This book not only looks at the electric chair, but it starts off looking at hanging as a punishment. In the late 19th century, in the US, they were looking to replace hanging as the default punishment for anyone sentenced to death. The author starts by looking at hangings and why they thought it should be replaced. Over all the decades that the electric chair was used (it has only ever been used in the US), it was never upgraded or improved. There was a moratorium on the death penalty in the late 60s until 1976, but even then, there needed to be more rules governing when it would or could be used. Also, in 1976, states were looking at replacing the chair, primarily with lethal injection.

The book points out the issues with all three of these types of capital punishment. They can all be botched, badly, even when trying to find the most “humane” way to administer the death penalty. The book looks at notable cases where the electric chair was used – Ted Bundy being the one name I recognized. They also looked at the youngest child (a 14-year old innocent black boy) to be put to death, and also the youngest girl (16 or 17, I think). The author also has two chapters near the end on innocent people being put to death.

Not exactly Christmas reading, but I found this really interesting. Having always lived in a country that doesn’t have the death penalty, I have waffled. Must admit – it doesn’t make me sad that Ted Bundy was put to death. However, when you hear of innocent people, I’m not convinced. And innocent people being put to death may be a higher number than people want to believe. It’s also more expensive to hold someone on death row (I knew that already). I was horrified to read that – even when there is additional evidence found to prove that someone is innocent, the Supreme Court is ok with that innocent person being put to death! As long as they were convicted in a proper trial, there is no need to release them! It would require a new trial, but that will only happen if the trial was not done properly the first time around. THAT is horrifying. ( )

This is an interesting book with some gory details about botched executions, but not enough to make the reader lose sleep. Anthony Galvin - a former crime writer - presents a neat little history of how the electric chair came into use as a means of "humane execution" in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. It's a fairly quick read with information that would be useful during pub trivia. Galvin doesn't advocate for or against the death penalty asides from stating that the use of the electric chair should be kept in the past because of how horrific botched executions are. There is a small section how often the U.S. executes innocent people, but it's relegated to the back of the book. Overall, "Old Sparky" makes for an interesting read but there's not a lot of substance asides from quick facts, and the book could be better edited. ( )