A Prison Without Locks

by David Ruggerio

As Seen in Scream Magazine "A scary and hair-raising story." – San Francisco Book Review "A horror novel that gives you equal parts creepiness, sinister settings, and heart-pounding descriptions." – Sublime Book Review Wawarsing is a quiet hamlet in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Population, 8,000 and dwindling daily. The village priest notices many of the locals dying under mysterious circumstances. Doctor Pretorius, the town's physician, an odd fellow, bears a deep dark secret. The dead are coming back, and they hunger. The priest needs help fighting the evil that hides in closets, basements, or under the bed. An elderly nun, with the aid of an archangel, comes to the rescue-the problem lies with who is really dead and who is really alive? One thing is for sure, be afraid of the night.

215 pages, Paperback

Published November 24, 2020

About the author

Oh yes, my friends, at one point in my life, I was a much-celebrated celebrity chef. I honed my culinary skills in France at several of the country's leading restaurants. Among them, the Hotel Negresco with Jacques Maximin; Moulin de Mougins with Roger Verge; Les Pres d'Eugenie with the mythic Michel Guerard, and l'Auberge du Pont de Collonges with the iconic Paul Bocuse. I was honored in 1995 by noted vintner Robert Mondavi as one of the best thirteen Rising Star Chef in America, in the first year of this national awards program.

My experience also includes being the chef and partner of Pierre Cardin's New York Maxims. Yes, that's the same Pierre Cardin with cologne and everything else in the world! With Cardin, I was instrumental in the expansion of Maxim as a brand in restaurants and hotels. I also was the executive chef of the famed Le Caravelle ( I was only 25 at the time-go and figure) and executive chef and owner of Park Avenue's Le Chantilly. All three restaurants received numerous national accolades.

I authored two acclaimed cookbooks, "Little Italy with David Ruggerio" and "David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen." I hosted my own PBS cooking series; "Little Italy with David Ruggerio." and went on to host my own cooking series on TV Food Network entitled “Ruggerio To Go”(check out some of the episodes on my Youtube channel, they'll make you smile).

I have a wonderfully scary upcoming horror novel entitled; "A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters, which will be released on Halloween Eve of 2019. Could you pick a better day to release a horror novel? Boo!

For more about me, my ongoing escapades, and upcoming events and give-aways please visit my personal website:
www.davidruggerio.com

I've recently explored my passion for cheese, to see what's up with my cheesy adventures please visit;
www.canvasbackfarms.com.

As you can surmise with my upcoming horror novel, I love to be scared, to enjoy my horrible thoughts, including which horror movie I consider the greatest, please visit;
www.mrruggeriosneighborhood.com

Ok, it's official, I have a Wikipedia page, don't we all? To discover more about me, please visit;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_R...

You want to laugh at some of my past television exploits, please visit (and like!) my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysx...

Where would I be without a Facebook page? Please visit my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.ruggerio

I want to thank you for visiting my author's page.

Happy Cooking
Dave

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Appalachian foothills lies the small town of Wawarsing. Wawarsing is one of those little villages where everyone know everyone. Well, they think they know each other anyway. When the town is finally fortunate enough to have a physician move in and open a practice they can't believe their luck. Dr. Pretorious charms the locals with his silver tongue and slow drawl. He understands the grief we feel when a loved one dies and he understands that feeling when you'd do anything to have them back again.
A Prison Without Locks was promising. I loved the setting of the small, close-knit town, quirky town people and the wicked storm. However, there were so very many town people doing this and that and I was unable to find one character to focus on enough to care about. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just had a hard to "being there" and "knowing" any of these characters. I found David Ruggerio's previous work, "A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters" to be a better read.#netgalley #APrisonWithoutLocks

[Millie Birir · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Prison Without Locks, is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
Ohhh... so much evil and death! It had me spooked and on edge from start to finish. Freaky I would call it.
Spine-chilling. Hair-raising. Unputdownable. A page-turner. Heart-racing moments. Eye-popping unbelievable scenes.
The reader is utterly and totally glued to the story — mind , body, and soul, anxious and wanting to know what’s going to happen next. And even though you have a sense of foreboding — fearing what may happen next, you are just curious to know. Nail-biting and goosebump rising moments for sure.

The writer Keeps the reader’s curiosity alive.
Things get worse, weirder, and more frightening as the story progresses.
Making everything and every situation suspicious and scary.
Every person in the town seems to be vulnerable and unsafe. Keeps you wondering what sinister thing will happen, when and to whom.
Sinister, is how I’d describe some of the characters — especially the lead.
Every basement, cellar,attic, tunnel, unused room or closed door has an aura of foreboding. You want to tell someone “don’t go in there, please!”
Every dark corner is suspicious and unnerving.
Some scenes almost had me jumping out of my skin, oh dear...

What a relief it was to see good triumph over evil, in the end. And all the unexpected miracles when all seemed dark , dreary, and doomed. It sure felt like a prison without locks indeed, all hopeless and lost.

The author makes the characters come alive and vibrant. Such a great storyteller with vivid descriptions of scenes, places, people and actions. Very imaginative and creative, all in all. He was able to make the story seem so realistic. I enjoyed every single moment of it. Whooo... not been thus spooked in a long while!

The book cover is inviting. Alludes to the existence of hidden mysteries , dark secrets, and horrors.
Horror lovers will definitely love and enjoy this book. I give it a 5-star rating.

[Arije · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I would really like to thank Booktasters and the author for providing me the opportunity to read that novel. 💜

The read was awesome, I really like its story. Plus it was a great chance to learn more vocabulary. Everything was faultless, I enjoyed every bit of it.

[Esther Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the Catskill mountains of New York, something evil lurks in the dark. The dead have risen, locals go missing and unbeknownst to the locals evil lurks in their very homes hiding in the shadows. This gem of a novel is an eerie read, with good vs evil, betrayal and heartbreak, occult vs religion. A Sherriff, a Priest and a Nun to the rescue. Who will win. You have to read this book to find out. The ending blew me away. Mr. Ruggerio has a creative mind and I can't wait to read more of this authors work.

[Londeka Shabangu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Prison Without Locks is no doubt thrilling, well written and creative. Each character was a joy to read and there's just no way you can read this and not want more. A fair amount of detailing, gripping descriptions, honestly you'd really have to read this yourself to understand the thrill.

This novel is set in a small town in New York where the residents have gone missing with not much explanation and the dead are sighted. Greatful that they have a Dr who shares and understands their pain, the good Dr Pretorius hides a secret. Evil lurks in this small town, a terrible storm and the unknown.

I'd recommend this to any thrill seekers and lovers of horror. Thank you to the author and BookTasters, I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to David Ruggerio and Booktasters for providing a copy of this book for an honest review. A Prison Without Locks is a gripping tale that had me turning the page to its surprising conclusion.

Evil lurks in the quiet village of Wawarsing. Townspeople are disappearing with whisperings of the dead walking the earth hungry for blood. A few suspect Dr. Pretorius, harboring a dark secret of his own, to have something to do with it.

When a blizzard cripples the village, leaving the townspeople stranded in their homes, the tension builds like a tightly wound guitar string. I was on the edge of my seat. I especially enjoyed the vivid description of the palpable fear when trapped in total all-encompassing darkness. It had me reaching for the light switch before continuing further in my reading.

Tightly written, the plot twists had me guessing to the story's dramatic conclusion. Five stars, I recommend adding this thrilling story to your collection. Just keep your light on.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Ruggario's A Prison Without Locks is an excellently crafted blend between horror and thriller. The author maintains a feeling of high-stakes through the increasing levels of suspense that grow throughout the novel from beginning to end, meaning that once you begin to read it will be next to impossible to put the novel down. The suspense, coupled with the depth he grants other characters like Rulloff, makes for a fast-paced but well thought out storyline. Personally, I thought the choice of resolution at the end was quite interesting and definitely makes this novel worth the read. I also wanted to note how I haven't even mentioned the novel's main antagonist, Pretorius, who the story is generally centred around, yet there is so much outside of his character that works together to create a horrifying yet enthralling read.

[Sublime Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating = 3.5

Storyline & Concept = 4.25
Writing & Delivery = 3.75
Editorial = 2.5

A Prison Without Locks is a novel in the horror genre set in a small New York town where residents are disappearing and the local doctor has deep, dark secrets.

This book has its fair share of heart-pounding moments, when the creepiest of creatures are combined with the scariest of circumstances to create a story that reminded me of watching nail-biting horror movies in a cinema. The author has a talent for writing good descriptions and settings, and he builds enough action into the plot to keep the reader interested. The small-town setting helps to give a dark and creepy feeling to this story about a malevolent doctor and his work with the undead.

Sublime Line: “A horror novel that gives you equal parts creepiness, sinister settings, and heart-pounding descriptions.”

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was generously provided a copy of this novel by David Ruggerio via Booktasters in exchange for an honest review.

In the upstate NY town of Wawarsing, strange things are afoot. Things that, as they say, go bump in the night. The main plotline revolves around Dr. Pretorius, the town physician. His patients seem to fall into two categories: Those that don’t do so well and those that make miraculous recoveries. As you go through the book, you find out just why this is, and exactly what the townspeople eventually do about it. A freak blizzard leads to a violent climax, and an epilogue style ending lets you know about the aftermath.

This is a book with potential, but “A Prison Without Locks” would benefit greatly from an experienced horror fiction editor. The book starts with a “this is a true tale, whether you believe or not” plot line. It never goes anywhere, there is no connection between the fictional real story writer and the events in the book. The text then spends several chapters listing characters with brief character descriptions. The style here is more script character breakdown/dramatic personae than novel.

When you finally dig into the meat of the story, the practice of switching between first and last names randomly makes the characters hard to track. This is true even for the author, there were a couple names that were matched with the wrong character in the text, or there were names used that were obviously from a previous draft. There are also roughly half a dozen orphaned sub plots. They really detracted from the pace and readability. Some of these subplots are meant to boost the spooky factor but read like ragingly insensitive cultural appropriation.

All of this leads to a novel with a good potential horror story, but one that just isn’t scary or fun to read.

[Rachel Nefeke · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Eerie, mysterious, nerve-wracking... How marvellous!"
From the very beginning, you can sense it's going to be an adventure of your reader's time; with its vivid description and tickle of some evil.
All of the characters were entangled together but it took some time to find that connection.
Atypical book in sense of detail, a trainload of research, and chilling climax, it will keep you busy. Not recommended to read during witching hour or while being alone. Believe me, it's that good.
What's the best? Everyone will find someone, what will speak louder than anything. For me it was a topic of belief and its collusion with the reality.
The end, for me, was quite expected but still it was marvellous. No cackling intended.
My five stars deserved fully.

[Bhuvneshvri Gohil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Booktasters to give me an opportunity to read such an amazing book.
'Prison without locks' is a mixture of fantasy, thriller and horror. The characters are very detailed and some are creepy enough to give you chills. The characters which are thrilling and dark, it makes the story very interesting. The story has a classy and rich old American background. As the story is about the small town named Wawarsing in the Appalachian foothills. I recommend this book to people who enjoy stories of mystery and thrillers.

[Syed Naqvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing thriller which connects the living world with those of dead.... Undead is not a world anyone wants to live or experience as it is far more painful to know that you are NOT alive and neither are you fully perished. You carry the suffering but without any final restitute or solace in sight.
This was a visual reading as most of things were candidly explained especially where action scenes.