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Voices from Death Row
Some of the country's most infamous inmates serving a death sentence or life without parole are represented in this telling chronicle. True crime author Kelly Banaski takes a look at their gruesome crimes and shares her conversations with them in this look at heinous crimes and life in prison.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
125 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2017
47 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 18, 2017
This was a great read. A bit of history on the death penalty as well stories of some killers with interviews or correspondence with these killers on death row. It is chilling how evil and vindictive these killers are. This is my first book by Kelly but I certainly will be looking into her other books!
July 20, 2017
I really enjoyed this very informative book by Author Kelly Banaski. After some very interesting history about the death penalty and the history of the crimes committed by these murderers, the author discusses her interactions with the various killers either by correspondence and/or interviewing them in person. This is a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a TC fan.
July 26, 2017
Convoluted Sentences & Awkward Grammar "Forced" Me To Stop Reading; Mis-leading Book Description
I've muddled through many a book of questionable writing skill. And I know the blurb for this book suggests the author is a professional writer. I don't know who her normal audience is - but I found her writing style to be extremely confusing: overly long sentences with "parts" out of place and awkward, if not incorrect, noun & verb mixing. (There is a technical name for the "parts out of place" structure, but I can't recall it.) Also disturbing was some information provided in her introduction concerning how she developed this book. Based on the title and the posted book summary, I assumed the book would be based on stories as provided by the inmates. (And maybe I over-interpreted here, but I also assumed these stories would address, in some manner, the inmates' perspectives on their death row experiences.) What the author's intro suggested, however, is that she somehow identified a group of inmates she wanted to write about, then wrote up the stories of their crimes, and then contacted the inmates for their input. Two of these inmates never responded to her, although their stories are in the book. I wonder how much of their voices we're hearing/reading about. Anyway, I managed to get about 1/4 of the way through the first inmate's story - and then skimmed enough to actually see refernces which indicated he, at least, had provided the author with some information, though it appeared to be more about his crime, with no insights into his death row experience. In summary, this is obviously not a book I would recommend.
I've muddled through many a book of questionable writing skill. And I know the blurb for this book suggests the author is a professional writer. I don't know who her normal audience is - but I found her writing style to be extremely confusing: overly long sentences with "parts" out of place and awkward, if not incorrect, noun & verb mixing. (There is a technical name for the "parts out of place" structure, but I can't recall it.) Also disturbing was some information provided in her introduction concerning how she developed this book. Based on the title and the posted book summary, I assumed the book would be based on stories as provided by the inmates. (And maybe I over-interpreted here, but I also assumed these stories would address, in some manner, the inmates' perspectives on their death row experiences.) What the author's intro suggested, however, is that she somehow identified a group of inmates she wanted to write about, then wrote up the stories of their crimes, and then contacted the inmates for their input. Two of these inmates never responded to her, although their stories are in the book. I wonder how much of their voices we're hearing/reading about. Anyway, I managed to get about 1/4 of the way through the first inmate's story - and then skimmed enough to actually see refernces which indicated he, at least, had provided the author with some information, though it appeared to be more about his crime, with no insights into his death row experience. In summary, this is obviously not a book I would recommend.
September 4, 2017
Always interested in books about those who kill, I'm most fascinated with their own stories as told verbatim by THEM. Authors like this one, who spend little or no actual time with them (or otherwise corresponding with them), leave me frustrated. As the sister of a man serving time in prison for murder, I feel qualified to have that opinion. The brother I know is not the man in jail, and the circumstances surrounding his crime are not known by anyone but me, as we have no other family who's ever given a rat's a$$ about us since our Mom died. Banaski-Sons makes some grandiose conclusions that she has no right to make; court transcripts and "witnesses" don't tell the whole story by any stretch. Do more legitimate research, Kelly, before writing your next book. The REAL story is known only by those who committed the crimes.
July 25, 2017
Looking into the abyss
This is an extraordinary look into the minds of several death row inmates. The author interviewed these prisoners in person or by correspondence, and the results are varied. Some of the inmates shared their thoughts with her while others only sought to humiliate and degrade her. Some of them refused her request and did not participate.
Kelly chose some of the worst of the worst, those whose crimes were so violent and shocking that they are hard to read about. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why they are biding their time on Death Row.
This is an extraordinary look into the minds of several death row inmates. The author interviewed these prisoners in person or by correspondence, and the results are varied. Some of the inmates shared their thoughts with her while others only sought to humiliate and degrade her. Some of them refused her request and did not participate.
Kelly chose some of the worst of the worst, those whose crimes were so violent and shocking that they are hard to read about. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why they are biding their time on Death Row.
July 19, 2022
Well Written
A short work, peering into the lives of about half a dozen death row inmates. The author balances her first hand accounts of interaction with the inmate and their often horrific stories. Neither novel nor expose, the book is an easy technical read, and an often difficult emotional one.
A short work, peering into the lives of about half a dozen death row inmates. The author balances her first hand accounts of interaction with the inmate and their often horrific stories. Neither novel nor expose, the book is an easy technical read, and an often difficult emotional one.
August 18, 2017
Not as described!
Voices from Death Row? Hardly! The cases were well written about but there was hardly any meaningful response from the murderers and none at all from the final one, so we didn't really hear their voices. Much better books on this subject have been written.
Voices from Death Row? Hardly! The cases were well written about but there was hardly any meaningful response from the murderers and none at all from the final one, so we didn't really hear their voices. Much better books on this subject have been written.
November 7, 2017
Enjoyed but would have liked a little more to it.
October 18, 2017
I like books that tell of prison inmates, whether they're on death row or not, this book went into detail of the crimes committed but not about inmates life as a death row prisoner. Disappointing.
October 14, 2018
It's a disappointing short read. It's just as good as having an annotation on a wikipedia page of each names mentioned. Meh. Very meh.
January 24, 2020
Interesting
Interesting cases! A few I hadn't even heard of before. I just wish that the chapters were longer and more detailed.
Interesting cases! A few I hadn't even heard of before. I just wish that the chapters were longer and more detailed.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews