Jeffrey Gamso's review of Fighting for Their Lives on his blog "For the Defense" is exceptionally thoughtful -- really, it's as much an essay as a review -- and includes some of his own stories of defending clients facing the death penalty. Do check it out. Here's one brief quote:
Fighting for Their Lives isn't the only book about capital defense lawyers. There are, in fact, quite a lot. Most are told from the outside, by a writer who tells stories of heroic lawyers battling the system, fighting for their clients. They may try to dig into the personal, but they don't mostly get beyond the superficial anecdote. A few lawyers have written their own versions. But they tend toward war stories. Sheffer's book is personal. How it is to be who they are. ... Really, Sheffer's book stands alone, I think.
Fighting for Their Lives isn't the only book about capital defense lawyers. There are, in fact, quite a lot. Most are told from the outside, by a writer who tells stories of heroic lawyers battling the system, fighting for their clients. They may try to dig into the personal, but they don't mostly get beyond the superficial anecdote. A few lawyers have written their own versions. But they tend toward war stories. Sheffer's book is personal. How it is to be who they are. ... Really, Sheffer's book stands alone, I think.
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