Blog Tour: Prisoner by Ross Greenwood: Book Review

In Three Words Prisoner is...

Bold, Edgy, Insightful

I've long been a fan of Ross Greenwood's work. It's always a bit edgy and I always feel he has something to say. Thanks to Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me onto the Blog Tour.

Prisoner Blurb

Behind bars, the rules are different…

Available here

Prison Officer Jim Dalton is used to walking the landings on the male side of
HMP Peterborough. It’s a dangerous place, fuelled by testosterone-driven violence, but he’s done the job for a long time. He understands the unwritten rules, and he has the prisoners’ respect.

When a relative is sent to the jail, Dalton is transferred to the female side of the prison. His next shift is so easy, he can’t believe that the officers over there get paid the same wages. He sleeps well for the first time in years.

But when he is assigned to the young offenders’ wing, dealing with female prisoners no longer seems so simple. As every day passes, and he gets to know the women better, he is slowly drawn in to new temptations, new traps and a new nightmare. One which could destroy everything.

Taking a break from his bestselling DI Barton series, Ross Greenwood returns with this shocking, page-turning and utterly compelling glimpse behind the bars of a women’s prison. From a man who walked the landings himself…

My Thoughts

Prisoner is a hard hitting, fascinating 'fly on the wall' expose of life in prison for the prisoners and the staff. It has the air of authenticity that can only be present because of Greenwood's own experience as a prison guard. It is full of dilemmas, moral decisions, judgements, failures and frailty and it is this that makes it such a brilliant read.

At times I found myself almost yelling at the main character, prison guard, Jim Dalton, as he wends his way down a morally ambiguous path.

The reek of testosterone that dominated the male prison, lending it a dangerous, edge of your seat sort of expectancy is markedly different from the women's side of the prison. Here, the mindset is different, but the possible outcomes are equally as devastating.

This is a tense, honest and sometimes uncomfortable read ... but it's one of those reads I'll be recommending to everyone who will listen for a long time to come.

Author Bio:

Ross Greenwood is the author of six crime thrillers. Before becoming a full-time writer he was most recently a prison officer and so worked everyday with murderers, rapists and thieves for four years. He lives in Peterborough and his first title for Boldwood – the beginning of a series – The Snow Killer was published in November 2019.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RossGreenwoodAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/greenwoodross

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rossg555/

Newsletter Sign Up Link: https://mailchi.mp/boldwoodbooks/rossgreenwoodnewsletter

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