Death Row: The Final Minutes cover art

Death Row: The Final Minutes

My Life as an Execution Witness in America's Most Infamous Prison

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Death Row: The Final Minutes

By: Michelle Lyons
Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow, John Moraitis, Michelle Lyons
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

In 12 years, Michelle Lyons witnessed nearly 300 executions. First as a reporter and then as a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Michelle was a frequent visitor to Huntsville’s Walls Unit, where she recorded and relayed the final moments of death row inmates’ lives before they were put to death by the state. Michelle was in the death chamber as some of the United States' most notorious criminals, including serial killers, child murderers and rapists, spoke their last words on earth, while a cocktail of lethal drugs surged through their veins. Michelle supported the death penalty, before misgivings began to set in as the executions mounted. During her time in the prison system, and together with her dear friend and colleague, Larry Fitzgerald, she came to know and like some of the condemned men and women she saw die. She began to query the arbitrary nature of the death penalty and ask the question: do executions make victims of all of us? An incredibly powerful and unique look at the complex story of capital punishment, as told by those whose lives have been shaped by it, Death Row: The Final Minutes is an important take on crime and punishment at a fascinating point in America’s political history.©2018 Michelle Lyons (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Political Science Politics & Government United States World

Listeners also enjoyed...

The True American cover art
Inside Parkhurst cover art
Court Number One cover art
Blood in the Fields cover art
The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins cover art
The Beast I Loved cover art
Between Good and Evil cover art
To the Bridge cover art
Without Mercy cover art
The Stranger Beside Me cover art
The Executioner's Song cover art
A Dark Night in Aurora cover art
One Thing Led to Another cover art
Waco cover art
Helter Skelter cover art
The Last Stone cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
loved this book! .......... my first ever audio book and it wont be my last one

very interesting listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

very gòod. a different world. sad at times and a little look into a world none of us would ever like to find ourselves in

very interesting read. great voice to listen to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Okay, so it’s not so much about the final minutes, that is true, but nevertheless it is an interesting and thought provoking glimpse in to the author’s experience of the American criminal system and the politics and processes around capital punishment. I liked the description of her personal journey, her thoughts and feelings about some of the death row inmates she came to know and also the later chapters when she was treated so badly by her employers.

Though Provoking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

An amazing book very inspirational and amazingly educational such a must listen. It will make you make you think and rethink the death penalty

Review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

touching real account of a very difficult subject. enjoyed the two points of view

Well worth a listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

could have been great, but female reporter kept going on about herself. You'd swear she's being executed.

me, myself & I

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A lot of swearing, and not just when quoting those on death row. The most venomous tirades were over "Europeans" for having views that don't necessarily align with the pro-capital punishment views of the author. It's a shame because it could have been a good opportunity to give another viewpoint to those open minded enough to choose this book rather than ostracise them.

Judgemental

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Best novel I've listened to in 2021. Anazing work and reminder that the glass ceiling will always exist.

Wow, just wow..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was an interesting enough narrative, giving some good insights into life on the other side of the wall for both staff and prisoners involved in the death system. Very well narrated - unobtrusive and non-distracting. It also was not too long; this latter point was a saving grace really as a minute longer and I’d have been tempted to use the word “boring”. As can be the downfall of these “ordinary joe in extraordinary situation” tales, there was too much meandering into autobiography. The minutiae of the rather mundane personal lives and inner workings of these people is rarely of interest; it’s the situation, the tale, that is the reason someone bought their story.

Interesting...but lacking real oomph

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a very interesting premise but sadly the author thought it was all about her rather than the people she saw die. This was extremely frustrating. Fortunately, Larry FItzgerald had a lot to do with the narration, and he didn't make this young woman's mistake. Overall an ok read.

Interesting story but not told well

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews