Holy cow. This one was tough to get through but so so informative and interesting. super informative and mind blowing facts!
Three and a half stars. Unfortunately it was just a little dry for my taste, though filled with sadness, humor, and the harsh reality of an unchecked “correctional” facility operated by thugs.

Intense retelling of the political and social climate in NYC that helped lead to mass incarceration of people of color at Rikers island. Very academic, for purveyors of social science and criminal justice alike.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to the audiobook of Captives: How Rikers Island Took New York City Hostage by Jarrod Shanahan in exchange for an honest review.

CW: incarceration, racism, classism

This is an excellently researched book presenting the history of Rikers Island and its vast development within the prison-industrial complex. Shanahan provides a holistic picture of the socio-political context that contributed to boom of the prison and mass incarceration in New York. While this book was informative, it was a history book in the more traditional sense. There were not many stories from individuals who have been effected by either imprisonment or proximity to Rikers Island, which was especially disappointing since the author himself claims to have been an inmate at Rikers for a brief period of time. With histories like these, I always find the narrative to be more accessible and interesting when personalized stories are included. Overall, I would recommend this book to people who are more interested in history and politics than to those who are more interested in the systemic issues of mass incarceration. Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow is a suggested alternative for those looking for the latter.

I was very interested in this title as a criminal prosecutor. I’ve done a fair share of research on jail overpopulation and criminal justice reform throughout my academic career.

It is well researched and informative about a topic I was not knowledgeable prior. I learned a lot, but I found the presentation very boring… like sitting through a 14 hour black and white documentary. Unlike other audiobooks, I had to be in a certain mood and pay full attention to every word of the audio. Because of that, it took me a really long time to get through and fully digest what I was listening to. I wouldn’t call it “thrilling” or “dramatic” as advertised, unless that’s how you feel about politics and history. I thought it was pretty neat a prior Rikers prisoner wrote it, though.

I think someone said it best in the book when they said a new building isn’t going to fix anything if the same old people are running it. This book is about over population, under educated employees in prisons where no one followed the rules. They had a Lotta statistics that really made my eyes glaze over but the stories were very interesting I think my favorite was the one about Angela Davis, but so much of the book was interesting. I especially loved when she had the sidewalk meeting through the window with passersby and it turned into a social statement. I think the author has a real passion for this topic and it shows in the text in narrative of of the book and all of that tells a story of what led to the riot on August 19, 1991. It was left in indelible mark on New York’s prison system and hopefully for the better. There are so many individual interesting stories from prison guards with their own agenda to prisoners with delusions of grandeur it’s a very interesting book and I thought the narrator did a great job now reading this book and I hope to hear more books by him in the future. If you love nonfiction books you’ll love this book it says a lot about social commentary and where we were and how we got here. I was given this book by med galley and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any grammar or punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

I was not a huge fan of this audiobook. As much as I like true crime and books like this, I found this to be rather boring. There was a lot of informative stuff, but I wish they more focused on the crimes and criminals. I could have done without some of the information.
I did really enjoy the stories on the riots and how things were handled back then. I have always heard tales of Rikers Island and how horrible of a place that it is. It is definitely one of the last places that I would want to be locked up in.

I received this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. In general I am interested in the history and present day situation surrounding prisons, not only regarding the theory behind incarceration, but also the implementation.

The author, having spent some time in prison himself, brings a unique perspective to the history of Rikers Island, which probably another author on the same subject would have lacked.

I found the book to be highly informative, and at times infuriating -- the prison policies of the US are just atrocious!

I think that this is an important book as it shows the inequality of a system that was not built for "rehabilitation", despite everyone's protestations to the contrary. That most of the prison population is not white, is not an accident and is a symptom of the racism which runs rampant in America.

I highly recommend this book, even for people who are not usually into nonfiction or history books.

Narrator 5 stars

Story 5 stars
Wow!! So much work and research went into this book. This was brutal and heart breaking to listen to in parts, absolutely terrifying in others. A must read

This is a book narrating the history of the penal colony on Rikers Island in New York City. Shanahan details the political scene from the 50’s through the early 90’s and beyond, which gives insight into the thought and machinations behind this terrible place.

Narrator Tremblay does a good job with the material, which is very politicized and polarizing while remaining dry. This book is by turns boring, infuriating, heartbreaking, dry, and impassioned. The story of this ghastly prison is told in a very linear fashion, so it is easy to follow.

Three and a half stars. The material itself resonates with me and I do appreciate the facts and history lesson behind its construction. Unfortunately it was just a little dry for my taste, though filled with sadness, humor, and the harsh reality of an unchecked “correctional” facility operated by thugs. Ultimately I finished the book with a feeling of frustration. My thanks to Tantor Audio via Netgalley for this nearly 14-hour audiobook.

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Interesting book about a real life crime I knew very little about. I listened to the audio version and the narrator was a delight to listen to, even with a hard story to hear.