Breakout by Paul Herron

Jack Constantine is an ex-cop serving 10 years for killing one of his wife's murderers. Kira Sawyer is a correctional officer on her first day at work, left behind when the other guards flee, freeing all the prisoners behind them. Together Constantine and Sawyer are trapped in Florida's Ravenhill Correctional Institution as two category five hurricanes are bearing down on the facility. This is the setting for Paul Herron's Breakout.

With the prisoners set free inside the facility, Sawyer frees Constantine from the infirmary. If they can make it to the older part of the prison, the Glasshouse, they just might survive. All that's in their way is rising floodwaters, crumbling walls, and 800 inmates.

Paul Herron writes with a cinematic flair. The sounds of the storm, the rain lashing the walls, and the rising water create great tension. The specter of needing to cross the entire length of a prison filled with blood-crazed prisoners with an unexpected taste of freedom and the opportunity to settle old scores makes for a great setting.

Herron does a great job with characterization giving the reader characters to root for as well as ones to be terrified of. Jack Constantine is a sympathetic, though not perfect, character. The murder of his wife gives him understandable motivation even if he has to operate outside the law to seek justice. He's made enemies inside of prison, some of whom have very understandable motives for hating him.

Breakout is a ticking time bomb of a story. A hurricane threatening to erase the prison from the map keeps the plot kicking forward. Likable characters navigating a prison crumbling from the outside in and making their way through the prison, each group of prisoners they encounter more terrifying than the last. This book has the feel of Escape From New York with great fight scenes, palpable danger on every page, and characters who have you holding your breath as they try to stay one step ahead of disaster. This book will have action fans clamoring for more. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.