Green River Rising (Paperback)

by Tim Willocks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
British psychiatrist Willocks sets his thriller in the midst of a race riot in a Texas prison.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Willocks delivers an extraordinary second novel about an uprising at a state penitentiary in Texas. The story's well-developed characters include Dr. Ray Klein, a wrongly convicted orthopedic surgeon awaiting parole; Juliette Devlin, a forensic psychiatrist studying prisoners with AIDS; Frog Coley, a convict who has the gift of healing; Henry Abbott, a schizophrenic inmate; and John Campbell Hobbes, an insane warden. Hobbes plants the seeds for the uprising by manipulating existing racial and sexual tensions and then ordering a total lockdown of the cellblocks. Suspense mounts as riots flare and order becomes anarchy. Devlin is trapped with others in the besieged infirmary, while Klein battles to rescue them. Central to this gripping and often graphic plot is Klein: his struggles to survive prison, his fears of a life outside, and his developing love for Devlin. Highly recommended for adult fiction collections.
Stacie Browne Chandler, Plymouth P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380723573
• ISBN-13: 978-0380723577
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,303,013 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars atsonishingly tough novel of prison life, January 25, 2006

By	Raegan Butcher (RainCity, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was a prisoner for 7 years in 4 different prisons in Washington State and it was during my incarceration that I discovered this book. To boil it down into a nutshell, you could say its like DIE HARD during a prison riot, with a lone protagonist pitted against some seriously depraved adversaries-- but that doesn't do it justice; this book just drips authentic atmosphere--it's as evocative as the prison writings of Edward Bunker. I was completely flabbergasted when I found out the author had not only NOT done time himself, but was actually an Englishman to boot! My hat is off to Tim Willocks; without ever having spent any time in an American prison that I know of, he has captured something as real as anything ever written by inmates themselves. What still stands out in my mind are the well drawn motivations of the various factions warring inside the prison and the absolute vileness of some of the villains.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Savage, compelling, intelligent journey into hell, November 5, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Green River Rising (Bookcassette(r) Edition) (Audio Cassette)

HEAT, HUMIDITY, HELL: ANARCHY AT GREEN RIVER © by Carolyn J. Seeley. Reverse your image of a prison, like the negative of a photograph. What could be more safe than a glass enclosure, dedicated to the reform and social reengineering of convicts? What happens to men when light is punishment and discipline? Green River State Penitentiary in East Texas, imagined by English author Tim Willocks in his novel, Green River Rising, is a facility that sentences men to prison lives without darkness, to be scorched clean by light. Now, what happens when the prison warden's nineteenth century philosophy of prison reform meets twentieth century East Texas taxpayers, parole boards, politicians? This is Willocks' stage for his drama of a violent uprising, spurred by a warden with a failed dream and crumbling mind, who touches off the uprising for the sake of it--to achieve change through force, to move life along through sacrifice and blood, the more senseless and arbitrary, the better. Green River Rising is savage yet compelling; a page turner, an intelligent book. Well plotted, with memorable characters, Willocks' writing conveys the stifling sense of entrapment in a prison gone amok. However, the underlying themes of loyalty, survival, friendship, and love transcend the gore and give the book its depth. It is not light reading, but a gripping, intense tale rumored soon to be brought to a theater near you. Although Willocks wrote the screenplay, read the book before Hollywood gets its hooks in.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, one of the best books i have ever read., December 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Green River Rising (Audio Cassette)

Green River Rising is a brilliantly written book about hardened prison life, which other authers wont tread. Shocking, violent, you wont be able to put it down. A must