Journalist and former Nashville Scene reporter Steven Hale’s harrowing book is a culmination of his many years covering the death penalty in Tennessee. Death Row Welcomes You is a work of excellent reportage — for which Hale witnessed three executions while reporting for the Scene — but it is also committed to recognizing the humanity of the people on the state’s death row. From 1961 to 2017, Tennessee executed six people; from 2018 to 2020, it executed seven. If this spree in state-sanctioned killings isn’t concerning enough, the difficulty in acquiring materials for lethal injection leads to even more issues. Hale’s investigation is respectful, haunting and candid — the best kind of crime book.
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