Wow! Thanks, everyone for providing the copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
I’ll say it again ! WOW! I cannot believe I had never heard this story. I talk often with my coworkers (we work in teams) so many had heard of this violent event in criminal and state history, but I still had more details ready to inflate their memories. I’ll be honest I spent some moments I hate to say “daydreaming “ ,but basically that’s what I was doing just wondering what would my city do, what would I do, if something like this happened where I live. I’m certain my daughter would be my first priority. And she would also be the one who would argue with me about being fine stop worrying it didn’t happen around here but such and such miles away. And then I’d get so furious and perturbed. Ugh children even when they are 30-still shake my head children. There is no way that each prison break is the same, and neither is every manhunt the same. This book has to be the epitome of the ultimate prison break. I rarely have issues picturing what I’m reading when I read nonfiction and this was no exception. And I’m sure most people focused on the innocent or the hunting parties, but being a strong true crime fan my mind went to the prisoners, most especially their thought processes and their faux tenacity actually believing they would pull this off. What gall, what violence, what needless waste of life and resources.
I would definitely recommend this book to all of my true crime / psychology fans. Definitely lessons can be learned from this event.

I remember when this event happened, and while I don't live in the area, I still found it interesting to read about. The author of this book has experience as a prison guard from the area but didn't work in this prison when this particular event happened. I was hooked from the beginning and was very engaged in reading about how the two criminals managed to escape from this prison in such a way that they were not caught - and how they were able to get someone one the inside to help them along the way! However, as the book went on, I found that the author seemed to be inserting his own experiences into the book in ways that I didn't feel were necessary and didn't seem to help tell this story.

Title: Dannemora:Two Escaped Killers , Three Weeks of Terror, and the Longest Manhunt Ever in New York State

Author: Charles A.Gardner

Genre: Nonfiction True crime

Pages: 304

Publisher: Citadel Press

Published: February 26, 2019

Rating: 4.5



The Prison Break, the Manhunt, the Inside Story



In June 2015, two vicious convicted murderers broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, in New York's North Country, launching the most extensive manhunt in state history. Aided by prison employee Joyce Mitchell, double murderer Richard Matt and cop-killer David Sweat slipped out of their cells, followed a network of tunnels and pipes under the thirty-foot prison wall, and climbed out of a manhole to freedom.



For three weeks, the residents of local communities were virtual prisoners in their own homes as law enforcement from across the nation swept the rural wilderness near the Canadian border. The manhunt made front-page headlines--as did the prison sex scandal involving both inmates and Joyce Mitchell--and culminated in a dramatic and bloody standoff.



Now Charles A. Gardner--a lifelong resident of the community and a former correction officer who began his training at Clinton and ultimately oversaw the training of staff in twelve prisons, including Clinton--tells the whole story from an insider's point of view.



From the lax ethics and sexual hunger that drove Joyce Mitchell to fraternize with Matt and Sweat, smuggle them tools, and offer to be their getaway driver, to the state budget cuts that paved the way for prison corruption, to the brave and tireless efforts to bring the escaped killers to justice, Dannemora is a gripping account of the circumstances that led to the bold breakout and the twenty-three-day search that culminated in one man dead, and one man back in custody--and lingering questions about those who set the deadly drama in motion


My thoughts

Would I recommend it ? Yes

Will I read anything else by this author ? Maybe

I've never heard anything about this happening and I love watching tv shows about true crime , so when a friend told me this was on Netgalley I knew right away I had to request it and read it and I'm glad that I did. The author who is a long time resident of the community and a former correction officer who began his training at Clinton and ultimately oversaw the training of staff in twelve prisons, including Clinton—tells the whole story from an insider's point of view and even at one time worked at and in Dannemora brings to life what it is like working there , and the story of how this happened and the characters of the story ,with this said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

Dannemora is a non-fiction account of the infamous escape from prison by Richard Matt and David Sweat with the help of Joyce Mitchell, employee of the tailor shop at the prison facility. The book is also a part-memoir as Charles A. Garnder lived in the impacted community and worked in the prison at some point.

For the most part, I thought that the book was gripping and did a good job of explaining how the convicts escaped from the prison as well as how they were re-caught.

I received a digital uncorrected proof from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book! I followed the story on the news, but this book goes into so much further detail and it is riveting. Even if you think you know the story, this book gives you so much more.

My only complaint is that the author comes across as very critical of how the case was handled and how prisons are run in general. He is a former corrections officer and is a magistrate court judge so he definitely knows the ins and outs of the system, but he makes his biases very obvious.

Excellent coverage about a historic prison escape. Very well written as the story flowed and coverage of all the characters was in-depth. Will recommend to those interested in crime stories.

While watching the news reports on this breakout and reading the newspaper headlines, you knew there had to be more to this story than reported. Now Charles Gardner is giving us an insider's view of the who, what, where, when and how these two criminals used to make their escape successful and the man power and hours necessary to catch them. It's always easy to see after the fact how the circumstances could lead to this escape but you really have to wonder why it was not seen before hand. This is true crime writing the way we hope every book is done. The writer has definitely spent his time and efforts to insure the readers get an accurate, detailed look at this moment in history.

I did want to know more about these criminals. The author does a good job of giving us their background information. The details about the prison were helpful in picturing the escape. I did get bored while the criminals were on the run. If the ending were condensed I would have rated this better.

I requested this book because I am a true crime lover and remember watching the man hunt play out in television. The novel is written by someone who started their correctional career in Dannemora facility and lives in the area. The novel is well written and a researched inside look at the 2015 prison break and manhunt. It fast paced and sheds light into the issues concerning correctional facilities in America today. Would recommend to any true crime reader. Thank you Netgalley for the copy.

I received a free e-copy of Dannemora: Two Escaped Killers, Three Weeks of Terror, and the Largest Manhunt Ever in New York State by Charles A. Gardner from Net Galley and Kensington Books in exchange for my review.

Dannemora is a non-fiction book about two violent murderers who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, and the subsequent manhunt for them. The author is a municipal court judge who spent 25 years working in the New York State Department of Corrections, and his extensive knowledge of that system gives him the unique ability to tell this story from many sides, inside and out.

Gardner goes into a great deal of detail about the two prisoners and their backstory, how they came to be in that particular prison at that time. Finding out who these men are helps to understand how they were able to manipulate so many people and accomplish their goal of escaping. The book is very well-written and Gardner does a great job of explaining how the search functioned and each agency’s role.

I also really enjoyed reading about how the people living in the search area responded to the search, by going out of their way to help and support all of the law enforcement officers present. It was wonderful to see so much goodwill and positivity toward them.

This is a great read for any true crime fans; you’ll learn so much about this case and how extensive manhunts work, from someone in the perfect position to write about both.

This was a detailed expose into the escape plans of two prisoners Richard Matt and David Sweat which came to fruition in June 2015 when they made their escape from Clinton Correctional Facility, Dannemora in New York State.

The detail was excellent and the book was entirely gripping.

The build up to the escape was fascinating.

A book that read like an excellent work of fiction but was all true!

Hard to put down.

The pics at the end were the cherry on the top.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I perhaps would have liked more analysis as there was lots of build up to the escape and about the actual escape but otherwise this book ticked all the boxes.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded really interesting and I was looking forward to reading it, but I felt like parts of it drug on too long while other parts could have been expanded upon.

An extremely detailed book! I finished the series on Showtime recently so this gave me more in depth details of the story. Definitely would recommend.

Seriously good book that has my attention from the beginning until the end. Well written and plotted it will keep you glued to the pages until you figure out what is going on. Definitely pick this up. Happy reading!

This book attracted my attention because I work in a state system as well that is similarly structured in a way to a prison, a mental health facility. When I began working in this field it was at a time after the states were being held accountable by the Department of Justice for poor conditions within state hospitals or institutions. As I researched the legal side of this issue, I came upon the Willowbrook Hospital in New York state, as a "ground zero" for deinstitutionalization of people. This was because of all the cost-cutting that had been done, over-crowding, under-staffing, poor conditions and zero accountability. The conditions in the prison system are very similar, and now since the writing of this book, another NY prison was without power for several days during the most severe cold weather of the year. I think that this book did a great job, a frightening job of showing what is wrong in the prison system, in this particular case and going forward. It feels focused on NY but it is a more widespread problem than that.

#Dannemora ##NetGalley

I received an advanced copy of this book book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I was looking for a break from my typical reading of contemporary romance novels. I am very happy that I was given the opportunity to read and review this book. One reason I requested this title was because I remember when it was in the news, but the other is because I was born and raised in this part on NY and it makes it all mean so much more.

I really like all of the insight and background info this author was able to give. He made it feel like a really good episode of Dateline or Lock-up! Many people are to blame for what happened, besides the obvious few, there are those that tried to report the inappropriate relationships but gave up or turned a blind eye. Mitchell’s husband and her employers should be held accountable as well. The MOST DISGUSTING display of arrogance came from Governor Cuomo - I just can’t understand how the public voted him back into office. This is just another wonderful example of what is wrong with out world today - certain officials will always be ABOVE the law!

I'd recently finished the Stan mini-series on this particular case and found it intriguing. I then came across this book based on the same event. I have to admit, I generally prefer my true crime unbias, neutral, purely based on the police/court/interview facts, however I did find myself drawn to this telling of the events. Not knowing the case very well, I enjoyed the information that the author provided, and also enjoyed the fact the flow of the book remained at a steady pace and wasn't lost in information dumps. Overall an enjoyable read and I would definitely be interested in reading future true crime work by the author.

Dannemora is a fascinating work of non fiction. I don't recall this event and read the book with no prior knowledge. Based on a 2015 prison break and manhunt, it's hard to stop reading once you start. It's an intriguing and different look at how something like a manhunt plays out. The difficulties, the highs and lows of the operation. It's truly fascinating and relevant to society today. It's a thought provoking well written and researched account of this event. I recommend for anyone with an interest in the reality of what happened. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

As a reader who has no knowledge of the prison break incident, I feel like book provided comprehensive information about the murderers, escape, and how they were caught. The book itself did not contain in depth details; however, it contained enough information to understand the big picture of the situation.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly! 😊

Dannemora by Charles A, Gardner kept me intrigued form the first page to the last. It is a well-written, well-researched account of a sensational prison break in upstate New York by two ruthless, dangerous criminals. Richard Matt and David Sweat were clever and intelligent in all the wrong ways and their combined intellect pulled off their escape from a maximum security prison. However, their combined mistakes, lack of planning, and inability to work together well once on the outside was their downfall. I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy nonfiction reads, but even if fiction is your go-to, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you enjoy this book. Thank you, NetGalley, for this advance copy, and thank you, Charles Gardner, for writing this book. I hope you are already working on your next one.