Autobiography of an Execution

Professor and anti-death-penalty attorney David Dow can't separate his personal life from his work. In just a chapter or two, listeners will feel they know his family more intimately than some of his condemned clients. One troublesome case demonstrates the penetrating frustration lawyers encounter with the appeals process. Dow speaks shamelessly of his drinking, sadly of his lack of time for his son, and frankly of a near loss of vision. He writes and narrates the story like bullets in a PowerPoint presentation. The dialog comes to us as lots of "I said . . . " and "He said . . . ," but Dow's powerful descriptive abilities overcome his terse style. The audiobook's novel technique, copious forensics, and desperate legal maneuvers will please everyone with a fascination for true-crime. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine