Absolutely chilling and revolting. And I don't mean the convicts.

Lain has given us a masterclass in reporting on lethal injection in the states. I'm sure most readers will be just as shocked as I was to learn that there's not only misconduct but secret, illegal markets driving a terrible state of affairs, where people on death row aren't given the proper treatment when it's their time, usually leading to drawn-out, terrible deaths or even stays due to the illness and impairment that occurs. I hesitated to write "unexpectedly." Some of this relates to incompetence. Not a shocker given the regular downturn in the states for decades on that front. Some of it, though, relates to greed and dirty deals. A hidden drug market, cover-ups, use of expired products, and so on. The medical profession and the oaths taken brush up against the state and the legal system in ways that end up being worse for society, yet nothing changes.

May this act as a treatise for fundamental shifts in the lethal injection system and the entire death row system altogether.

Elizabeth Miller is the perfect narrator, a calm and humane voice for such a dreadful topic.