Inmate 1577

Karen Vail #4

by Alan Jacobson, Christina Traister

Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins

When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Detective Roxxann Dixon.

As Vail, Burden, and Dixon follow the killer’s trail in and around San Francisco, the offender continues his rampage, leaving behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places: a mysterious island ripped from city lore whose long-buried, decades-old secrets hold the key to their case.

Alcatraz. The Rock. It’s a case that has more twists and turns than the famed Lombard Street…and a novel that Clive Cussler calls “A powerful thriller, brilliantly conceived and written.”

©2012 Alan Jacobson (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks

Audible Audio

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

ALAN JACOBSON is the USA Today bestselling author of a dozen critically acclaimed, award-winning thrillers. His 20 years of research and training with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, DEA, US Marshals Service, ATF, Scotland Yard, SWAT, and the US military bring unparalleled realism to his stories and characters—prompting the San Francisco Chronicle to write that “Alan Jacobson researches his books like a good newspaper reporter and then pushes the envelope into reality more thoroughly than the typical crime novel could ever allow.”

Jacobson's series protagonist, FBI profiler Karen Vail, has resonated with both female and male readers and inspired Nelson DeMille, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly to call Vail one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction. Likewise, his OPSIG Team Black series has been lauded by real-life Navy SEALs.

Jacobson’s thrillers have been published internationally and several have been optioned by Hollywood.

Web: www.AlanJacobson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/AlanJacobsonFans Instagram: alan.jacobson
Twitter: @JacobsonAlan

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

This is the fourth book in the Karen Vail detective series.

FBI Profiler Vail is called in when the body of a woman is found brutally raped and murdered. It doesn’t stop at this. More rapes and killings means that the team has their work cut out for them.

Loved this book. Loved the use of flashbacks to steer you away and towards the ending. And build up suspense for the story.

What a fantastic ending! Did not see it coming at all.

This book earns five stars. 💫💫💫💫💫

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman in her 80's found found raped, sodomised, kicked, then burned and shocked with wires. Why?
The story opens with this heinous crime and the search commences for a serial killer that gets called The Bay Killer who is he and what is his next move? The FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit headed by Profiler Karen Vail, need to find out.
This story runs with chapters that go back to 1950's and the story of a man whos a father and a husband his wife has been killed and he becomes the main suspect. He gets released due to not enough evidence but still the finger gets pointed to him, with a son to care for the odds are stacked against him. You feel for him as life gets tougher and he finds it hard to get work and make ends meet, because of the accusations against him of murder. There are big choices to make, he makes the choice to make things happen and pulls off two armed bank robberies which in time will prove to cost him more than he bargained for. He finds himself eventually behind bars and with one failed escape he lands himself with a one way ticket to Alcatraz, thee maximum security prison. Who he was a year ago and who he was now were as different as summer in Spain and winter in Siberia. He has a son out there that he needs to take care of and by any means necessary needs to break free from the rock Alcatraz and tend to him, will he make it?

He Walton MacNally was pegged as a very bright guy, scored a 135 on a prison IQ test. Resourceful, motivated, hard worker. Did fifteen months at Leavenworth Prison but was involved in two escape attempts and was suspected in the violent assault of two cons. After the second attempt he was transferred to Alcatraz, where his history of violence continued. Behind bars makes you or breaks you Walton really finds himself backed against the bars from the offset and as they take their pickings the sodomizers unleash a fury and vengeance that become the source off his violent escalation.
The heinous murders pile up and the investigation team try to find the killer. Why visit the past and Walton MacNally is there a link?
This was an informative and tense story that keeps you hooked.

"Behavioural analysis was a science yes, but it was also dynamic, based on the totality of what you know at the time. You took the information, compared it to what you knew of other crimes and behaviours and killers, analysed the psychology behind the actions taken by the killer and the victimology of your victims, and drew conclusions based on your assimilation of all those factors."

"Murderers, sex deviants, rapists, child molesters, kidnappers, drug addicts, armed robbers, mobsters, bikers. Bad shits gonna happens when you put crap Iike that under one roof. All trying to prove how tough they are, who's go the most power."

"MacNally would soon find out, his failure to heed the wisdom Officer Voorhees had given at Leavenworth-the part about making the correct choices in life-would once again have catastrophic effects."

Review also on my webpage

[Suspense Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What connection exists between an incarcerated bank robber in the late 1950s and a present day serial killer? You’ll find out in Alan Jacobson’s latest novel featuring profiler Karen Vail. This one combines a clinical procedural investigation with a tragic story of how prison changes a man.
1958—three years after being found not guilty of the murder of his wife, Walton McNally and his young son are trying to find a solid life for themselves. McNally goes from job to job because even though he didn’t commit the crime, but because he was on trial for it, taints him in the eyes of employers. Desperate straits lead him and his accomplice son into robbing banks. After the second robbery, his son escapes, but Walton is caught and imprisoned in Leavenworth penitentiary where he learns all too quickly the realities of prison life. When a couple escape attempts fail he is sent to Alcatraz. There, he finds life even worse.
Present day—FBI profiler Karen Vail is assigned to the heinous homicide of an elderly woman in San Francisco. Teaming up with the local investigators and a newspaper reporter, she scrambles to put together leads to the killer.
With more bodies discovered on a daily basis, more clues are gathered, but Vail is unable to hone in on the killer. One of the investigators is kidnapped and the killer starts playing word games. Can Vail decipher the clues and what connection they might have to a closed prison on a desolate island in the middle of the bay?
If you like puzzles and conundrums and the slowly unraveling of clues, you will enjoy “Inmate 1577.” All the pieces are there for the reader to put together, but watch out . . . there might be a surprise or two. This is an excellent novel with some graphic descriptions, but a few real life people thrown in to make it a very worthwhile read.

Reviewed by Stephen L. Brayton, author of “Beta” for Suspense Magazine

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been several years since I read book three in this series but it only took me pages to remember why I liked it so much. Karen Vail is a fantastic character, very sarcastic and not very likable but smart as a whip. She's an FBI Profiler called out to California to work on a serial killer case involving an unsub who tortures and violently rapes elderly women then kidnaps, kills and displays the husbands at tourist sites. Bodies are racked up faster than the coroner can get them to the morgue and the killer starts sending Karen personal texts. What's cool with this entry is it has tie-ins with the infamous 1962 Alcatraz escape and flashbacks every other chapter to the 1960s following a fictional inmate who is wrapped up with the historical characters and events. A fast-paced, action-packed thriller with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. Loved every word! I'll be continuing on with this series soon.

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my comments below in "Reading Progress".
Although it is a DNF and normally would be given only 1 Star, I think my lack of concentration probably contributed to my giving up on this book, so it gets 2 Stars because I was liking it enough to listen to it for six and a half hours before calling a DNF.

February 20, 2019 –
40.0% "Audiobook - 15:08 hours - Narrator: Christine Traister
Listened to: 06:35 hours - Balance: 08:33 hours
I have given up. I keep losing track of who/what/where/why and I am tired of having to backtrack on the iPhone to find out. This is not as easy as skimming back over the pages of a paper book.
Onto the DNF shelf it goes!"

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not read any of Alan Jacobson's novels previous to Inmate 1577. It is a police procedural that I found really dragged along through the first third of the book. There are also description of extreme violence that I found hard to take...probably because the violent act was taking place on women. I considered giving up on it and was very glad I didn't as the story did get more interesting and by the end of the book I couldn't put it down. Excellent ending!

There are two stories that the author alternates between. One story takes place starting in 1955 in New Jersey. Walton MacNalley is charged with the murder of his wife. He is eventually cleared of the crime but he is now a social outcast. He and his son drift around the country and turns to robbing banks with his young son assisting when they have no money. He ends up in Leavenworth, the prison for the worst of the worst. Later he is transferred to Alcatraz where escape risks are placed. In the main story FBI profiler Karen Vail is sent to San Francisco to assist with the investigation into a serial killer who is killing elderly couples. The killer leaves a key behind at each crime scene. The two stories come together at the end with very surprising results.

I do recommend this book if you enjoy police procedurals and can put up with some gore at the beginning.

[Jenifer Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. The story was enthralling, and the character development fully fleshed out. There were surprises but the clues were all laid out in advance. The story was told according to 2 chronologies - one that played out in the past that was juxtaposed with the future (current time). It was clever and the bringing of the past to the present was done masterfully. Excellent thriller and mystery.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Jacobson knows his stuff. Having worked with the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit for 18 years gives him the uncanny ability to get into the mind of the deranged and driven killers that haunt the American landscape.

With INMATE 1577, Jacobson revives his Profiler Karen Vail series with a mystery/thriller set in both the present and the past. A series of horrific murders in the San Francisco area may somehow be tied to a former inmate of the long defunct Alcatraz prison. Could the prison once known as Devil’s Island, shut down for over 50 years, still have a former inhabitant that is actively committing this horrible crimes?

Vail teams with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Roxxann Dixon to hunt down this killer. The killer is not only choosing apparently random victims but also leaving behind cryptic messages at each death scene --- staged in such a way to baffle and challenge the newly formed task force that is hunting him.

What makes INMATE 1577 so engaging is how the story continuously shifts between Karen Vail and her team in the present day and the story of Walton MacNally nearly fifty years earlier. MacNally was a small-time crook who stepped up to bank robbery and grand larceny in an effort to provide for himself and his young son, Henry. Unfortunately, he is caught and sent to Leavenworth Prison. It is there where MacNally is forever changed by the brutality and inner workings of a penal system that represents a social microcosm of the worst human beings that society has to offer.

A failed prison break finds MacNally being transferred to the one prison that no one should be able to break out of --- Alcatraz. MacNally meets up with a former cell-mate and break-out partner, named Anglin --- and their infamous friendship leads to talk of the unattainable thought of freedom from Devil’s Island. Meanwhile, it takes Vail and company a long time to decipher the messages the serial killer is leaving for them. With the help of some local, and somewhat disreputable, local journalists they are able to recognize that the key to catching this killer lies not in profiling his next move but by understanding what happened to him in the past.





MacNally did get out of Alcatraz and fell off the grid shortly thereafter. He had several grudges to avenge --- the most striking being the fact that his only son Henry committed suicide by jumping off the Bear Mountain Bridge in New York while he was imprisoned. MacNally vowed to avenge those who wronged him both in and out of prison --- but could he still be the mastermind in 2011 as a senior citizen capable of committing serial murder?

Jacobson will have you guessing at every turn and the finale of this exciting and thought-provoking novel will provide more than a few shocking revelations before the final page is turned. The tough-talking and quick-witted Karen Vail proves a worthy adversary --- but will that be enough to defeat a vengeance that has festered for many decades? INMATE 1577 should satisfy both mystery and thriller fans alike as Jacobson has another quality addition to his Vail series.

Reviewed by Ray Palen for New Mystery Reader

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this book isn't marked, it is the 4th book in the Karen Vail series, and really you should read the others first.

With this book Karen head back to the place she hates the most, California. She still has flashback from when Robby went missing when they went there on vacation, so being sent there again so soon to work a case is hell for her.

The case that she is sent to work on is a horrible one, someone is killing old couples, the women are brutally raped and beaten, while the men are killed and posed. At first glance there doesn't seem to be anything that connects between the victims, other than the way they are killed.

The local cops aren't sure what to think of Karen as she takes some getting used to when working with her. They all seem to move past that and establish a good relationship. They aren't always on the same page, Karen wary of the press, while the locals like to work with them. It seems like so much of the time they are just spinning their wheels. Then all of a sudden things start to come to a head and you still aren't who the bad guy is. When it is finally revealed I was shocked with who it was, but not the connection to. I was also shocked when past behaviors were revealed.

I did find through the whole book I felt sorry for Walt. He seemed like a good guy just kept getting into one bad situation after another and making one bad decision after another. In the end he actions revealed the man he could have been.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this, I asked myself, “why can’t I love this series?” It’s usually pretty good, but something about the stories rub me the wrong way. Then I dove into this one and was almost immediately hooked. Maybe it’s because Karen Vail was less annoying, while still being herself. I found it quite interesting that her book of choice for a flight across the country was one from Nelson DeMille’s John Corey series.... In this tale, there are two different stories being played out simultaneously, one in the present and one dating back to the 50s and 60s. The stories melt together wonderfully. There are many puzzles and riddles to be figured out, and just when you think you have things figured out, you get a nice shock. The books in this series have gotten steadily better, and I may not wait quite as long to pick up the next one.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend..she told me it had lots of twists and turns, and she was right. This is a well written story about Walt McNally whose wife was murdered, and how he tries to pick up the pieces of his life. Walt makes many choices, in his struggle to provide for his son, Henry, and we see the consequences of his choices.

There is also a second timeline/story involving Karen Vail, FBI profiler who is called in to San Francisco to help solve a series of brutal murders.
How are these two stories connected? At first is seems like they aren't but then as we are drawn further into Walt's story we become aware of the connection, though as in all good mysteries/thrillers we continue to question our guesses until the very end.

The story races you through the twists and turns of the SFPD trying to stay ahead of a psychopathic serial killer, and when they catch up to him it is a surprise to all.

Extremely well written, I couldn't put it down until I reached the surprising conclusion! Highly recommended!

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as good as the first one which was absolutely outstanding. This series is one of the best. Jacobson is the master. Each book is written with insight into criminology that puts you right there on every page and yet each novel is different than the one before. Some authors do a book series and from one book to the next you can almost guess what's coming. The Karen Vail series of books gets you turning pages not really knowing what's coming next even though you do. it is what I call a real page turner and can't wait to get to the end but at the same time you don't want it to end. Very refreshing. I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS SERIES IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must really like books that are set in both the past and the present. This one was quite graphic but once you got past that it was a really compelling story. I didn't mind the frequent trips into the past as I was enjoying that story line as well and kept wanting to know what happened next.

There were many threads expertly woven together and a nail-biting finale. It turned out to be a sad story of how a basically good man was changed by circumstances and some bad decisions. Great stuff!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Karen Vail novel and I will likely go back to read the others.

I enjoyed Inmate 1577, I was unable to make a connection between the different plot lines, which is good. The ending was a nice twist.

I also enjoyed that Alan Jacobson named one of the characters after my dad. It is not often you see a name like Russell Ilg in print!

[Noella Allisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I just finished Inmate 1577 and I have to say that I am not in the majority on this one. It definitely picked up later on but it took way too long and I mostly just wanted it to end. Among other things I found the dialogue between the detectives just didn't ring true for me. I didn't realize it was based on real events but that doesn't make me change my review.

[Sonja Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong, although not all likeable characters.
I liked the pace and all the unexpected twists and turns. The ending was not what I expected.
A must read.

[Linda Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend.

FBI Profiler Karen Vail, SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and Vail's former task force colleague Roxxann Dixon find themselves working to decipher clues and take down a serial killer. The killer first rapes and murders elderly women before disposing of their spouse publicly.

As the trio, along with some help from interns and a few other law enforcement officials follow clues, they are led to the place they least expect to be led, Alcatraz (AKA: The Rock) and a former inmate #1577.

But, are these clues leading them into the right direction, or is this serial killer smarter than the normal psychopath?

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really glad I stuck with this series because the first three books were just alright, but this fourth one was amazing. Jacobson goes into historical fiction with the 1962 escape from Alcatraz and adds in his own characters as part of an overarching narrative. I started having some guesses about the killer halfway in, but Jacobson did a good job of not making it very obvious (I've probably just read too many murder mysteries at this point). The ending added in a bunch of twists and turns, so it was still captivating.

Also, I really enjoy novels that split chapters between two different characters and storylines. While Vail and McNally's stories seemed completely unrelated at the beginning, it was fun to watch them evolve and come together at the end.

While reading the first three books provided a bit more context, I don't think it's completely necessary to read them all before this one. I read them awhile ago so I didn't remember a lot of the background details from Vail's adventures, but everything still made sense.

Overall a great read that had all the aspects for an enthralling murder mystery.

[Lou Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in another magnificent thriller. An elderly woman in San Francisco is found raped and brutally murdered ... followed by her spouse showing up in a highly visible public site ... also murdered and trussed-up as if on display. Karen is sent to San Francisco to aid the investigation of Inspector Lance Burden ("Birdie") ... and is soon re-united with Detective Roxann Dixon who was on the Task Force in the resolution of the recent "Crush Killer" case. Vail, Burden and Dixon follow and chase the trail of the "Bay Killer" in a convoluted fashion across the environs of San Francisco ... at times following "clues" texted to Karen's cell. The hunt is aided by a veteran newspaperman that has forged a friendship with Burden over the years.
This reviting read contains extensive twists and turns, while ratcheting up the tension to an unexpected and satisfying denouement. Once again Jacobson provides a tour de force leaving the reader wanting more of Karen Vail.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great trip down Alcatraz lane - Mr. Jacobson certainly did his research on Leavenworth and Alcatraz prisons. He wound a great tale around the criminal system and how it can turn a fairly innocent person into a feared, violent, and dangerous serial killer.

A very good series from start to finish - hope he writes more involving Karen Vail. Vail is a very likeable, sarcastic, and detailed profiler with a past!

2 thumbs up and 5 stars - for a truly great read.

[Tulay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cover tells story.

Declared innocent, but still the doors closed to your face. All he wanted to care his son, but how was the wrong decision. Read this carefully, author dropped good clues. Karen Vail needs to take a long vacation, and spend time with her son. Maybe her anger and cussing will lessen. Police, FBI and all should take walkie talkies to places that doesn't have good cell reception.

[Jakky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness! This was a rollercoaster ride while jumping out of a plane and white-water rafting all at the same time! I only give 5 stars to books that I expect to reread, but I’d gladly give this one a 4.5 for its entertainment value alone.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and at times could only put it down when i was too tired to keep my eyes open.

[Vickie Sarmina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a real psychological thriller this book was. The reader was kept in suspense through the entire book. The plot was definitely well researched and added quite a bit of history of what was like to be a prisoner in Leavenworth as well as Alcatraz - nicknamed as “The Rock.” The book moves from the 1950s to current day. This gives the reader a background on Walton MacNally, who was accused of killing his wife. The jury found him not guilty. However, Walton was soon to find that a not guilty verdict was not always what the public considered as being innocent. Walton had huge problems with obtaining employment and keeping it because of the past. Therefore, he did what he could do to make sure his son was taken care of, and that resorted to his robbing banks. Consequently, no matter how much he planned the last bank robbery, he was caught. Fast forward to present day and elderly women are being found tortured to death and their husbands being murdered and staged at other locations for others to see. What would the MacNally bank robberies have to so with any of these murders?

The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) was called the assist in profiling the individual whom was responsible for these murders. FBI Karen Vail was called to the crime scene to consult with SFPD Lance Burden who is in charge of the case. As the bodies keep piling up, Karen is trying to figure out what the common denominator is between the cases and the psychological serial killer. Will Biurden and Vail finally capture this guy before more murders take place? Will her profile be on target? This book was definitely a roller coaster ride. The reader did not find out who the serial killer was until the very end - what a surprise it was. The character development was very descriptive of each of the protagonists and antagonist. There must have been a huge amount of research to be able to write this book, and it definitely reflected it as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those die-hard psychological thriller fans.

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first experience reading this author and this book is his 4th book involving his main character Karen Vail, who is an FBI profiler. In this book, the author gives us a running two sided storyline, one from Vail's view of solving how to find the serial killer crime in present day time late 1990s-early 2000s, she's been called into to help solve and the story of the life of a man, Walton MacNully, who came home to find his wife dead and his son the lonely witness in 1955. These two stories are interconnected by historical events and connecting figures. I figured that early that the Inmate 1577 involved had something to do with Alcatraz Island Prison by the cover picture but it took me until three quarters through to see the name connection because of constant switching between Vail's investigation story in present day and the MacNully story from the 1950s through the 1960s, plus I am not great with word anagrams, mainly because I find them boring.
This book will keep you interested in reading it from the beginning through the end. The author took the actual fact of the three men who supposedly escaped Alcatraz by a homemade boat and incorporated it into this story. The author also highlights problems with keeping prisoners with violent tendencies in a controlled environment. Great Read

[Paulette Illmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book number four in a series, of which, I have not read the first three books, yet it stand alone with no problem. You are taken along on a wild chase after a psychopathic murderer, with plenty of twists and turns along the way, as it jumps from past to present. The famous Alcatraz escape is woven into the storyline quite realistically, and gives credence to the circumstances of one of the key players. I was left guessing up to almost the end as to who was behind the murders, and was still slightly uneasy with one of the final conclusions, as it contradicted something told earlier in the book. Of course all of the rationalizations pointed to this revelation, so it makes sense, but still. Then too, is the unanswered question of what happens to the star of the book, who, after coming clean to her fellow investigators on this case, has yet to make restitution for her own past digressions. Perhaps this is answered in the next volume of the series?

[Benefitsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could rate this book solely based on Walton McNally's character I would give it 5 stars. I have not read any of the other Karen Vail series and I don't think her character interests me much. I found she did very little actual profiling, most of the time in this book she was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, worried about some stupid small incident that seemed really minor when you find out what it was. I loved Walton's story and I really was sad that his character dies in the end, this poor guy should have been cut a break. I did not like any of the character's in this story except for Walton. I would have liked more history about "The Rock" but it was interesting to hear about some of the other historic San Francisco places. I don't think I will be reading any more by this author unless they are not about Karen Vail.

[Charles L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong and intense

This was my first read by Jacobson, a murder procedural involving a series of bizarre murders in the San Francisco area. The plot is strongly developed, made more intense by two story lines running parallel. The chief setting is Alcatraz Island and it's famous prison, which the author researched well and makes it come to life as we view it both in the past and the present. The characters are great and range from humorous and witty to nasty and obnoxious. Although the story is somewhat drawn out, the book clearly deserves a rank of 5.

[Sherry M Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A psychopath on a killing spree has profiler Karen Vail on the run again.

A psychopath leads Vail and others on the task force team on a merry chase in and around the San Francisco Bay area. The murders of elderly couples had the group stymied. Scant clues at the scenes and cryptic messages on Vail's BlackBerry have them mystified as to how to proceed. When one of their own is captured, they must solve the weirdly worded messages before it's too late. Can they save their man and capture this psychopath before more lives are lost?

[Gary Hahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than other offerings in this series. It had been a while since I had read anything from this series so had to reacquaint myself with the main character. First several chapters of the book were somewhat confusing since it seemed like I was alternating reading 2 different books, once based in the 1950's and the other in current times. After a few chapters I determined that at some point in time the two story lines would intersect. Boy did they ever. Curves and twists throughout this book. Definite recommend it.