The Big House by Warden James H. Bruton

As you can imagine, The Big House is a book about life in prison. Well... not exactly any prison, but the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights supermax security jail. Impressive, huh?! Truth be told I didn't know what to expect from this book. Looking at the cover I figured it might be a bit like OZ - the TV series: lots of drama and gay rape in the showers. 

I was glad it wasn't like that, but quite the opposite. It shares the point of view of former warden - James H. Bruton. In this book he gives you some idea what kind of people get locked in the supermax security prison. This one is somewhat an autobiography, because the author tells us stories from his career. Stories that are scary and depict how vile some people can be, others are funny and others are heartbreaking. 

The prison has a world of its own. Inside people get stabbed for stealing a chocolate bar, cheating at cards or even for looking the wrong way at someone. It is a dog eat dog in there and the strong and violent are in charge over the others. Weapons can be made from any object: pencils, razors and even chairs had to be bolted in the prison chapel. There are rules and hierarchies: cop killers are at the top, next are the lifers (cons with life sentences), then come the cons who used a gun to do the crime, the lowest two are the ones who did sex crimes and the child molesters (go figure!). 

Nowadays there are lots of documentaries on Discovery Channel and the likes on prisons and prison life. This book is somewhat like that: violence is blurred and fowl language is avoided. "Now look how these extraordinary beasts surround and prepare to shank the unsuspecting prey." Heh, sorry about that, but you get the point. Read it if you want to know more about prison life, it's quite interesting, after reading it you'll want to join the boy scouts.

Down the road by Bowie V. Ibarra

This time I come up with an easy book. It is a horror novel about zombies. Yes, I admit: I am a zombie geek. I am more fascinated how people imagine the collapse of society due to an epidemic (this time zombies) than the actual gore-fest of the undead. I like the idea of survival in a world that had lost its rules and how people start relating to each-other in extreme situations.

Down the road by Bowie V. Ibarra is the classic zombie story: the hero finds himself at the beginning of the zombie-apocalypse and he's trying to get back to his family. This short novel is entertaining even though I think the sex scenes are gratuitous in details and so is the gore. I believe that the author had seen himself in the shoes of George (our hero) and he wanted him to be some sort of geeky playboy. He made George a chick magnet and, go figure, he's Latino.   I did like the fact that it has a beginning and it has an end and the plot is not that bad (believe me, I had read far worse than this).

If you like the genre, read it. You won't be disappointed. You get zombies, sex, violence, the evil government, rebels, survivors, rapists, drug lords and druggies, Texans with lots of guns and a sexy widowed professor who fucks the women he saves and who can drive stick. Did I mention zombies and gore? I guess I did.

Final words: entertaining, somewhat predictable, but definitely worth your while.