Yes, this book is excellent journalism, well written, and a haunting look at life on Death Row and the "death industry" of lawyers, appeals, prisons, and so on. However, I do have one serious problem with Tucker's narrative: Why, at no point, was he even willing to consider the possibility that Coleman might have been guilty? While the evidence didn't damn Coleman, it certainly didn't exclude him either. By Tucker's own account, Coleman refused to take a blood test that could have exonerated him for quite awhile (he apparently feared that authorities would "frame" him); once performed, the test could not rule Coleman out; and he did not take a lie-detector test until the day of his execution, which he failed. Tucker also shrugs off Coleman's earlier conviction on a sex crime as a case of mistaken identity. but offers no real proof.

In his attempt to portray Coleman innocent, Tucker missed the opportunity to create a truly balanced portrait of crime and punishment in America. Much better is "Dead Run," the story of Dennis Stockton and the mass Death Row escape.

John Tucker does a excellent job in presenting a balanced approach to an unbalanced trial. This was an engrossing tale of the darker side of our judicial system. Regardless who committed the murder, Roger Coleman did not receive a fair and just trial. While we will never know the truth, it seems that many miscarriages of justice occurred throughout this long process and there are many who will atone for Roger's death--the judge, the defense team, the prosecutors, the Governor and his staff, the Appeals Courts, the police and investigators, and the Almighty Supreme Court. The one aspect of the murder that was never discussed was the motive for the crime, assuming Roger was the murderer? Well written and worth the read.

This book might well change even the hardest of hearts. If there is ever a reason to abolish the death penalty, the case of Roger Keith Coleman is it! His lawyers missed a filing deadline by one day -- and since that time his claims of poor assistance of counsel and factual innocence were never heard in a court of law. Instead, he was executed over a technicality for a crime he most probably didn't commit. A must read for anyone interested in the state of our criminal justice system.