No one escapes this book without being confronted with the tragic realities of the death penalty. Rev. Pickett does not fluff this story with hype but tells it as he lived it. This is not just a testament about the death penalty but is also about the meaning of life, death, family systems, ministry, and, in the end of the book, loving one's enemies. You can argue that Pickett is wrong about the death penalty perhaps but you cannot argue with the fact that he did his job with integrity and love. You'll love it or hate it but will not escape the power of Carroll Pickett's experience.

If you had asked me 6 months ago how I felt about the death penalty, I would have said I was in favor of it. I still believe there are crimes which are so heinous that the death penalty should be used. However, I am troubled that there seems to be no uniform criteria which dictate when it is used. Also, I think we need to ask ourselves whether taking a life, to avenge a life, is truly the answer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been troubled with how violent crime is punished in America today.

Carroll Pickett once supported the death penalty, and this book details a gradual transformation. Within These Walls gives readers a vivid look at the real cost of the death penalty; the impact it has on the people who must carry out society's ultimate punishment.

Anyone who wants a more accurate picture of the reality of capital punishment will benefit from this moving account.

no child should be given this book and i think someone should sue the conscienceless hack who churned it out. does anyone else see the cruelty and gross misconduct of the police in this case but me?? this is what really happened:a dense undercover and none too intelligent "i make daddy proud!" young cop goes undercover in a high school to--you'll probably laugh like i did--bust kids for selling marijuana. these bible thumping hicks must have been pretty bored and idle, i guess, but that's not the point. the catalyst of this murder was the boy scout victim and his older flatfoot cronies who thought, hey, why not take advantage of some disaffected, ignored teenager who sought relief from his cruel isolation and loneliness in soft drugs and make an example of him? it's really too bad this kid got tried as an adult and sent to jail for this heinous, repugnant, predatory and abusive sting operation and i wish to god i could have been on that jury and gotten it deadlocked. in the other travesty about the case written for adults by the same talentless moron, he makes sure to mention that the relatives of the kids involved in the case are 'popular, athletic and involved in the community'. that shows you the repulsive, hateful mentality of the SOBS who wrote about this case. i myself am a teenager and was fairly alienated during high school, and this book pissed me off.