Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on an island, surrounded by fences, bars, and guard towers, your freedom within your sight? This was everyday life for prisoners in one the most famous prisons in the world, this prison was many know as Alcatraz. Jolene Babyak lived on Alcatraz when she was a child because her father worked at the prison; she was on Alcatraz when one of the most famous prison escapes ever was attempted. Babyak investigates by going and finding guards and inmates who were at Alcatraz at the time to get their take of what was happening and how things may have went down. Through her investigation she tells the story of how four men tried to escape from the prison that many said would never be escaped. She not only tells the story of how the men conjured up this plan with help from many other inmates, she also exposed how breakdowns in Alcatraz protocol played right into the hands of these cons. This book develops a little slowly in the beginning and the writing style takes a little while to get used to because it's not really a narrative because she writes it in the style of her investigation, but by the last 80 pages you won?t want to put it down because you are intrigued by what may happen next. If you're looking for a classic prison break story with many twists and turns, this book is the one for you.

Chad P. ( )