Dead Men Walking: True Stories of the Most Evil Men and Women on Death Row

by Christopher Berry-Dee, Tony Brown

Twenty-five of the most horrific murder cases in American crime are brought together in this detailed and haunting compilation. Among the criminals covered are Bill Benefiel, the “Superglue Monster,” who brutally tortured his teenage victims to death; Kenneth Boyd, who killed his wife and her father while his three sons watched; and Veronica and Ivan Gonzalez, who systematically tortured their four-year-old niece over a period of six months before scalding her to death in a bathtub, making them the first married couple on death row. With in-depth accounts of each perpetrator and crime, Dead Men Walking offers a voice of reason in an exhausted debate between politicians, the public, and the press on the line between man and monster, and between justice and murder.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Chris was a former Royal Marine intelligence officer. He is now a criminologist who has interviewed over 30 serial killers.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid true crime reader, I give most books a chance surrounding this subject. While this book wasn't a GREAT read, it was interesting enough to make me want to finish it. As most have already stated, Dead Men Walking is a fairly speedy read, and flows quite easily. And as others have pointed out, the authors opinions do shine through the chapters quite prominently, and I do believe at the start of the book, it gives the impression that it is up the reader to make up their own mind about the criminals. That is not to say that I do not agree that most (if not all) of these crimes are disgusting, I think the author should have perhaps eased off his own opinions and allowed the facts to speak for themselves.

All in all, I'd say give the book a go, but don't expect it go too in-depth about the individual crimes, as it packs in quite a few criminals. If you're looking for focus on the crimes committed, I'd say look elsewhere. But that's just my opinion!

[Judy Tarver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical true crime book listing and telling about some of the crimes committed in some really evil ways. Some of the stories are really brutal.

[Shannon McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

could have picked some better cases

[Aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dead Men Walking offers a good companion book to Dead Men Talking. In Walking, we see a clear, concise, to the point retelling of multiple crimes by individuals how now find themselves on Death Row.

While Talking offered an insight into the lives of inmates - as much of the book comprised of correspondence between author and inmate - we also got to see what the inmates, themselves, had to say about their crimes. Not much of it was pretty.

Walking doesn't offer this insight - sometimes thankfully - yet it still adequately tells the stories of the horrors their victims faced. This book does not glorify these crimes. It is a factual account of the cases, some widely known, some more obscure.

All in all, this book is a factual account of horrible crimes committed by all sorts of individuals. I will certainly be looking into other books by this author.

[Mandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick, interesting read. I could have done without the author's opinions on some of the stories though. Including his own commentary on some of the suspects is not something I want to read in a non-fiction novel and is unnecessary. There are also quite a few typos in this book. Obviously the author is from the U.K. as there are many British terms in this book. This may create some confusion for an american reader, but thankfully I know a lot of British lingo. I also wish he would have used women on death row who didn't 'just' kill her own offspring. Are there not women on death row who have killed strangers or someone other than their kids? Overall, a fast, interesting read.

[Bookfiend7121 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read. I've always been fascinated with the criminal mind in terms of why people do the things they do.. This book hasn't really answered that question but more detailing their crimes and how/why they ended up on death row.. I would recommend the book to those that aren't of he faint-hearted. Quite a few of the crimes are very gruesome especially against children.. I must go now and read something lighthearted now!!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. I loved how it didn't drag out the stories. I highly recommend.