The 22 Murders of Madison May

By: Max Barry

Narrated by: Helen Laser

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.

©2021 Max Barry (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Mind-bending.... A page-turner that also holds up in terms of its metaphysical conceit.” (The Chicago Tribune)

“Barry strives to paint equally compelling portraits of the two women and comes pretty darn close. Each character assumes a fully rounded and weighty resonance.... Dynamic, suspenseful action with a light frosting of metaphysics." (The Washington Post)

"Mr. Barry avoids the obvious sci-fi option of thinking up lots of exciting worlds, and takes the grittier route of imagining intrusions into the underbelly of this one.... Unnerving. He navigates the multiverse and the concepts of string theory and chaos theory with frightening conviction. Let’s hope he just made it all up.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Exceeded my expectations: smart, unique!

Happy I finally bought this title, despite some pretty discouraging reviews. The character development is *great*. I found it really interesting the way each character's self-awareness evolved (or, in one notable case, remained static) as they 'moved'. At no point did I find this book boring. I listened to it in one day, rarely pausing, attentively. This is intelligent, imaginative writing. Not my first Max Barry. I consider this an excellent book. (And yeah, I got a bit emotional when Joey reappeared. 😸) 5 star narration by Helen Laser.

Murders in the multiverse

A well done story with great narration about chasing a criminal across dimensions. There are lots of interesting twists and turns.

Max Barry does it again

Another intriguing premise, impeccably executed with humor and just the right amount of heart.

Compelling!

I am a big fan of Barry’s books and I swear he is just getting better and better. I was really intrigued to see how he was going to keep the characters straight and still show them moving from world to world and meeting different versions of the people they knew. I think he did a really good job at this aspect of the story. His books always surprise me in some way, which is why I think I like him so much. This was no exception.

Enjoyable Overall

Enjoyable but I found myself wanting something extra from the plot. Separately, the voice actor did great.

Interesting

I found this to be a strong story. The characters were very well developed.
Story stayed interesting throughout.

Max is becoming one of my favorites

I really enjoyed the story. Really interesting concept and great execution. I hope max builds on this world and uses it again. Im excited to see how the big screen adapts it considering how badly they did wwz.

New take on the time-bending genre

Narration and story premise are both well done Moves at a quick pace and carries enough tension to keep it moving forward.

Multidimensional murder

The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry is a multiverse hopping murder mystery. Madison May is a woman pursued across dimensions by a stalker who is looking for a specific version of Madison that will return his unrequited love. The problem is that he is murdering all the versions that don't fit his ideal vision. A newspaper reporter investigating one such murder case gets caught up with a group also dimension hopping who are trying to stop the killer. Each dimension has subtle differences and there is no going back. Eventually everyone lives happily ever after (except the killer).

Barry makes a valiant attempt to craft a murder mystery across an infinite set of universes. Unfortunately, there's too much left unexplained. Exactly how do different people manage to stay together? Where did the objects that manage the transition come from? Why would a group decide to dimension hop to help people? In an infinite multiverse, there must be versions where the good guys are the bad guys.

The narration is adequate with moderate character distinction.

Fun mystery

What a fun twist on a mystery!!! It’s takes a little bit to figure out it’s a little sci-fi too!! Great narrator!! Worth the credit