Review: Admittedly, as a JF Smith reader I didn't find this work equal to his other books..
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
I would rate this between a 3.5 edging toward a 4.0. It is a sensitive subject dealing with a prison population.Smith did an admirable job giving a potent portrait inside a prison. This definitely was a psychologicalcharacter study of our two main protagonists. Interestingly, the issue wasn't maternal deprivation but paternal deprivation in two different forms.The pecking order, gang associations, prison guards and perversions didn't seem toounrealistic. However, I did have trouble with the first transition to Addy's background . Suddenly, I thought I was reading another book .  I finally got it but  there was some confusion. Also, it wasdifficult to believe that inmates could actually have access to a locked room. I seems a bit of a stretch.I experienced more enthusiasm for THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER, LATAKIA and FALLINGOFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.  This latest work does have merit . I did sense the human connections.The objection could be the unlikeliness of this romantic tale in these dire circumstances.  I know thisis not real. The story just feels kind of odd.