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Death Row: The Final Minutes: My life as an execution witness in America's most infamous prison
IN 12 YEARS, MICHELLE LYONS WITNESSED NEARLY 300 EXECUTIONS.
First as a reporter and then as a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Michelle was a frequent visitor to Huntsville's Walls Unit, where she recorded and relayed the final moments of death row inmates' lives before they were put to death by the state.
Michelle was in the death chamber as some of the United States' most notorious criminals, including serial killers, child murderers and rapists, spoke their last words on earth, while a cocktail of lethal drugs surged through their veins.
Michelle supported the death penalty, before misgivings began to set in as the executions mounted. During her time in the prison system, and together with her dear friend and colleague, Larry Fitzgerald, she came to know and like some of the condemned men and women she saw die. She began to query the arbitrary nature of the death penalty and ask the do executions make victims of all of us?
An incredibly powerful and unique look at the complex story of capital punishment, as told by those whose lives have been shaped by it, Death The Final Minutes is an important take on crime and punishment at a fascinating point in America's political history.
First as a reporter and then as a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Michelle was a frequent visitor to Huntsville's Walls Unit, where she recorded and relayed the final moments of death row inmates' lives before they were put to death by the state.
Michelle was in the death chamber as some of the United States' most notorious criminals, including serial killers, child murderers and rapists, spoke their last words on earth, while a cocktail of lethal drugs surged through their veins.
Michelle supported the death penalty, before misgivings began to set in as the executions mounted. During her time in the prison system, and together with her dear friend and colleague, Larry Fitzgerald, she came to know and like some of the condemned men and women she saw die. She began to query the arbitrary nature of the death penalty and ask the do executions make victims of all of us?
An incredibly powerful and unique look at the complex story of capital punishment, as told by those whose lives have been shaped by it, Death The Final Minutes is an important take on crime and punishment at a fascinating point in America's political history.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 3, 2018
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July 19, 2025
One of the best books I have read so far in 2025!
Filled with honesty and transparency from the first page to the last, Lyon's frank way of writing is intriguing to read. There is a great blend of information about inmates on death row as well as telling us how things work without boring us with political views.
The dual narrative was really interesting as there are so few books like this, and it was good to see more than one opinion of the events that unfolded.
Filled with honesty and transparency from the first page to the last, Lyon's frank way of writing is intriguing to read. There is a great blend of information about inmates on death row as well as telling us how things work without boring us with political views.
The dual narrative was really interesting as there are so few books like this, and it was good to see more than one opinion of the events that unfolded.
Displaying 1 of 1 review