Introduction--a good man, at one time--can America kill its prisoners kindly?--two executions on a thursday in America--should the Parkland shooter die?--dead to rights--dead man living--death of a sinner--on murders especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel--a history of violence--Alabama makes plans to gas its prisoners--article credits--about the author

Elizabeth Bruenig's sensitive reporting pulls back the curtain on a routine crisis in America's deather chambers: state executioners' inability to kill the the condemned humanely. She takes readers to the torturous final moments of deeath rown inmates while considering the often heinous crimes that led to their sentences. Thoughtful and profound, Bruenig's writing negotiates the culture of violence in America, asking what's at stake when we refuse to see the humanity in those who have done the inhumane