Shortlisted for The CWA Gold Dagger for Non Fiction


A desperate race against time to save an innocent man

David Dow is a leading death row attorney in Texas, where 99% of appeals are rejected.He knows his clients are guilty, but he defends them because he believes murder is wrong.

Henry Quaker is a quiet man, charged with murdering his childhood sweetheart and their two children. All the evidence is against him: he's mentally unstable, his gun is missing, his son's blood was found in his car, and he'd taken out life insurance on his family immediately before their murder. But as Dow painstakingly pieces the case together, he gradually becomes convinced that Quaker - whose execution is just weeks away - is actually innocent.

This is the real story of Death Row; of corrupt lawyers, judges who are hostile to the very idea of justice and executioners who rely on inmates for moral support.Killing Time is a modern classic; both a searing and haunting memoir, and a story that will have you holding your breath until the last page.


'David Dow's work fills me with admiration for his courage and commitment.' - Richard North Patterson

'Extraordinary... It will stay with me a long time.' - Jeffrey Toobin