The Autobiography of an Execution

It this spellbinding true crime narrative, Dow takes us inside of prisons, inside the complicated minds of judges, inside execution-administration chambers, into the lives of death row inmates (some shown to be innocent, others not) and even into his own home—where the toll of working on these gnarled and difficult cases is perhaps inevitably paid. He sheds insight onto unexpected phenomena— how even religious lawyer and justices can evince deep rooted support for putting criminals to death— and makes palpable the suspense that clings to every word and action when human lives hang in the balance.