Boudreau (English, U. of Georgia) reveals the close connection between executions, the sentiments of ordinary people, and popular literature, from the emergence of gallows literature in the American colonies and the unruly political effects in could have on readers, to the outpouring of sympathy for confessed murderer Karla Faye Tucker at her 1998 execution. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)