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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
A bit too much filler for my tastes (the history of Europeans in Florida was way too much) but once it got going it was fascinating.
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
13/05/2025 -- 34% Complete. So far, I am enjoying this book. It is factual and straightforward in it's way of writing, but it is written almost like a novel. This is the kind of writing I enjoy the most. I am surprised to learn that the author also corresponded with infamous crime boss Whitey Bulger for 3 years , and that the Anglin brothers spent time in prison with him . I am interested to hear how the marriage of Alfred & Jeanette plays out, and whether John & Helen end up together. I am also shocked at how smart and capable these three men are. The number of times they broke out of jail is shocking. It makes you wonder what they could have been, had they had the chance!
14/05/2025 -- 76% Complete. I am very intrigued by the idea thatinstead of it being Frank Morris who is the brains of the operation, it was more so Clarence . I bet both the Anglin brothers had substantially high IQs, considering how many times they broke out of prisons . The author manages to make all these men likeable; you find yourself rooting for them, and almost completely nostalgic for the men they could have been, had their circumstances been different, instead of viewing them as criminals with lengthy histories, which indeed is what they are. The only one who comes across as unlikeable is West , who is written as violent, antagonistic, loudmouthed, and racist .
15/05/2025 -- 100% Complete. So I have finished the story. In later chapters, I learned that the author/Anglin relative, Ken Wilder,had been writing his uncles' story to be a movie trilogy, then a mini-series, and finally as a book. This gives some reason why it reads like a novel at times .
As much as I enjoyed the story, I do not feel it has proven to me conclusively that the Anglin brothers survived their escape. One question I have isconcerning the amount of help they got from Mickey Cohen -- hiring the boat, the safehouse, a plane, and ending up on a farm in Mexico, could not have been cheap. I don't know if I believe a major crime boss would be willing to spend this much money on a couple of farmers he only met once before, and one guy who was a stranger to him before their time in prison .
The techniques and methods of e3scape are certainly conceivable, especially consideringthe various methods of escape they had previously employed . I can conceive them escaping by being pulled behind a boat . What I am intrigued by is the death of Alfred. The account most definitely has some holes .
The "evidence" they found inthe Brazilian jungle seems to me to be almost inconsequential at best . A broken cigarette lighter and an American coin does not a mystery solve. I would be submitting to DNA sites left, right, and center, myself, in hopes of one day finding a Brazilian cousin.
The narrator was excellent, clear, and well-spoken, with an appropriate accent and cadence for the subject matter. Well done, sir.
14/05/2025 -- 76% Complete. I am very intrigued by the idea that
15/05/2025 -- 100% Complete. So I have finished the story. In later chapters, I learned that the author/Anglin relative, Ken Wilder,
As much as I enjoyed the story, I do not feel it has proven to me conclusively that the Anglin brothers survived their escape. One question I have is
The techniques and methods of e3scape are certainly conceivable, especially considering
The "evidence" they found in
The narrator was excellent, clear, and well-spoken, with an appropriate accent and cadence for the subject matter. Well done, sir.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Thank you to Globe Pequot and NetGalley for my advanced-reader copy of this book. This review features my own opinions and authentic thoughts.
Alcatraz: The Last Escape is a compelling account of the Anglin brothers, the infamous Alcatraz escapees, who are widely believed to have drowned during their escape attempt from the equally infamous prison island. Written by their nephew, the book uses a collection of government documents, personal letters and testimonies, and photographs to paint a strong case that the brothers actually survived. In fact, Widner suggests that his uncles escaped with the help of their mobster friend Mickey Cohen and wound up in Brazil, living out their lives and fathering children.
I’m fascinated by this case and have been for years, so I enjoyed this engaging read. It was super interesting to see government documents and even read the somewhat intrusively private personal letters. For all the petty crimes they committed, they were humans, brothers, sons, after all. The format was a little hard to follow at times, and I could just about let the reconstructed dialogue pass – it took me away from the overall story, because it just felt cheesy and forced. I also found it emotionally captivating: here is a nephew desperately reconstructing the potential story of his uncles and whose family has been irrevocably changed by their actions and paths. Is it his wishful thinking? I finished the book with more questions than before!
Alcatraz: The Last Escape is a compelling account of the Anglin brothers, the infamous Alcatraz escapees, who are widely believed to have drowned during their escape attempt from the equally infamous prison island. Written by their nephew, the book uses a collection of government documents, personal letters and testimonies, and photographs to paint a strong case that the brothers actually survived. In fact, Widner suggests that his uncles escaped with the help of their mobster friend Mickey Cohen and wound up in Brazil, living out their lives and fathering children.
I’m fascinated by this case and have been for years, so I enjoyed this engaging read. It was super interesting to see government documents and even read the somewhat intrusively private personal letters. For all the petty crimes they committed, they were humans, brothers, sons, after all. The format was a little hard to follow at times, and I could just about let the reconstructed dialogue pass – it took me away from the overall story, because it just felt cheesy and forced. I also found it emotionally captivating: here is a nephew desperately reconstructing the potential story of his uncles and whose family has been irrevocably changed by their actions and paths. Is it his wishful thinking? I finished the book with more questions than before!