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thegracefulbibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own. I remember when this event happened, and while I don't live in the area, I still found it interesting to read about. The author of this book has experience as a prison guard from the area but didn't work in this prison when this particular event happened. I was hooked from the beginning and was very engaged in reading about how the two criminals managed to escape from this prison in such a way that they were not caught - and how they were able to get someone one the inside to help them along the way! However, as the book went on, I found that the author seemed to be inserting his own experiences into the book in ways that I didn't feel were necessary and didn't seem to help tell this story.
allisonreadseefb4's review
2.0
I really struggled with the star rating of this book. The story itself is undeniably fascinating. And when the author sticks to the facts, it's a great read. But for a work for nonfiction, this book is extraordinarily biased. The author seems to feel contempt for public defenders, prisoners' civil rights, and anything that portrays prisoners as anything other than two dimensional villains. I find it a little fishy that many of the positive reviews of this book are from people that recieved galleys.
grimamethyst's review
4.0
In spite of having been a full-fledged, news-watching adult who is obsessed with True Crime and also deeply, deeply passionate about criminal justice reform, I was apparently living under the biggest of rocks in 2015 when two felons from Dannemora prison in upstate New York escaped and spent 3 weeks evading capture. After watching Ben Stiller's Showtime production of the story, I got fixated on the story and wanted to find as much detail about the escape as possible.
Cue the lovely folks at Netgalley, Kensington Books and author Charles A Gardner. I was offered a free advanced copy of the book Dannemora for review and it gave me exactly what I was after.
Gardner did a fantastic job of covering every stage of the breakout. The book is divided into sections that focus respectively on everything that contributed to the escape (including the MANY critical administrative failures that create an environment where escape is possible), the escape itself, the 3 week long manhunt and the fallout. I think he succeeds in all this because of his personal experience as a corrections officer in the NY prison system and also his focus on fact. No dig at the TV show, because I did enjoy it, but we all know TV is hyper focused on the salacious details and not really interested in policy failures and budget cuts.
The depth and breadth of the event is presented in a very readable, very engaging narrative. I was never bored, never uninterested and never confused. It had all the detail and crazy, gaspy, "can you freakin' believe it" moments that I was hoping for without having to wade through unnecessary souped-up scandal.
If you have interest in true crime, the penal system, or crime and punishment, definitely check this out.
Cue the lovely folks at Netgalley, Kensington Books and author Charles A Gardner. I was offered a free advanced copy of the book Dannemora for review and it gave me exactly what I was after.
Gardner did a fantastic job of covering every stage of the breakout. The book is divided into sections that focus respectively on everything that contributed to the escape (including the MANY critical administrative failures that create an environment where escape is possible), the escape itself, the 3 week long manhunt and the fallout. I think he succeeds in all this because of his personal experience as a corrections officer in the NY prison system and also his focus on fact. No dig at the TV show, because I did enjoy it, but we all know TV is hyper focused on the salacious details and not really interested in policy failures and budget cuts.
The depth and breadth of the event is presented in a very readable, very engaging narrative. I was never bored, never uninterested and never confused. It had all the detail and crazy, gaspy, "can you freakin' believe it" moments that I was hoping for without having to wade through unnecessary souped-up scandal.
If you have interest in true crime, the penal system, or crime and punishment, definitely check this out.
ratherbereading's review
5.0
An extremely detailed book! I finished the series on Showtime recently so this gave me more in depth details of the story. Definitely would recommend.
shakesfear's review
informative
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Terrific examination of the breakout at the Clinton County Correctional prison. Fast-paced, intense look at how it happened, and the police manhunt.
kiastillreadsandwrites's review
4.0
I received a free e-copy of Dannemora: Two Escaped Killers, Three Weeks of Terror, and the Largest Manhunt Ever in New York State by Charles A. Gardner from Net Galley and Kensington Books in exchange for my review.
Dannemora is a non-fiction book about two violent murderers who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, and the subsequent manhunt for them. The author is a municipal court judge who spent 25 years working in the New York State Department of Corrections, and his extensive knowledge of that system gives him the unique ability to tell this story from many sides, inside and out.
Gardner goes into a great deal of detail about the two prisoners and their backstory, how they came to be in that particular prison at that time. Finding out who these men are helps to understand how they were able to manipulate so many people and accomplish their goal of escaping. The book is very well-written and Gardner does a great job of explaining how the search functioned and each agency’s role.
I also really enjoyed reading about how the people living in the search area responded to the search, by going out of their way to help and support all of the law enforcement officers present. It was wonderful to see so much goodwill and positivity toward them.
This is a great read for any true crime fans; you’ll learn so much about this case and how extensive manhunts work, from someone in the perfect position to write about both.
Dannemora is a non-fiction book about two violent murderers who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, and the subsequent manhunt for them. The author is a municipal court judge who spent 25 years working in the New York State Department of Corrections, and his extensive knowledge of that system gives him the unique ability to tell this story from many sides, inside and out.
Gardner goes into a great deal of detail about the two prisoners and their backstory, how they came to be in that particular prison at that time. Finding out who these men are helps to understand how they were able to manipulate so many people and accomplish their goal of escaping. The book is very well-written and Gardner does a great job of explaining how the search functioned and each agency’s role.
I also really enjoyed reading about how the people living in the search area responded to the search, by going out of their way to help and support all of the law enforcement officers present. It was wonderful to see so much goodwill and positivity toward them.
This is a great read for any true crime fans; you’ll learn so much about this case and how extensive manhunts work, from someone in the perfect position to write about both.
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