What do you think?
Rate this book
Jailbait
After a high school hockey star wakes dazed and confused in a jail cell with no idea how he ended up there, he finds himself forced into a deadly fight for survival against a murderous inmate.
As he came to and his head began to clear, Marcus Kelly lifted it and tried in vain to figure out where he was. His neck was sore from resting his chin on his chest while he was blacked out. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. The room was spinning slightly but he was coherent enough to see that this was not a room but a cell. A jail cell?
Marcus had started his day like any other. He’d set out for school, played in a hockey game and was excited for a night of partying with his the team and their cheerleaders. Marcus was the archetypal overachiever; young, handsome and athletic with a career as an elite sports star laid out in front of him. His coaches and peers spoke excitedly of his prospects for the upcoming NHL drafts, and a big Boston newspaper had even run a sensational article on his meteoric rise. Marcus had everything a teenager could want.
But when he awakes after an evening drinking and fooling around with Nicole, he finds himself in an alien environment. Despite the haze clouding his mind, and the aches throughout his body, he slowly begins to piece together his terrifying situation. As he scans his surroundings, he sees little but cold gray walls and the filthy toilet he’d woken slumped against. A familiar smell permeates the darkened room. Where is he? How the hell did he get here? Confusion quickly turns to terror as he catches sight of a sign across the room that reads “YOU ARE NOW ENTERING VALLEY JAIL”. Dread washes over the now frenzied teenager as he plays through the night’s events in a bid to work out how he’d ended up there.
Any hope that he’s been mistakenly incarcerated soon dissolves for Marcus as he’s thrust into the jail’s chaotic system, policed by the reprehensible prison Sergeant Jim ‘Rat’ Ratskowski. Things are about to get much worse though, as he’s forced to face off with Bald Boy, leader of Latino prison gang The Boyz and Rat’s vicious enforcer, in a no-holds-barred brawl sanctioned by guards. Marcus must rely on his youth, athleticism and extensive training to avoid a life-threatening beating at the hands of a convicted murderer and get to the bottom of his imprisonment before it’s too late.
Chris Albano worked for three years as a young prison guard at a penitentiary. During his time there he experienced daily instances of inmate brutality and corruption, often overlooked by the other guards. From being handed an unloaded shotgun to policing ‘sanctioned’ fights in the gym’s jail to prevent murder between gangs, Albano draws on chilling anecdotes entrenched in his memory to weave Jailbait’s hard-hitting narrative. Following the misfortunes of a young man desperately displaced from his picture-perfect existence, jolted into a bitter fight for survival, Jailbait is a must read for any fans of the prison fiction genre.
As he came to and his head began to clear, Marcus Kelly lifted it and tried in vain to figure out where he was. His neck was sore from resting his chin on his chest while he was blacked out. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. The room was spinning slightly but he was coherent enough to see that this was not a room but a cell. A jail cell?
Marcus had started his day like any other. He’d set out for school, played in a hockey game and was excited for a night of partying with his the team and their cheerleaders. Marcus was the archetypal overachiever; young, handsome and athletic with a career as an elite sports star laid out in front of him. His coaches and peers spoke excitedly of his prospects for the upcoming NHL drafts, and a big Boston newspaper had even run a sensational article on his meteoric rise. Marcus had everything a teenager could want.
But when he awakes after an evening drinking and fooling around with Nicole, he finds himself in an alien environment. Despite the haze clouding his mind, and the aches throughout his body, he slowly begins to piece together his terrifying situation. As he scans his surroundings, he sees little but cold gray walls and the filthy toilet he’d woken slumped against. A familiar smell permeates the darkened room. Where is he? How the hell did he get here? Confusion quickly turns to terror as he catches sight of a sign across the room that reads “YOU ARE NOW ENTERING VALLEY JAIL”. Dread washes over the now frenzied teenager as he plays through the night’s events in a bid to work out how he’d ended up there.
Any hope that he’s been mistakenly incarcerated soon dissolves for Marcus as he’s thrust into the jail’s chaotic system, policed by the reprehensible prison Sergeant Jim ‘Rat’ Ratskowski. Things are about to get much worse though, as he’s forced to face off with Bald Boy, leader of Latino prison gang The Boyz and Rat’s vicious enforcer, in a no-holds-barred brawl sanctioned by guards. Marcus must rely on his youth, athleticism and extensive training to avoid a life-threatening beating at the hands of a convicted murderer and get to the bottom of his imprisonment before it’s too late.
Chris Albano worked for three years as a young prison guard at a penitentiary. During his time there he experienced daily instances of inmate brutality and corruption, often overlooked by the other guards. From being handed an unloaded shotgun to policing ‘sanctioned’ fights in the gym’s jail to prevent murder between gangs, Albano draws on chilling anecdotes entrenched in his memory to weave Jailbait’s hard-hitting narrative. Following the misfortunes of a young man desperately displaced from his picture-perfect existence, jolted into a bitter fight for survival, Jailbait is a must read for any fans of the prison fiction genre.
Paperback
First published September 17, 2013
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 5, 2024
I’m so sorry to have to leave a review like this but this book was terrible and the audiobook reader (I listened to it) was even worse. He was not able to smoothly read and narrate a full sentence and editing of the book being read was nonexistent. This entire book left me perplexed.
March 7, 2014
2.5/5 review by Beth
This novel doesn’t leave anything to chance or allow for even a moment’s breathing space. It moves quickly, thrillingly and you’re given a fascinating insight into life inside an American prison. The confusion as to why the protagonist is there is the most confusing stumbling block to get over initially but once everything starts to demystify the novel improves.
Albano’s characters are pretty one-dimensional which is quite a negative point but as they are really just examples in a novel which seems too essential be about the prison system and the state of life inside jail it doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem.
Albano’s descriptions of prison and prison life are perhaps the best bits of the novel as it feels much more genuine and authentic than the characters or plot. I wanted to know what was going to happen but I wasn’t particularly invested into the fates of any of the characters.
The realistic style of this novel means the language is blunt, profane and the dialogue is short and snappy.
I read to the end because I wanted to know what was going to happen but I wasn’t particularly enthralled, mainly due to the plot not really keeping me entertained. As a portrait of an American prison it’s great but as a novel – not for me.
This novel doesn’t leave anything to chance or allow for even a moment’s breathing space. It moves quickly, thrillingly and you’re given a fascinating insight into life inside an American prison. The confusion as to why the protagonist is there is the most confusing stumbling block to get over initially but once everything starts to demystify the novel improves.
Albano’s characters are pretty one-dimensional which is quite a negative point but as they are really just examples in a novel which seems too essential be about the prison system and the state of life inside jail it doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem.
Albano’s descriptions of prison and prison life are perhaps the best bits of the novel as it feels much more genuine and authentic than the characters or plot. I wanted to know what was going to happen but I wasn’t particularly invested into the fates of any of the characters.
The realistic style of this novel means the language is blunt, profane and the dialogue is short and snappy.
I read to the end because I wanted to know what was going to happen but I wasn’t particularly enthralled, mainly due to the plot not really keeping me entertained. As a portrait of an American prison it’s great but as a novel – not for me.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews