Secrets of the Killing State asks why lethal injections, which were once sold as the most humane execution method, have been carried out in such brutal and incompetent ways.

Corinna Barrett Lain, the author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, recently spoke at OKC’s Full Circle Bookstore. Lain shared the findings from her seven years of research, as well as powerful stories she learned from inmates, attorneys, wardens, and prison guards — and Oklahoma, the birthplace of lethal injections in America, played a huge role in her narratives.

In her book, Lain explains that “botched executions are not random glitches, but rather the spillover effects of a system that is deeply broken.”

Oklahoma ranks second only to Texas in terms of lethal injections, and it has carried out 125 executions since 1976. So, Lain asks, why has even Oklahoma struggled to get its execution protocols straight? Read the full article here.