Customer Reviews

Dead Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death Row in America

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What struck me most about Dead Run is how well it is reported. This is not a tract; it is an elaborate journalistic mosaic of the grim realities behind the loud cries for death row vengeance. Jackson and Burke provide the story that allows readers to draw their own conclusions. There are no saints and justice is elusive at best. It is an account that has left a deep impression in this reader's consciousness.

DEAD RUN is the best work of crime journalism I've read since THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG. It transcends the increasingly shabby true-crime genre. It is a superb study of life on Death Row. It is the latest proof that the land of the free continues to execute the innocent. It is a jailbreak story that rivals PAPILLON. It is crime history at its most elevated, and yet there's not a stodgy line. Social context is never forgotten, but the narrative line chugs ahead like a runaway locomotive. I will re-read this book many times and recommend it to all who enjoy a great yarn and responsible journalism.

This book is a lightweight but interesting read. It suffers from the authors' inability to decide whether to focus on Dennis Stockton or the great escape. The reality is that the escape has little to do with Stockton - the authors' understandable fascination with the details of the escape rather detract from their focus on Stockton.

Stockton is an interesting character and I don't feel that this book really does the merits of his (unsuccessful) legal appeals proper justice. Stockton's appearance has a peculiarly haunting quality to it with his deeply sunken shadowed eyes and lined face. One cannot help but think that his disreputable former lifestyle substantially contributed to his eventual demise - he was a person that a clever prosecutor could easily portray in a very bad light.

The authors have privileged access to Stockton's own words and their account draws on this to give the reader an unusually authentic look into the strange world of Death Row. I feel that more could have been made of this as Stockton was a perceptive observer who left a substantial record.

However, the authors are beguiled by the great escape from Mecklenburg Correctional Center and dwell lovingly on its every detail. I'm afraid that I am not as impressed by this as the authors obviously were. There is some lionizing of the escapers, especially the singularly unattractive Briley brothers. The reality is that the escape was only possible because of the extraordinary stupidity of the corrections officers. Yes - the inmates had a fair degre of low cunning, but I would not elevate that to the degree of intelligence the authors imply they possessed.

What is truly amazing is the regime at Mecklenburg and Virginia's parsimonious funding of its corrections facilities. The state spent millions building Mecklenburg but then proceeded to pay the corrections officers so badly that they were clearly prey to scams and wheezes to earn a dishonest dollar to live on. It really does beggar belief that officers could allow inmates to continue to behave as though they were out on the streets with ready access to money, drugs, weapons and even firearms. It is a miracle that none were killed in the course in the escape - they certainly deserved to pay a heavy price for their foolishness.

However, the behavior of the escapers after they gained their freedom shows their real level of intelligence. They had no plan beyond getting out of Mecklenburg and their behavior was such that they were readily recaptured. Even the Brileys, the alleged master manipulators and brains behind the escape, behaved in a thoroughly predictable fashion and did little to keep a low profile.

Readers who are familiar with Supreme Court death penalty cases will meet many familiar names with walk on parts in this book - Giarratano, Coleman and others. The book is interesting enough as a general read but adds little to our knowledge of death row or the administration of justice. The only real eye opener is the way corrections officers, in their eagerness to earn a buck or have a quiet life, were so ready to endanger their own lives.

As a reporter at the daily paper that coverd the Stockton case from arrest to execution (and now as a lawyer with the firm that helped defend him during his original trial), i can say the writers did an excellent job of piecing together the puzzel that was Dennis Stockton. I disagree with some of the conclusions, but never the less find their reporting thorough, but not cumbersome.

What was especially insighful was Dennis' image and opinion of his death row neighbors. I know lawyers and reporters familiar with some of them and his observations are interesting in comparison.

From the first day I reported on this story (which was already some seven years inot thecase) I thought this case had book material written all over it. I am glad that the book was done and done with such thoroughness and a reasoned point of view.

The authors of "Dead Run" bring serious reporting and wonderful style to a terrific story. The result is a book that ranks with "In Cold Blood" and "Executioner's Song" in the annals of great true crime. I deserves a good run both in the book stores and on the silver screen.

"Dead Run" is the best prison drama I have ever read, made more gripping by the fact that it is ALL TRUE. The bookd recounts the final prison term of Dennis Stockton, who was probably innocent and spent over a decade on Death Row. The first part of the book deals with the only successful mass escape from Death Row in American history, but the drama does not end there. Following that, by following Stockton through the system and finally to his execution, one becomes acquainted with the grim, crushing reality of the brutality and neglect of the American prison system.

On top of being a gripping tale of prison life, the book is a damning account of capital punishment and our prison system in general. By picking Stockton as a subject, a probably innocent man singled out by the UN as an example of a case of capital punishment that did not meet up with the standards expected of international law, the authors make a ringing statement against death penalty laws and procedures in the United States. Only the most rabid pro-death penalty advocate could read this book and not come away questioning their support for the execution of criminals.

A further feature that permeates the story is just how seedy and corrupt everyone and everything in the book are. The courts, the cops, the guards, the prisoners, the politicians - they are all part of the same basically corrupt world. Only (not coincidentally) the reporters and some of the witnesses come off as being white in a very grey and black world.

The book is a magnificent, cannot-put-it-down peice of work that I heartily recommend to any lover of a good non-fiction tale!

I skipped school to watch the Stockton verdict passed down at the courthouse in Stuart, Virginia, back in 1983. It was evident to me, at 15, as well as to many others, that Stockton was a ruthless man and that he had killed Ronnie Tate. He was, however, convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Kenneth Arnder. The authors of Dead Run claim that it is "virtually certain" that Stockton was innocent of Arnder's murder. While this claim is extreme, what is certain upon reading their chronicle of Stockton's life in prisons is that he was not given due process. No reasonable person, when confronted with all the evidence, including that ruled out by Virginia's draconian 21-day exclusionary rule, could conclude that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Stockton is a compelling voice and candidate for the "smoking gun" sought by death penalty advocates, the innocent man executed. Dead Run is a troubling book because it humanizes death row inmates. When other human beings become plausible to us, it becomes more difficult to revel in cruelty towards them. The authors walk a fine line between lionizing the denizens of Virginia's death row and chronicling their exploits. They force the reader to confront the truth that a brutal murderer can be heroic in other contexts, that even the condemned can achieve dignity. There are a few factual errors regarding Southside Va. geography and a very dubious historical argument drawing upon antebellum Southern economics used to differentiate present day Virginia and North Carolina politics. When the authors, though, avoid editorializing and historicizing, they show a keen eye for drama and human nature.

I think this was a very well written book. Having grown up in a town with a maximum security prison I can remember the news stories and manhunts when there was an escape. I also know several people who work for the prison and know about the corruption of the guards as written in this book. What I liked the most about this book what that it showed the human side of those condemned to die and how they dealt with it.

This is probably the best true-life prison story I have ever read (and I've read a lot). The writing is excellent, very down-to-earth and easy to follow. And the storyline itself is so compelling. It really gives the reader a "you are there" sense. Recommend highly!

An honest look at one man's march to Virginia's death chamber, this book is a rare hybrid of psychological realism and high drama adventure. A man falsely convicted, a mass escape, and final redemption through the written word. You wouldn't believe it, if it weren't true.