{"id":64779,"date":"2016-10-11T20:36:24","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T09:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=64779"},"modified":"2017-09-15T16:07:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T05:07:01","slug":"book-guarantee-youll-cringe-recoil-spit-disgust-metal-man-australias-toughest-prisons-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2016\/10\/11\/book-guarantee-youll-cringe-recoil-spit-disgust-metal-man-australias-toughest-prisons-inmates\/","title":{"rendered":"That Metal Man: With this book I guarantee you\u2019ll cringe, recoil, spit in disgust…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"xaustralia-s-toughest-prisons-inmates-jpg-pagespeed-ic-fdxra3fwii\"<\/a>Review by That Metal Man.<\/strong>
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There are pictures painted in my mind that I don\u2019t need to revisit: one, the image of Port Arthur serial killer Martin Bryant carrying out certain \u2018acts\u2019 on fellow prisoners as a means to obtain chocolate; the other, Anita Cobby killer Gary Murphy being used as a plaything by his fellow inmates. And of course, probably the most publicised inmate of more recent times, convicted <\/span>Hey Dad! <\/span><\/i>TV star, Robert Hughes and his induction to prison life courtesy of projectile milk-containers filled with less-than-savoury contents; another picture I’d rather forget. However all laid bare by award-winning journalist, James Phelps, in his latest book,\u00a0Australia’s Toughest Prisons: Inmates.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

With the opening graphic stanza out of the way, you\u2019re primed for what is an uncomfortable – but strangely addictive – read about the goings-on across Australia\u2019s toughest prisons. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, the book\u2019s opening assault describing Martin Bryant and Gary Murphy is brief. Trust me, you don\u2019t need a more vivid image than the one Phelps paints. With the shock and awe of the opening 5 pages complete, Phelps brings readers through the country\u2019s juvenile \u201ccorrectional\u201d system, told through the eyes of inmates who\u2019ve known little else than prison cell walls since they were teenagers, and it ain\u2019t pretty. The fear faced by new inmates, young and old, is something I can only imagine – but Phelps\u2019 writing style is such that you\u2019re drawn into the minds of the inmates, indeed through <\/span>their own words<\/span><\/i>, and it\u2019s a dark and horrible place. In fact, <\/span>Australia’s Toughest Prisons: Inmates <\/span><\/i>should be compulsory reading for school students and so-called law-abiding citizens alike; trust me on this: you begin to drive within the speed limit and you suppress those thoughts of terrorising your in-laws for fun, i.e. you do all you can to distance yourself from the law.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Phelps\u2019 writing style is such that you\u2019re drawn into the minds of the inmates, indeed through their own words<\/i>, and it\u2019s a dark and horrible place. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You know you’re in for a dark read when you buy\u00a0<\/span>Australia’s Toughest Prisons: Inmates, <\/span><\/i>however\u00a0<\/span>James Phelps does a fair job keeping things light by allowing the inmates themselves to do the talking (the language colourful, the tone oh so sinister). The interviews are superb. The insight provided by prisoners is chilling: the bashings, the murders, the daily assaults, the lives of inmates both \u201cpetty\u201d and more deeply serious, are all laid bare in graphic detail and with a frankness that leaves the hairs on the back of your neck quivering in fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

With this book I guarantee you\u2019ll cringe, recoil, spit in disgust, and do all you can to disconnect from the inmates\u2019 minds that Phelps does such an incredible job to share. Want to experience the horrors of Pentridge? Phelps takes you there and delivers a swift kick in the backside as the gates slam shut behind you. Fancy a helicopter joyride and prison break as bullets whoosh past you from Silverwater jail\u2019s watch towers below? There\u2019s more about that well-publicised helicopter prison-break\u2019s rollicking story describing how the Russian bride forgot the car keys for the getaway car after the helicopter landed in a sports field in Sydney\u2019s west. Oh well, at least she managed to pull off the most exciting part of the escape (the helicopter pilot eventually escaped more or less unharmed; the escapee and Russian bride less fortunate – you\u2019ll have the read the book to learn their fate in finer detail – a highlight because it\u2019s just so bloody stupid).<\/span><\/p>\n

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You\u2019ll not find a more descriptive expos\u00e9 on Australia\u2019s toughest and roughest prisons and the people within them (hardened prison guards included – and ain\u2019t they a pretty picture!)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Amongst all the bashings and assaults, there\u2019s at least one relatively bright note – when Phelps interviews former NRL star Craig Field, who is currently serving time for manslaughter. That interview is probably the most insightful of all because Field manages to keep his head down; you really feel for him. The frank discussions with Field, held across multiple visits to Cessnock and Grafton prisons by Phelps, are fascinating and a highlight of the book.<\/p>\n

This is a fantastic read, for want of a better word. You\u2019ll not find a more descriptive expos\u00e9 on Australia\u2019s toughest and roughest prisons and the people within them (hardened prison guards included – and ain\u2019t they a pretty picture!). Phelps deserves kudos for what he\u2019s achieved – bringing us, the readers, not only past the prison walls but into the twisted and damaged minds of this country\u2019s toughest inmates. Want to know how mobile phones are smuggled into prisons? Ok, maybe not…<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t