Customer Reviews

The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an incredibly interesting book that describes life in prison from a candid, insider's perspective. And, from both sides from the inside, guards and inmates. Prison history, culture, slang, violence, lore, norms, protocols, and social expectations are explained. The author Pete Early, is the only author known to have been allowed to access all inmates at the prison, without guard escort or protection. He visited Leavenworth several times over a period of years. He was free to ask questions, discuss, and listen to whatever those confined at The Hot House told him. Inmates' crimes, thoughts about life in prison, thoughts about dying in prison, and their basic attitudes and beliefs, take the reader to think about what it would be like spend time in prison.

Early also takes takes us into the Department of Corrections culture, describing the guards, correctional system SOPs, career development, and the politics of working and running a major prison.

Leavenworth, or the The Hot House is named so, because of the heat and humidity during those hot Mid-western Summers, especially in the upper-elevated portions of the prison. Anyone who has had a faint interest in Prison and correctional life, from television documentaries to movies, will enjoy and learn a lot from this book. Highly recommended.

Overall the book was good, however there were many things in itthat were not fact although most were fact, many were not and theauthor was duped into believing certain things that were utterlybull. Not mentioned were the alliance between the Mexican Mafia andthe Aryan Brotherhood, yes they worked together on hits and drugswithin the walls as they do in all the Federal USP's. Overall the bookwas good. I lived for 72 month's within those red walls and to adjustto freedom after release was difficult. There are many con's insideLeavenworth that never want to be free. That was not me, I wanted myfreedom and I got it.

All I can say is Mr. Earley hit it right on the head. As a former staff member I can attest that all those character's do exsist. The best true prison story I've read. A must read for anyone in Corrections.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought that it was written in an entertaining and gritty style.

My one complaint is this: Earley says that he picked a handful of officials/inmates to focus on. I would have liked to seen a wider range of personalities explored in depth. The three or four inmates that he focused on were all white, and to a certain extent cut from the same cloth. Given the racial tension that simmered between the lines of his account, I would have liked heard from a black inmate or one of the Cuban detainees. I realize that this probably wasn't possible; in the world that Earley describes I'm sure that he himself was segregated, and spending time with non-white inmates might not have been practical. But I would have enjoyed the book more if he had been able to overcome this obstacle.

Pete Earley has written the most truthful and unbiased book on prison. Unlike other writers, Earley has no agenda. The subjects are allowed to speak for themsleves. He reports, as reporters should do, and the writing is all the more powerful for it.

Some have accused Earley of being too inmate-friendly. I can assure you this is not true. He gives a balanced account of both sides of the prison system: the convicts and the guards.

Hot House is a great read if you are looking to see what prison life is like. Earley spent years in Leavenworth Prison observing and creating this book and it was well worth his time. He did a great job explaining the inner workings of a maximum security prison and the type of inmates it contains. You can learn all about the prison culture and slang terms used by inmates and officers. Once you finish Hot House you will have a newfound respect for the work that correctional officers perform on a day to day basis.

This is a brilliant and absorbing account by a writer who was given unprecedented access to life in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. Each chapter is devoted to one inmate that Earley gets to know while on the inside, and their stories give the reader a chilling persepective on the criminal mentality and the social relationships of men in prison. The book is shockingly realistic in its portrayal of men who have committed horrible crimes both before and during their incarceration. I was unable to put this fascinating book down and I highly recommend it.

If you like books on non-fiction crime or just crime in general, you should get this book. I think it got a lot of press when it came out, as it should have. I read this book a couple of years ago after hearing the author on the radio. I flew through it. Earley doesn't miss a beat on what it's really like to be in a serious prison like Leavenworth. From the guards to the prisoners, to the administrators and Federal Bureau of Prisons, you get it all. I mean it's probably 1 of 4 books I really enjoyed the last 5 or 6 years of reading. You just learn a lot in this about this parallel universe of criminals and the men and women who have to warehouse these guys. I haven't read anything else from the author but I should because I enjoyed this book so much. So you love true crime? Then you should find out what happens to those guys after their convictions, it's just a real solid cool book. Get it.

This is an excellent book. I read it because it was recommended by my instructors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center as I prepared to enter the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a Corrections Worker. I would recommend this for anyone who intends to work in a prison environment. This book describes real inmates, real situations and the the mind sets of inmates and staff. Consider it a survival handbook. I would also recommend the book "Games Criminals Play."

This book was written by a civilian (a person who was neither a correctional employee nor an inmate) about life in a federal correctional facility. It is held in such high regard as a factual and honest account that it was recommended by the instructors from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Since personally reading The Hot House more than ten years ago, I have purchased copies of The Hot House and "Games Criminal Play" for every friend who has been hired by, or who has considered applying for a federal, state or county prison or jail facility. Each person who has received these books has given them rave reviews. This book should be required reading for anyone considering a career in corrections and it is certainly worth reading for those of us who don't work in the field!