As a reporter and then spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Michelle was a frequent visitor to Huntsville's Walls Unit, where she recorded the final moments of death row inmates' lives before they were put to death by the state.

Michelle witnessed some of the most notorious criminals, including serial killers, child murderers and rapists, speak their last words on earth, while a cocktail of lethal drugs surged through their veins.

Misgivings began to set in as the execution numbers mounted. She came to know and like some of the condemned people she saw die, and began to query the seemingly arbitrary nature of the death penalty. Do executions actually make victims of us all? 'Haunting, dark and hard to put down' Houston Chronicle 'A portrait of what it's like to be surrounded by death... a memoir of perseverance in the face of routine tragedy'