The 22 Murders of Madison May, by Max Barry

The multiverse theory posits an infinite number of universes, all just a little different from each other. Max Barry posits a loose group of people who have found a way to travel through the various universes, taking with them small positives to try to make small improvements in each new world. But what happens when one of them goes rogue – an incel determined to kill and keep killing the woman who keeps failing to meet his ideal image of her? Felicity Staples is a political journalist on a New York paper, who stumbles into the group of travellers after reporting on what turns out to be the 20th murder of Madison May by Clay Hors. Cast adrift from her own world, Felicity manages to stop one murder. But how many more can she prevent and will she lose herself trying? This novel has a strange structure; starting with Maddie’s story, before switching emphatically to Felicity and then finally bringing them together. It gets confusing at times as to which universe we are in, especially when Barry appears to transgress his own rules of movement. He doesn’t inflict the full details of all 22 murders; the few depicted are sufficiently horrifying to make the point – no matter the scenario, it always ends with Hors attacking the object of his affection. The story touches on several moral and ethical dilemmas without delving into them. The one definitive statement that resonates puts responsibility firmly with the assailant rather than the victim, not allowing the classic ‘look what you made me do’ defence to stand. It seems ridiculous that such a statement is necessary in 2021, but so it is – presumably the raison d’etre for the novel.