Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison [Paperback]

James W. Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

When convicted murderer Gary Tison broke out of an Arizona prison with the help of his sons in 1978, it was an embarrassment to the state. Then it became a nightmare. Tison and his gang murdered six people before they were stopped near the Mexican border. Clarke's story of that manhunt is a chilling account of both cold-blooded murder and astonishing corruption within the state penal system. Last Rampage is a tale of criminal ruthlessness that has been called the In Cold Blood of the American West. Twenty years later, overtaxed law enforcement and overcrowded prisons can only make us wonder if such an incident could happen again.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tison was serving two consecutive life sentences for murder when, accompanied by another killer named Randy Greenawalt and aided by members of Tison's family, he broke out of Arizona State Prison in 1978. The two escapees and Tison's sons Donny, Ray and Ricky left a trail of corpses in their wake as they eluded law-enforcement pursuit across Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The chilling trek came to an end in a shoot-out near the Mexican border: Donny was killed; Tison fled but later died of exposure; sons Ray and Ricky, and Greenawalt are now on death row. Clarke, a political-science professor at the University of Arizona, explores the legacy of lawlessness Gary Tison inherited from his grandfather and father; his marriage (his wife adored him); and the misplaced confidence his sons placed in him. He also examines the ways Tison took advantage of the prison system. Warden Harold Cardwell considered him a model of the rehabilitated hardened criminal, choosing to overlook his history of escape attempts and even detailed reports of the final escape plan. This is a riveting account of a bloody crime spree and a first-class study of a cunning sociopath in action. Photos.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Illuminating and absorbing. . . . The book is more than a simple cops-and-bandits tale: It is a psychological study in the machinations of a master manipulator. . . . Last Rampage is one of those rare books that is both highly entertaining and thought-provoking." —Arizona Republic "The killings alone are chilling enough to place this fascinating book alongside Joseph Wambaugh's The Onion Field or Joe MicGinniss' Fatal Vision. . . . Though the details of corruption in Arizona's prison system are absorbing, the story of Tison's psychological control over his three sons provides the most riveting reading." —Chicago Tribune "Gripping and violent . . . a strong sense of place and culture; an intelligent look at the . . . factors that allowed a manipulative killer to exercise his influence." —Kirkus Reviews "A riveting account of a bloody crime spree and a first-class study of a cunning sociopath in action." —Publishers Weekly "[A] vivid, frightening, and fascinating portrait." —New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816519676
• ISBN-13: 978-0816519675
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story of a true psychopath, August 15, 2003

By 

Paul Cerra - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison (Paperback)

As of this writing, it is just over 25 years to the day that convicted murderer Gary Tison escaped from an Arizona State prison with the help of his three teenaged sons and a fellow convict and repeat murderer named Randy Greenawalt. The brazen escape was well-planned and bloodless, but unfortunately the careful planning ended there. Increasingly desperate and disorganized, the five armed and dangerous men soon turned to robbery and murder as they searched for a way to sneak across the Mexican border. Six innocent people died before Tison and his gang were apprehended less than two weeks later. James W. Clarke's story is surprisingly gripping as he recounts a tale that centers around the frightening incompetence in the Arizona State Prison system which allowed Tison and Greenawalt to escape, and the terrible consequences that followed.

Clarke should be praised for his research and his attention to detail. He has woven together so many sources that the book actually reads as if he was allowed to shadow the escapees as they roamed around several western states during their time on the run. I was doubtful about this book at first because I didn't see how a prison escape could warrant some 300 pages in a paperback book, but when I stayed up until well after midnight trying to finish it, I realized that Clarke had written an exceptional true-crime story. The author brings alive the desert southwest and the people who live there with his capable writing, making the tale all the more grim as innocent victims are killed by these brutal men. Some readers might find the sections on Arizona politics and corruption in the prison system to be boring or unrelated, but I came to believe that the book was made stronger by the inclusion of this material.

Although two of Tison's sons had their sentences commuted to life in prison, Randy Greenawalt was executed in January 1997, eighteen and a half years after his crimes. Clarke doesn't directly comment on the death penalty (which, at the time, had been recently reintroduced in various American states after a Supreme Court decision in favor of it) but instead includes various quotes on the subject from people involved with the case. Readers will have to draw their own conclusions, but surely no one will disagree that Gary Tison was a true psychopath who ruined too many lives, including those of his sons.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vivid Description of a Madman and his Escape from Prison, December 3, 2001

By 

E. Gartman (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison (Hardcover)

Professor James W. Clarke has carefully and vividly recreated the escape from prison of convicted murderer Gary Tison, and the subsequent killing spree he and Randy Grunwalt embarked upon, along with Tison's three sons. Clarke describes Tison's early days, when he was committing crimes at a young age, and the romance he started with a young woman visiting prisoners as part a church mission. Tison continued to commit more serious crimes, but still managed to have three children, whose memories of him consisted mainly of their father behind bars. Tison's wife helped him escape by giving him a handgun, and the Last Rampage was on. The most memorable part of the book is the senseless and brutal murder of a young family by Tison and Grunwalt on the side of a deserted Arizona road. Clarke himself was camped next to the Tison clan in Northern Arizona one night, and sensing something was wrong, he quickly gathered his belongings and left with his wife, perhaps saving them both. The only drawback is Clarke's complete reliance on Stanley Milgrams Obedience to Authority thesis to explain the reason that the Tison boys willingly followed their father into murder and mayhem, without considering any other explanation.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal Experience with Randy Greenwalt, May 7, 2005

By 

Sonofabricklayer (Palmyra, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison (Hardcover)

I think Clarke is pretty close to the money. Randy Greenwalt took me fishing when I was a kid and did yard work for our family, his Dad was a bricklayer in my Dad's construction company. I still have a beautiful display cabinet that he built in his senior year woods class at Palmyra MO high school. Didn't know much about abnormal psych then, but in retrospect there was a lot about Randy (and his younger brother James 'Doc' Greenwalt) that I now realize was a short fuse waiting to go off. Dad often said that their father was too rough on them and it was just a matter of time before their pent-up anger blew in one direction or another. Randy was not a leader, but he was a dedicated follower, which meshed well with Tison's warped sense of purpose. Randy probably would have been a good Marine--his sister Darlene did have a successful Army career.

Most interesting study.