Hanging Judge

From the author of The One-Eyed Judge: A New York Times–bestselling novel about a federal death penalty trial from the perspective of the presiding judge. When a drive-by shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, claims the lives of a drug dealer and a hockey mom volunteering at an inner-city clinic, the police arrest a rival gang member. With no death penalty in Massachusetts, the US attorney shifts the double homicide out of state jurisdiction into federal court so he can seek a death sentence. The Honorable David S. Norcross, a federal judge with only two years on the bench, now presides over the first death penalty case in the state in decades. He must referee the clash between an ambitious female prosecutor and a brilliant veteran defense attorney in a high-stress environment of community outrage, media pressure, vengeful gang members, and a romantic entanglement that threatens to capsize his trial—not to mention the most dangerous force of all: the unexpected. Written by judge Michael Ponsor, who presided over Massachusetts’s first capital case in over fifty years, The Hanging Judge explores the controversial issue of capital punishment in a dramatic and thought-provoking way that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It is “a crackling court procedural” (Anita Shreve) and “gripping legal thriller” (Booklist) perfect for fans of Scott Turow.

Isaac C. Parker, the stern U.S. judge for Indian Territory from 1875 to 1896, brought law and order to a lawless frontier region. He held court in the border city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, but his jurisdiction extended over the Indian tribal lands to the west. Pressing juries for convictions, Parker sent seventy-nine convicted criminals to the gallows - as many as six at a time. More often than not, however, he passed sentences on thousands of liquor dealers, rapists, and cattle and horse thieves - even throwing Belle Starr in the penitentiary for stealing a horse from a crippled boy. Credit is due to this "hanging judge" and the men who rode for Parker and restored order - two hundred deputy marshals, sixty-five of whom died in the line of duty. This new edition includes a foreword by Larry D. Ball, who situates Parker's court within the context of unrest and rising crime in Indian Territory.

Elmer Kelton, voted "The Greatest Western Writer of All Time" by the Western Writers of America, is a legend in the field of Western literature. Famous for his realistic characters and accurate depictions of the history of his home state of Texas, Elmer Kelton continues to write exceptional novels of American history. In Hanging Judge, Justin Moffitt is eager to help keep the peace as a deputy marshal in small-town Texas. That is, until Justin is assigned to the wrong marshal-a "hanging judge" who is as famous for his ruthlessness as he is for his commitment to justice. When Justin's boss hangs a controversial criminal, Justin must defend himself against an army of friends and relatives, desperate for revenge. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jak and his other survivor companions go their separate ways in the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Oklahoma, but soon realize that they must join together if they are ever going to defeat a sadistic baron who is hanging innocents from his gallows. Original.

UNMASKING A MASTERMIND U.S. Marshal Jack Slade dreads the grim routine of hanging days. But this one is anything but routine. Just as the condemned men march to the ropes, shots ring out, sending the hanging judge tumbling from his viewing balcony. By the end of the shoot-out, three nameless gunmen have bitten the dust, but one has fled... Beware! The silent brotherhood remembers!...Traitors die, and so shall you! This note from the judge's pocket, along with a single matchbox, is all Slade has to track the gunman. As he follows these slim leads to the town of Last Resort, Slade hears ominous tales about a son of Dixie—and the resurrection of a group of hooded killers he thought long gone. To release their deadly grip on the area, Slade's going to need a sure hand...and a ready gun.

Hanging Judge and Bowie's Mine offers two classic novels of the Old West for one low price, by renowned Western writer Elmer Kelton. Hanging Judge Justin Moffitt is eager to help keep the peace as a deputy marshal in small-town Texas. That is, until Justin is assigned to the wrong marshal--a "hanging judge" who is as famous for his ruthlessness as he is for his commitment to justice. When Justin's boss hangs a controversial criminal, Justin must defend himself against an army of friends and relatives, desperate for revenge. Bowie’s Mine Daniel Provost is the son of a farmer. Living up to his father's high standards for the farm is very hard work, but his life is basically comfortable and a loving woman is waiting to become his wife. When a well-traveled stranger, bearing a story of Jim Bowie's legendary silver mine, appears at the farm, Daniel might just throw away everything for the chance at adventure he thought had passed him by. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Stanley Crouch, the rarely acknowledged but epic nature of the Afro-American experience offers one of the most revealing paths through the spiritual and intellectual thickets of our time, exposing us to ourselves as often through art as through politics. In Notes of a Hanging Judge, Crouch portrays this century as an "Age of Redefinition" for the United States and identifies the Civil Rights Movement as one of its richest metaphors. Crouch explores the movement from all sides--its epochal triumphs and the forces that have nearly destroyed it, its great political and artistic success stories and the crime culture it has been powerless to prevent or to control--and traces its complex and ambivalent interactions with the feminist and gay dissent that followed its example. Balancing the passionate involvement of an insider with a reporter's open-minded rigor, and using a virtuosic prose style, Crouch offers uniquely insightful accounts of familiar public issues--black middle-class life, the Bernhard Goetz case, black homosexuals, the career of Louis Farrakhan--that throw fresh light on the position of Afro-Americans in the contemporary world. Even more revealing are Crouch's accounts of his travels, focusing on his perceptions as a black man, that put places as diverse as Atlanta and Africa, or Mississippi and Italy, in unique new perspectives. Perhaps most powerful of all are Crouch's profiles of black leaders ranging from Maynard, to Michael, to Jesse Jackson. Crouch's stern evaluations are sure to be controversial, especially his vision of the Civil Rights Movement as a noble cause "gone loco," mired in self-defeating ethnic nationalism and condescending self-regard, and conspicuously lacking in the spiritual majesty that ensured its great political victories. His discussions of artistic figures, including extended critiques of Toni Morrison and Spike Lee, will also incite much debate. Taken together, these essays represent a major reinterpretation of black, and therefore American, culture in our time, and should be read by anyone who is serious about either.