WITHIN THESE WALLS Former Texas prison chaplain Rev. Carroll Pickett, working with two time Edgar Award-winner and New York Times best selling author Carlton Stowers, provides this eloquent, unflinching look at capital punishment. WITHIN THESE WALLS is the powerful memoir of Rev. Pickett, who spent fifteen years as the death house chaplain at "The Walls," the Huntsville unit of the Texas prison system. In that capacity Rev. Pickett ministered to 95 men before they were put to death by lethal injection. They came with sinister nicknames like "The Candy Man" and "The Good Samaritan Killer," some contrite, some angry-a few who might even have been innocent. All of them found in Rev. Pickett their last chance for an unbiased confessor who would look at them only as fellow humans, not simply as the convicted criminals the rest of society had already dismissed them as. This first-hand experience gave Rev. Pickett the unique insight needed to write an impassioned statement on the realities of capital punishment in America. The result is a thought-provoking and compelling book that takes the reader inside the criminal mind, inside the execution chamber, and inside the heart of a remarkable man who shares his thoughts and observations not only about capital punishment, but about the dark world of prison society. Rights Information Publisher: St. Martin's, Hardcover (May 24, 2002) OOP Territory: World Rights Available: Reprint; Translation Reviews: "In 15 years, Pickett ministered to almost 100 condemned men in Texas. Because he was not allowed to hold their hands, he held the prisoners' ankles as they were administered lethal injections. This memoir, infused with the true crime style of coauthor Stowers, recalls the crimes of condemned men in horrifying detail, and then describes the equally upsetting state-sanctioned murder to which Reverend Pickett bore witness. Scenes outside of the death house show a chaplain of remarkable courage. Surviving divorce, a terrifying hostage crisis, and a frustrating morass of prison bureaucracy, Pickett persevered, bringing new life to the prison chapel and the prisoners who became his friends. Readers won't find theology here, or an analysis of how the awful things Pickett saw daily shaped his own spiritual path. Instead, this is a story of an extraordinary vocation, one for which being the chaplain sometimes meant sitting with a man, raped and bleeding, too terrified for his life to go to the hospital. A gripping look at America's prisons from a unique, and much needed, perspective." – Booklist Blurbs: "A must-read for anyone interested in getting past the generalities of capital punishment as an 'issue.' ...cogent and unflinching" – Ivan Solotaroff, author of The Last Face You'll Ever See "A profound, moving and fascinating book...shines a poignant light on the final hours in the lives of the condemned." – Dave Isay, NPR Producer, MacArthur Fellow, and Peabody Award Recipient "A heartbreaking account...a dramatic story that is also a poignant--and compelling--brief against the death penalty." – Stephen G. Michaud, author of Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer Purchase at Amazon.com

WITHIN THESE WALLS

Former Texas prison chaplain Rev. Carroll Pickett, working with two time Edgar Award-winner and New York Times best selling author Carlton Stowers, provides this eloquent, unflinching look at capital punishment.

WITHIN THESE WALLS is the powerful memoir of Rev. Pickett, who spent fifteen years as the death house chaplain at "The Walls," the Huntsville unit of the Texas prison system. In that capacity Rev. Pickett ministered to 95 men before they were put to death by lethal injection. They came with sinister nicknames like "The Candy Man" and "The Good Samaritan Killer," some contrite, some angry-a few who might even have been innocent. All of them found in Rev. Pickett their last chance for an unbiased confessor who would look at them only as fellow humans, not simply as the convicted criminals the rest of society had already dismissed them as. This first-hand experience gave Rev. Pickett the unique insight needed to write an impassioned statement on the realities of capital punishment in America.

The result is a thought-provoking and compelling book that takes the reader inside the criminal mind, inside the execution chamber, and inside the heart of a remarkable man who shares his thoughts and observations not only about capital punishment, but about the dark world of prison society.

Rights Information

Publisher: St. Martin's, Hardcover (May 24, 2002) OOP

Territory: World

Rights Available: Reprint; Translation

Reviews:
"In 15 years, Pickett ministered to almost 100 condemned men in Texas. Because he was not allowed to hold their hands, he held the prisoners' ankles as they were administered lethal injections. This memoir, infused with the true crime style of coauthor Stowers, recalls the crimes of condemned men in horrifying detail, and then describes the equally upsetting state-sanctioned murder to which Reverend Pickett bore witness. Scenes outside of the death house show a chaplain of remarkable courage. Surviving divorce, a terrifying hostage crisis, and a frustrating morass of prison bureaucracy, Pickett persevered, bringing new life to the prison chapel and the prisoners who became his friends. Readers won't find theology here, or an analysis of how the awful things Pickett saw daily shaped his own spiritual path. Instead, this is a story of an extraordinary vocation, one for which being the chaplain sometimes meant sitting with a man, raped and bleeding, too terrified for his life to go to the hospital. A gripping look at America's prisons from a unique, and much needed, perspective." – Booklist

Blurbs:
"A must-read for anyone interested in getting past the generalities of capital punishment as an 'issue.' ...cogent and unflinching" – Ivan Solotaroff, author of The Last Face You'll Ever See

"A profound, moving and fascinating book...shines a poignant light on the final hours in the lives of the condemned." – Dave Isay, NPR Producer, MacArthur Fellow, and Peabody Award Recipient

"A heartbreaking account...a dramatic story that is also a poignant--and compelling--brief against the death penalty." – Stephen G. Michaud, author of Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer

Purchase at Amazon.com