Customer Reviews

The Last Face You'll Ever See: The Private Life of the American Death Penalty

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Ivan Solotaroff's book skirts around the endless debate over the pros and cons of capital punishment and instead focuses with an unbiased look at the men who are responsible for carrying out death sentences. A brief history of executioners is given, but the main subjects of this book are Donald Hocutt and Don Cabana, the executioner and warden of Parchman prison in Mississippi in the 1980's.

I was relieved to to see that Solotaroff did not attack Hocutt for his job nor try to moralize an abolitionist position. Instead, he documents Hocutt's narratives not only about mixing chemicals and pulling the lever to release gas into the chamber, but also the rigors of being a guard in the maximum security unit at one of the nation's roughest prisons. The inmates are not made out to be angels, for their crimes are described in full, but we do see how isolation from society makes them despondent and desperate.

The dangers and visual horrors of execution via cyanide gas are well conveyed in this book. The 1983 execution of inmate Jimmy Lee Gray (who kidnapped, brutally raped a 3 year old neighbor before suffocating her in mud) did not go as planned. Hocutt, who was in direct sight of the inmate, watched as his body went into spasm from the gas and he repeatedly slammed his head into a steel support pole behind the chair to which he was strapped. Cabana, who was then with the Missouri Dept. of Corrections, was in the witness area -- contemplating the possibility of soon having to conduct an execution in his prison with this method.

The book embraces and seeks to shed light on that troubling question - how do these corrections officials deal with knowing they will put an inmate to death? Neither are enthusiastic about their responsibility (Cabana ultimately retired after conducting three executions at Parchman as it's warden and is now an abolitionist lecturer) but it is interesting to read how they endured stress and unease to varying degrees.

Having witnessed executions first hand, I can relate to some degree of the experiences of these men. It is not something to be taken lightly. If society decides that death is a justifiable penalty for certain egregious crimes (something which I support), then it is up to someone to carry out those sentences. We need not demonize them, for the book makes clear that these men have normal lives and families.

In closing, I am reminded of a line of dialogue in the 1967 film version of the novel 'In Cold Blood' between two reporters.

"Who is the executioner?"
'We the people'.

I have read a number of books on prisons, punishement of criminals and the death peanalty. I have yet to find one that was balanced and this book is no exception.

From the title and information on the dust jacket, etc., you expect an insiders look at the death penalty and the men who are given the unenviable task of applying it. Instead, what you get (primarily) is a look at the death house at Mississippi's infamous Parchman Prison and the 2 men who oversaw 3 executions there in the 1980s. The only form of execution that is covered, in a more than passing fashion, is the gas chamber, which as the book was published had been done away with in every state in the US.

To cover this subject fully, the author needed to explore the other types of execution in the US and speak to executioners in more than one state and who have performed executions by more than this method alone. His focus on death by gassing, which may be the most miserable form of death, is in itself, a staement against the death penalty.

There are better books on the history, types and operation of various execution methods. For a true view of the subject, I suggest one of them.

Solotaroff did a commendable job maintaining his journalistic integrity and objectivity, especially when reporting on a topic as controversial as capital punishment, and that I think, is the key to successful reporting.

The author provided a face to the otherwise annonymous executioners who serve the will of society (or at least the court system) by actually enforcing the sentence of death.

Solotaroff choronicled the life and work of a number of executioners, and discussed the emotional repurcussions of serving as a state sanctified killer. He was able to capture the tumultuous emotions that accompany a life at the switch, and a life of "playing god."

There seems to be a fine line between jailer and the jailed, executioner and murderer, and Solotaroff did a fine job of capturing these subtle differences, and providing the reader with food for thought in regards to the American death penalty.

Everyone knows about the death penalty, the ensuing debate over its merits as a deterrent to crime, and the individuals who have been brought to justice in the electric chair, by lethal injection, or some other means of execution. But little coverage is given to the other side of equation- the people responsible for administering the penalty. This book attempts to cover what life it like for those who are given the gruesome task of flipping the lever, and it succeeds in some ways and fails in others.

First of all, you need to know that this is not necessarily a political book. There is no debate here about the pros and cons of the death penalty in general. Instead, this book examines the lives of two men who work in the prison system- Donald Hocutt and Don Cabana. Hocutt is an older, more experienced executioner who seems to support the death penalty while Cabana wants to see many procedures reformed.

Certain, specific executions in Mississippi are covered in this book, and some of the details can get rather nasty, especially when things don't go as planned. What the author is trying to assert, it seems, is that the death penalty needs to undergo some changes to make it more up to date and less morbid. We are talking about killing here, so a certain level of morbidity is expected. But the author seems to be advocating a change in the types of death penalty, with the elimination of the electric chair and gas chamber as means of execution due to the sometimes painful and sometimes longer, more agonizing deaths that they cause.

This book is, overall, not very complete. It covers only the state of Mississippi and two men who perform executions. It really needs a broader base and a more in- depth study with more people, more places, and more convicts to be taken completely seriously. It's a nice place to start, but it will leave most readers with a sense of frustration, wanting to know more facts about the American death penalty.

My main reason for buying this book was that I have a have penpal who is on death row in the USA and have an interest in other people's viewpoints on the very controversial issue of the death penalty.

When buying the book I noticed that there were no other reviews for this book, which was quite unhelpful, but having read it I can kind of understand that it's not an easy book to write a review on.

As I said, I have a penpal who is on death row and I often find myself wondering what my reasons are for being against the death penalty and so when I saw this book I thought it would give me something more 'solid' to look at. The only description of the book is the cover 'the culture of death row', which could have meant anything.

Anyway, the book itself is mostly written about the executioners, those who actually 'pull the switch' etc. The author does not let his own personal viewpoint come through, he is simply writing about the 'culture of death row' and those who lives are affected by it.

There are many stories of the men who have been on 'the row' and details of their crimes and their last moments, the feelings and views of the team who are involved in the executions and the shocking reality of just what is involved in the process from start (sentencing) to finish (execution).

This is a well written book and though it's not been an easy read, it is insightful. My only criticism of the book is that sometimes the language is very complicated to understand, lots of difficult words used all in one sentence makes it a little mind boggling and confusing at times. This isn't helped by the fact that most of us don't fully understand all the technical aspects of the process anyway. That being said, it is a very informative book that leaves opinion still down to the reader.

I can't say my view has changed about the death penalty, but I certainly feel like I have a clearer understanding of what happens.

This is not for the faint hearted as there are very graphic descriptions of the executions as they are taking place; pretty horrendous sometimes!

It is my opinion that it is very difficult to write an unbiased account of the death penalty just because it is one of those divisive issues that tends to galvanize ones opinion firmly on one side of the issue or the other. It is also difficult in that each reader is going to have a bias that will be read into the text. With that said I do give this author credit in that for the most part he was telling a story and trying to have it be a just the facts type of reporting with no of his bias leaking in. Basically what you have is the story of a few of the guards and executioners at one prison in the south and 3 executions they performed over the 1980's. It makes for average reading given that the guards profiled have completely dull and pay check to pay check lives. The most interesting thing any of them do is their duties with the death penalty.

So the author is telling us the story of some uneducated, rather low paid men who's biggest claim to fame and achievement in life is to work at a job where every few years they help to kill a prisoner. I was only surprised there were not more heath problems, drug abuse and divorce detailed. Overall I thought the book was a bit bland, there is only so many pages of how horrible these guys lives are that the reader can stay interested in. Sure the details of the executions are interesting in a dark way, but that is not enough to make the book a winner. I would keep searching for another title to read on the subject.

This book is an unusual accomplishment--rare & extraordinary experiences explored without prejudice. Mr. Solotaroff gained the trust of people who have always been anonymous. It seems the author's listening & acceptance invited these men back into the "ordinary" world. People who are survivors of homicide victims talk about how they are now beyond the pale, no one can grasp what they have been through except other survivors. This book explores similar extreme experiences. It creates a window into hearts & minds of people taking part in events we'd rather not think about. My feeling reading this book was that we all have a relationship with these men--our laws sanction their work, our taxes pay the bill, our need for safety creates this vocation. But, we don't want to know about it or hear about it, we'd rather stick with cheaply acquired opinions. Mr. Solotaroff restores our human relationship with our executioners. I think that is as it should be whatever our opinions about "the death penalty issue". (The book is also a page-turner).

I thought this book gave a great overview of the death sentence in America. The history of the death sentence and the laws that govern it was very informative and interesting..The book read like a novel and I would recommend it to anyone wanting more information on this subject.

This is an excellent read and is more a narrative than any type of expose' on Capital Punishment.The author appears to distance himself and gives neither a pro nor con for Capital Punishment so if you you have preconceived strong notions either way you will not enjoy this book. The story describes a man in the south who after alot of different experiences in work and education finds himself the man who,"readies and pulls the switch",for Mississippi's gas chamber in the 90's. From the read,it is obvious the man does not enjoy his work but feels he is doing it to protect and give justice to the "small town" people who are terrorized by some of these violent criminals.He performs only 3 executions and announces he can no longer do it because it is causing stress and nightmares.There are graphic descriptions of the executions including "creature noises",etc.The book leaves little doubt that the gas chamber probably is not a humane form of capital punishment.One lady.a murderess,was told by the executioner to "breathe deeply and it will be more peaceful",retorted,"How in the Hell would you know"!After reading this book you will know too!!One interesting note in the book is the fact that the southern prison system does not relish in these executions and are in fact more empathetic to the condemned than I had ever imagined.This is one book you'll remember!

Solotaroff spent six years working on the book - focusing on the "Death Belt" (two hours from I-10 in the South) relating stories from an amateur historian of executions, to former death-rom inmates, condemned, and executioners. Also included are short stories of inane corrections staff "humor" directed at terrifying those being tried in capital and other cases, and the struggles and pain of those being executed.

Not clear what the point was, if any. Bill Kurtis' "The Death Penalty on Trial" was much more useful reading.