Books

They were the last face their victims ever saw.

From the swinging axe to the smoking electric chair, The Executioners, the second book in the gritty Payback series, steps into the shadowy world of history’s deadliest profession. These men didn’t just kill — they turned death into a craft shaped by ritual, rules, and cold necessity.

Meet Johann Reichhart, the Nazi regime’s tireless guillotine operator who executed over 3,000 men and women with chilling efficiency. Discover Frantz Schmidt, Renaissance Germany’s feared executioner, who became a master of his trade. From the dynasties behind France’s infamous guillotine to the methodical hangmen of Britain and America, these are the men who made death their duty and their trade.

Through historical records, personal accounts, and chilling procedural detail, ‘The Executioners’ reveals the psychology, pride, and paradox of those who delivered death on Sing Sing’s ‘Old Sparky’ or with Thailand’s sub machine-gun. What toll did their grim work take — and what drove them to keep coming back?

Exploring the fine line between brutality and professionalism, this gripping volume dares to ask: when death is a job, who chooses to do it?

You decide: Were they monsters … or men doing society’s darkest work?

‘An unflinching look at history’s darkest profession.’