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Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
Author Terrence W. Cooney produced the documentary of Caryl Chessman named "Justice and Caryl Chessman" in 1960 and even met Chessman himself before his prison death on May 2, 1960, after nine stays of execution. Now, years after that most famous death came after calls for clemency from famous personages such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Norman Mailer, Robert Frost and even the then Governor Pat Brown's son, Jerry, who would later serve as California's chief executive, Terrence Cooney feels emotions have calmed down enough for him to write "Chessman and His Nine Lives on Death Row". Whether or not Chessman was the "Red Light Bandit", he wrote three best-selling novels, "Cell 2455 Death Row", "Trial by Ordeal", and "The Face of Justice" while serving time at San Quentin Prison outside San Francisco and people in general were upset that a noted author could be executed. Chessman also filed numerous appeals and served as his own lawyer against the advice of many. On page 70, Cooney lists all seventeen crimes committed by Chessman in January 1948, two of which earned him the death penalty. He also writes of what J. Miller Leavy, Rosalie Asher, Judge Phil Gibson, and California Governor Pat Brown may have said at that long ago time.
"Chessman and His Nine Lives on Death Row" is a well-written story of controversial death row prisoner and best-selling author Caryl Chessman. It has been nearly fifty-three years since Chessman's execution and to many people, the controversy over his execution is just a blip in history. That author Terrence Cooney has written this account of those days is a valuable addition to the recorded history of the United States. The average reader who loves crime stories will welcome "Chessman and His Nine Lives on Death Row" as will libraries wishing to add a recounting of the life of a fascinating but doomed historical personage.
