nicola unfavorably, suggesting she might have known about her father's crimes and possibly even helped him. Nicola was fired from her teaching job and left with no friends. Upon receiving an invitation from Greer to attend the annual meeting of "The Death Row Club," where all members have a parent who is a serial killer, she decides to travel from New York to Seattle. The get-together turns from a healing experience to something deadly when an uninvited woman shows up to their wilderness gathering. Also, a parallel story about Steffani, a seemingly unrelated character, tells a harrowing tale of a scared young woman fleeing an abusive father. 

The Death Row Club is author V. A. Vazquez's debut, and she has created an original and dark plot. The story begins as an exploration into the life of someone who is unwittingly dragged into a murder nightmare. However, things get much more complicated at the retreat when some of the attendees' secrets are exposed, transforming the story into an atmospheric, locked-room thriller. The absence of working communication devices adds to the tension. Filled with some surprising twists, I enjoyed it. 

Rated 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Mystery Thriller.

Publication Date: July 14, 2026.

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