On Human Slaughter: Evil, Justice, Mercy

Capital punishment is characterized by “secrecy, evasion, and the agnostic muteness of a redactor’s black box,” according to this solid debut collection of previously published work from Atlantic staff writer Bruenig. “A Good Man, at One Time” covers the life and death of David Neal Cox, a Mississippi man convicted of murdering his ex-wife and sentenced to death; Cox welcomed his sentence, and only admitted details about a second murder he had committed to his lawyers for release after his death. “Alabama Makes Plans to Gas Its Prisoners” examines the state’s intention to use nitrogen gas to kill prisoners via hypoxia following several botched lethal injection executions in 2022, and “Dead to Rights” focuses on Joe Nathan James Jr., whose Alabama execution took three hours, the harsh details of which were only revealed by a private autopsy. Bruenig’s sharp reporting is strengthened by vivid, harrowing accounts of the multiple executions she’s witnessed firsthand: “They don’t tell you when they start the poison drip; it just begins. You can see the changes, though, in the person.” Anti-capital punishment activists will appreciate having these heartfelt pieces all in one place. (Oct.)