Joyce Mitchell was a messed up, lonely woman living in the wildest part of upper New York State when she, like many residents in that area, went to work for the prison system…it seems prisons are a big industry in that part of the state. She met and married another employee and they worked at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora for years, with her job being a supervisor of the prisoners who worked in the tailor shop (they make more than license plates, it seems). While there, she got friendly – VERY friendly—with convicted double murderer Richard Matt and cop killer David Sweat, who used her vulnerability to develop a strong enough bond that she was willing to smuggle in the tools they needed to break out.

The plan was for her to be waiting when they emerged from manhole cover outside the prison, then they would all jump in her car and be off to Mexico and freedom. But the night they made their escape, she had a panic attack, was taken to the hospital emergency room, and freaked out enough to rat them out. The next three weeks there was the biggest manhunt in New York history as they tried to survive long enough to get away.

The author of Dannemora is a lifelong resident of the area and former correctional officer and trainer who began his career at the Dannemora prison, and he is a terrific writer.  This is at once a fascinating true crime story, a look at the lengths to which a lonely woman can be manipulated, and the conditions and circumstances both at the prison in question and throughout the prison system (all the way to the Governor’s office in Albany) which led to the escape. I particularly appreciated the revelations about the use of prison labor for profit, the ethical lapses among the employees, and the political mess that brought enough budget cuts to make it impossible for the guards to do their work as regulations dictated.

With thanks to Kensington Books/Citadel and NetGalley, this is a strong four stars. And I still don’t get how Joyce’s husband stuck with her, and it annoys the hell out of me that she is still entitled to her entire pension!