DEAD RUN: The Untold Story of Dennis Stockton and America's Only Mass Escape from Death Row. [Foreword by William Styron.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.] FINE-/FINE-. No owner inscrptn per se,but Royal Naval ship's rectangular,red ink ship's library stamp 'NAVIGATION DEPARTMENT 12 JULY 2001 HMS VANGUARD STBD CREW' to front free endpaper and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,b/w photographic illustrated dw/d panels with yellow+white lettering to front+spine/backstrip,b/w thumbnail portrait detail from front's photograph to head of spine,rear panel with b/w photograph of prison's outside boundary fencing+ guard tower and white lettered critics' reviews beneath the photograph; with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no major nicks,tears or splits present.Corner tips of dw/dj with miniscule rubbing and some reciprocal loss to some and head+foot of spine/ backstrip also minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing.Top+fore-edges generally bright and clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners – near pristine,appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original,plain pale grey paper-covered boards and black paper blind spine with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering,a b/w chequered headband and immaculate/clean plain white sets of endpapers - library stamp excepted.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,ix-xxiiipp+3-299pp [paginated] includes William Styron introduction,contents list/table,Cast of characters - inmates,prison personnel inside and others outside,co-author's Preface,Pts I+II comprising 8 and 5 chapters+Epilogue respectively,8pp contemporary b/w biographical photographs and a b/w cell block/pod diagram in 1 block,between pp131/33,a Virginia b/w region location map,Notes,Sources and acknowledgements; plus [unpaginated] 2pp blank,half-title with thumbnail b/w subject's portrait photograph to its reverse,title page,a dedication,an epigram,and to the rear of the book,an 'About the authors' and 'About the type' pages and 4pp blanks as final pages. Visually the exterior appearance is acceptable for a book's age and nature, i.e. ship's crew library,and even internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the exterior minor faults and library stamp described, that prevent a higher grading. It's a hell of a choice.Death by electrocution.Or death by lethal injection. But it was a choice Dennis Stockton has to make when twelve years after receiving the death sentence,he was finally given the date of his execution. Stockton had always denied accepting money to commit murder,the charge which landed him on Death Row in the first place.Twelve years of appeals were testimony to his on-going faith in the fairness of the US justice system. But although Stockton would not and did not runmbetting instead on a successful outcome of his final appeal,he did become the lynch-pin in the planning of the most daring escape in the history of the US penal system.Taking advantage of a corrupt and complacent prison staff,six condemned men pulled off a dazzlingly successful bluff using a prison van to drive through the front gates of 'escape=proof' Mecklenburg Prison and into the night. Using Stocton's meticulous diary records of his spell in Mecklenburg,Joe Jackson and William Burke Jr. have produced a masterpiece of suspense which will find its place in the true crime pantheon alongside Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' and Norman Mailer's 'The Executioner's Song.' "Dead Run is a gripping true narrative,remarkable for the manner in which it treats crime and punishment,and the issue of justice in this country,on a level that should trouble one's deepest conscience - 'Dead Run' presents one of the most vivid descriptions I've ever read of the wretched cauldron of prison life,its rage,its chaos and feral brutality." ---- WILLIAM STYRON,author of 'Sophie's Choice.' Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US customers please be aware: US Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to USA can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.