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Repeating History #4
Alcatraz!
In their further efforts to recover the historical artifacts lost when they set fire to Merlin’s office, Ash and Grant go back to the early 1930s, where they must infiltrate Alcatraz Prison and secure a locket belonging to Al Capone. They find themselves at odds when Ash plays the role of a prisoner, while Grant is a guard. Capone takes a liking to Ash, whom he sees as a younger version of himself, and places Ash under his protection.
Before they can return to their own time, the boys must help foil an escape from the Rock, expose a corrupt and dangerous guard, and secure the pendant.
Before they can return to their own time, the boys must help foil an escape from the Rock, expose a corrupt and dangerous guard, and secure the pendant.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2019
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 24, 2019
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
It is in this fourth book that the boys finally get their wish for indoor plumbing, but for the first time since their journeys began, Grant and Ash are separated — Grant as a prison officer and Ash as an inmate. While they both have to figure out how to relieve Public Enemy Number One, Al Capone, of a locket he never takes off, they also have to navigate the notorious Alcatraz prison with its corrupt guards and threatening inmates. Grant and Ash soon discover that indoor plumbing does not mean that their lives will be any easier when time traveling!
As with the other books in the Repeating History series, Chase chooses to tell Alcatraz! using a dual narrative. In my opinion, this is all the more important in this story because Grant and Ash are not together and they are both dealing with their own separate dramas with Ash avoiding a prisoner called Billy Ray who has taken a dislike to him and Grant dealing with unwittingly become the Warden’s snitch. I never find the jump from Ash to Grant’s narrative jarring in Chase’s stories and in Alcatraz! I felt she succeeded in keeping the pace moving at a fast speed because there is no time for our characters to relax.
Read Kirsty's review in its entirety here.
5 stars
It is in this fourth book that the boys finally get their wish for indoor plumbing, but for the first time since their journeys began, Grant and Ash are separated — Grant as a prison officer and Ash as an inmate. While they both have to figure out how to relieve Public Enemy Number One, Al Capone, of a locket he never takes off, they also have to navigate the notorious Alcatraz prison with its corrupt guards and threatening inmates. Grant and Ash soon discover that indoor plumbing does not mean that their lives will be any easier when time traveling!
As with the other books in the Repeating History series, Chase chooses to tell Alcatraz! using a dual narrative. In my opinion, this is all the more important in this story because Grant and Ash are not together and they are both dealing with their own separate dramas with Ash avoiding a prisoner called Billy Ray who has taken a dislike to him and Grant dealing with unwittingly become the Warden’s snitch. I never find the jump from Ash to Grant’s narrative jarring in Chase’s stories and in Alcatraz! I felt she succeeded in keeping the pace moving at a fast speed because there is no time for our characters to relax.
Read Kirsty's review in its entirety here.
June 26, 2019
Two young men find out what life was like in Alcatraz in the 1930s while attempting to retrieve a mysterious locket that Al Capone is rumored to always have carried with him. It’s another adventure in this exciting series where two juvenile delinquents get punished by their history teacher for burning down his office. Serious as that may have been, their punishment seems much harsher than necessary. Partly that may be due to the fact that their history teacher is Merlin of Arthurian fame, and the guy turns out to be more than a little cruel. And partly the harshness does lead to a series of rather entertaining adventures. Ash and Grant have already survived a trip to Ancient Egypt, an episode with witch hunters in medieval Germany, and they have traveled to prehistoric times, ten thousand years ago. None of the previous situations compare with their visit to Alcatraz though – it is scary, dangerous, and both Ash and Grant have a very hard time.
Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
January 5, 2022
The story of Ash and Grant continue as they go back in time thanks to Merlin's magic. The goal is to retrieve artifacts they unintentionally burned down by starting a fire in their history professor's office (aka Merlin). They never know where they will end up or what will need done in order to return back to the current time. In this book they are in search of a locket that is worn by Al Capone. This has become one of my favorite series as I watch Ash and Grant grow as characters and their relationship also begins to grow.
June 22, 2019
This is the 4th book in the series, and while each book is a single “episode” and could be read on it’s own, it’s not going to make a lot of sense if you haven’t at least read Book 1. Reading Books 2 and 3 will also add to your understanding of this book, but they are not as crucial to following the plot-line as Book 1.
In this book Grant and Ash are sent to “The Rock”. Grant becomes the newest guard at the toughest penitentiary the US Bureau of Prisons has – Alcatraz. Ash becomes one of the newest inmates. Grant and Ash have to gain possession of a locket owned by Al Capone.
TIME-OUT: As we all know Al Capone was an infamous bootlegger and Chicago mobster. Due to his power though, and the depth/intricacy of his organization, federal authorities were never able to get proof of his direct involvement/control of the bootlegging and other crime (including the fact that Capone is widely believed to have orchestrated the Valentine’s Day Massacre). The only federal crime Capone was ever convicted of were the tax violations. In other words, the feds proved that Capone had income that was not reported and on which no income taxes were paid. Even illegal income is taxable, something Al had chosen to ignore until it was too late. Capone began his sentence at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Due to official concerns that Capone was continuing to run the organization from behind bars, plus his continued public notoriety even while incarcerated, when Alcatraz was opened Capone was on the first trainload of transferees.
TIME-IN: It’s the early 1930’s, near the beginning of the island prison’s tenure as a Federal Pen. During that time inmates were not allowed to speak to each other at all, except in certain few regimented situations. Guards and Inmates barely spoke to each other, except for a guard to issue orders or an inmate to answer a direct question. Grant and Ash have to somehow work together, without anyone catching on that they even know each other.
I LOVED the set-up of this book, but I have to admit I had a serious issue with exactly what item Grant and Ash were to retrieve. Given the VERY strict rules at Alcatraz there is NO way any inmate would have been allowed to wear a locket. It’s highly doubtful that an inmate would even have been allowed a personal possession of that kind. Mae Capone (Al’s wife) could not have sent such a thing to Al, as all mail was opened and inspected before prisoners got it. Initially inmates didn’t even get the original copies of personal mail, it was copied out by staff and the inmates got the copies (to prevent smuggling of substances/messages in hidden places such as under stamps or envelope flaps). Nor could any inmate receive an object during a visit as the visits were non-contact only. Picture the stereotypical scene of inmate and visitor speaking to each other over telephone handsets; same thing, but instead they had a grated opening to speak through. With today’s prison rules, at least at certain security levels, it’s possible that an inmate might have a piece of personal jewelry given to him/her by family. But at Alcatraz in the 1930’s, it would NEVER have happened. Even by paying off a guard to get the locket to Al there is no way it could have been hidden for very long. Unless EVERY guard was on Al’s payroll a locket would have been noticed pretty dang quick and confiscated. How does an inmate hide a locket while he’s naked in the shower? And in the book Al supposedly never took that locket off, so that it wouldn’t be found during a cell search.
I won’t go into how the intricacies of how the Grant and Ash get the locket, since if you are familiar with the series you already know that they DO eventually get the sought-after object in each book (if they didn’t it would be an immediate end to the series).
Another point in this book’s favor – for the first time Grant and Ash start to have real remorse for not only the fire in Merlin’s office that triggered this series of jaunts back in time, but for the reasons they wound up at the Stanton School for Boys in the first place. For the first time the boys started to take personal responsibility for the whole series of events in their lives. Previously the boys treated their juvenile delinquencies as “Not really that big a deal” and absolved themselves of the fire as “It was an accident.” Well guess what guys? Those actions WERE a big deal and that fire WAS solely your fault (accident or not). It was REALLY good to see Grant and Ash get a dose of “Scared Straight” in this book.
Bottom Line – I’m giving this book 3 stars out of 5. I would have enjoyed the book much more if the object the boys were to retrieve was one that Al Capone could have actually had in his possession during his time at Alcatraz. That one implausibility, at least in my opinion, REALLY hurt the book.
In this book Grant and Ash are sent to “The Rock”. Grant becomes the newest guard at the toughest penitentiary the US Bureau of Prisons has – Alcatraz. Ash becomes one of the newest inmates. Grant and Ash have to gain possession of a locket owned by Al Capone.
TIME-OUT: As we all know Al Capone was an infamous bootlegger and Chicago mobster. Due to his power though, and the depth/intricacy of his organization, federal authorities were never able to get proof of his direct involvement/control of the bootlegging and other crime (including the fact that Capone is widely believed to have orchestrated the Valentine’s Day Massacre). The only federal crime Capone was ever convicted of were the tax violations. In other words, the feds proved that Capone had income that was not reported and on which no income taxes were paid. Even illegal income is taxable, something Al had chosen to ignore until it was too late. Capone began his sentence at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Due to official concerns that Capone was continuing to run the organization from behind bars, plus his continued public notoriety even while incarcerated, when Alcatraz was opened Capone was on the first trainload of transferees.
TIME-IN: It’s the early 1930’s, near the beginning of the island prison’s tenure as a Federal Pen. During that time inmates were not allowed to speak to each other at all, except in certain few regimented situations. Guards and Inmates barely spoke to each other, except for a guard to issue orders or an inmate to answer a direct question. Grant and Ash have to somehow work together, without anyone catching on that they even know each other.
I LOVED the set-up of this book, but I have to admit I had a serious issue with exactly what item Grant and Ash were to retrieve. Given the VERY strict rules at Alcatraz there is NO way any inmate would have been allowed to wear a locket. It’s highly doubtful that an inmate would even have been allowed a personal possession of that kind. Mae Capone (Al’s wife) could not have sent such a thing to Al, as all mail was opened and inspected before prisoners got it. Initially inmates didn’t even get the original copies of personal mail, it was copied out by staff and the inmates got the copies (to prevent smuggling of substances/messages in hidden places such as under stamps or envelope flaps). Nor could any inmate receive an object during a visit as the visits were non-contact only. Picture the stereotypical scene of inmate and visitor speaking to each other over telephone handsets; same thing, but instead they had a grated opening to speak through. With today’s prison rules, at least at certain security levels, it’s possible that an inmate might have a piece of personal jewelry given to him/her by family. But at Alcatraz in the 1930’s, it would NEVER have happened. Even by paying off a guard to get the locket to Al there is no way it could have been hidden for very long. Unless EVERY guard was on Al’s payroll a locket would have been noticed pretty dang quick and confiscated. How does an inmate hide a locket while he’s naked in the shower? And in the book Al supposedly never took that locket off, so that it wouldn’t be found during a cell search.
I won’t go into how the intricacies of how the Grant and Ash get the locket, since if you are familiar with the series you already know that they DO eventually get the sought-after object in each book (if they didn’t it would be an immediate end to the series).
Another point in this book’s favor – for the first time Grant and Ash start to have real remorse for not only the fire in Merlin’s office that triggered this series of jaunts back in time, but for the reasons they wound up at the Stanton School for Boys in the first place. For the first time the boys started to take personal responsibility for the whole series of events in their lives. Previously the boys treated their juvenile delinquencies as “Not really that big a deal” and absolved themselves of the fire as “It was an accident.” Well guess what guys? Those actions WERE a big deal and that fire WAS solely your fault (accident or not). It was REALLY good to see Grant and Ash get a dose of “Scared Straight” in this book.
Bottom Line – I’m giving this book 3 stars out of 5. I would have enjoyed the book much more if the object the boys were to retrieve was one that Al Capone could have actually had in his possession during his time at Alcatraz. That one implausibility, at least in my opinion, REALLY hurt the book.
August 25, 2023
23/08/23 @02:01-13:20
Like its predecessors, this title has its fair share of banal , platitudinous content of discourse and plot, but it was a boon to have them appear away from each other in the last for a change - cannot fathom for the life of me why parallels to the dungeons in Book II were t drawn here though, just Ash with his ‘woe is me’ mentality when Grant has had panic attacks about being in the same (but rather more perilous) situation.
While the realities of a high security prison like Alcatraz were displayed , the lack of embellishment of the story (including the ‘romantic” aspect that is almost added in as filler, rather than well-integrated development, and more on the outcomes of the corruption / escape etc) throughout (due to limited size of the novel- though evidently that isn’t the be all end all if a work if structured with an intent for intrigue and dynamism) and, once again, an unresolved ending (no Merlin or talk of themselves- part I really am most critical of.
However, this has been rated slightly higher than some of the other titles in the series as it draws attention to the intolerable treatment of contemporary women without suffrage and also that same-sex men were put in the same prisons as the worst of criminals.
Essentially thus, not a bad novel in terms of the topics it touches upon, but the presentation is less than enrapturing, especially with a less than embellished and intriguing plot.
Like its predecessors, this title has its fair share of banal , platitudinous content of discourse and plot, but it was a boon to have them appear away from each other in the last for a change - cannot fathom for the life of me why parallels to the dungeons in Book II were t drawn here though, just Ash with his ‘woe is me’ mentality when Grant has had panic attacks about being in the same (but rather more perilous) situation.
While the realities of a high security prison like Alcatraz were displayed , the lack of embellishment of the story (including the ‘romantic” aspect that is almost added in as filler, rather than well-integrated development, and more on the outcomes of the corruption / escape etc) throughout (due to limited size of the novel- though evidently that isn’t the be all end all if a work if structured with an intent for intrigue and dynamism) and, once again, an unresolved ending (no Merlin or talk of themselves- part I really am most critical of.
However, this has been rated slightly higher than some of the other titles in the series as it draws attention to the intolerable treatment of contemporary women without suffrage and also that same-sex men were put in the same prisons as the worst of criminals.
Essentially thus, not a bad novel in terms of the topics it touches upon, but the presentation is less than enrapturing, especially with a less than embellished and intriguing plot.
May 14, 2019
A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
For the full review check out https://wp.me/p220KL-gIF
From that review:Dakota Chase continues the incredible YA fantasy series with a jump back into time to the infamous prison island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. A series that started because two boys with at odds social backgrounds were both in juvenile criminal court with three strikes against them, which most likely meant prison with the judge presiding over their cases. But instead, in an strange, perhaps even mystical toss of the coin, both Ash and Grant were sent to the Stanford School for Boys . To learn to "straighten up " their act so to speak. Instead by accident , when arguing with each other, they set fire to their history teacher's office and destroyed it and all his collection of relics. He wasn't pleased considering it had taken him centuries and more to collect all those mystical artifacts and that he turns out to be none other than the Merlin!
For all our reviews: http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords...
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
For the full review check out https://wp.me/p220KL-gIF
From that review:Dakota Chase continues the incredible YA fantasy series with a jump back into time to the infamous prison island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. A series that started because two boys with at odds social backgrounds were both in juvenile criminal court with three strikes against them, which most likely meant prison with the judge presiding over their cases. But instead, in an strange, perhaps even mystical toss of the coin, both Ash and Grant were sent to the Stanford School for Boys . To learn to "straighten up " their act so to speak. Instead by accident , when arguing with each other, they set fire to their history teacher's office and destroyed it and all his collection of relics. He wasn't pleased considering it had taken him centuries and more to collect all those mystical artifacts and that he turns out to be none other than the Merlin!
For all our reviews: http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords...
March 25, 2020
First thing I noticed was a slightly disappointing change from first person to third, but nonetheless, Ms Chase has outdone herself. I’ve read nearly all the books in the Repeating History series and all of them are outstanding and brilliant and I think a must-read for teens and adults. Merlin’s favourite saying is that we must remember history so we don’t make the same mistakes again and that lesson is never more relevant than now. Dakota Chase does an incredible job of recreating human history in a relatable, contemporary way. But why the third person POV change? My only criticism.
February 15, 2020
This is is the fourth book I've read and I'm really enjoying them all. In this book the boys are sent back to Alcatraz Prison and they are separated which is a change. Ash is a prisoner and Grant is a guard. Based on my limited knowlege of this prison, I would say the accuracy was good - crooked, sadistic guards, prisoners looking to escape, solitary confinement. The boys have very little contact during this book so it was interesting to see how managed alone.
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February 26, 2020Alcatraz is a very good book with an unexpected ending!!
September 27, 2020
I found it a little disappointing, and not as engaging as the first 3.
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January 1, 2022review to follow
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews