“There are
no “Get out of Jail Free” cards. Life
isn’t a children’s game, and all of us lose.” (5)
A man spends
his days in prison. Each day, Rick whittles his time observing and listening
while his execution date lurks ahead. A
good deal of time is spent imagining his death. Injection? Electric chair? Will
he go quickly? Will he go quietly?
“Forty-four years they have kept me in
this cage, and now they will have my death on their conscience.” (19)
Suddenly, Rick’s case is re-opened
with new evidence proclaiming his innocence. He was free. But even as he walks
the open streets, he carries with him the mark of the prisoner and still dreams
about death.
“Then she informed me the man who wore
my crimes but not my imprisonment was dead. Dead, for several years now,
flaunting the freedom I had not been so gracefully granted.” (35)
Story reads
like an autobiography with the man relaying his morose thoughts and hopeless
antics. His prose is dark and pensive, rendered with a lovely cadence. The
writing was good. The reader basically follows along a former inmate’s
adjustment to life beyond the prison walls—a new world. You can tell that he finds comfort in the dark,
and his obsession with death was overwhelming. At times, the narrative lagged and staled a
bit, making the reader go weary. It just seemed like he would go over the same
things over and over again. But I liked the writing style and the concept was pretty
good.
My rating: 3 stars
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