Thank you to Globe Pequot and NetGalley for my advanced-reader copy of this book. This review features my own opinions and authentic thoughts.

Alcatraz: The Last Escape is a compelling account of the Anglin brothers, the infamous Alcatraz escapees, who are widely believed to have drowned during their escape attempt from the equally infamous prison island. Written by their nephew, the book uses a collection of government documents, personal letters and testimonies, and photographs to paint a strong case that the brothers actually survived. In fact, Widner suggests that his uncles escaped with the help of their mobster friend Mickey Cohen and wound up in Brazil, living out their lives and fathering children.

I’m fascinated by this case and have been for years, so I enjoyed this engaging read. It was super interesting to see government documents and even read the somewhat intrusively private personal letters. For all the petty crimes they committed, they were humans, brothers, sons, after all. The format was a little hard to follow at times, and I could just about let the reconstructed dialogue pass – it took me away from the overall story, because it just felt cheesy and forced. I also found it emotionally captivating: here is a nephew desperately reconstructing the potential story of his uncles and whose family has been irrevocably changed by their actions and paths. Is it his wishful thinking? I finished the book with more questions than before!

This book has in interesting view on the escape. While I have read and watched shows on Alcatraz and the escapees I have never knew about the how they got to where they were suspected to be. It would be really awesome to find out for sure. I liked the bit of info on how the book came about. I felt the info in this book was a bit repetitive but I enjoyed reading it.

This book by Ken Widner and Mike Lynch was a captivating and informative read! Written by a family member of two of the famous Alcatraz escapees would be interesting enough, but being able to provide readers with photos, quotes from a variety of sources, documents, and a detailed storyline that could be used as evidence to support the idea that they were successful in their escape is amazing.

The Last Escape details the family life and upbringing of the Anglin brothers, the relationships they forged, prison life for all inmates, "possible" life after escape and much more. In addition to the detailed description of the escape itself, we as readers also get a glimpse of how the escape from Alcatraz had affected the family members of the escapees as well.

There was a lot of information presented in this book that while it was related to the escape felt wordy at times. While reading it, I knew it was going to be important as the story progressed but I kept wanting to get to the exciting parts. However, this is not a reflection of the authors writing but in my ability as a reader to wait for the exciting parts of the escape that I knew were coming!

This book was extremely well researched and was compelling to read. For anyone who enjoy non-fiction books and/or are captivated by Alcatraz and the famous escape, this is a must read. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book as an ARC and i look forward to adding a copy to my bookshelf after its official release.

I love reading books about Alcatraz, and this one is no exception. I couldnt put it down. I hope to get the chance to read more.

I found this book to be captivating. The addition of photos and documents added a nice touch to the reading experience. Exploring the lives of John and Clarence was engrossing, and I appreciated learning more about them. However, I encountered some difficulty following the formatting and style of the book at times, which was my only minor complaint.

I would like to take time to thank Globe Pequot and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of the factual happenings behind the infamous escape from Alcatraz.

“Alcatraz: The Last Escape” is a carefully crafted account, written by family members of the notorious escape artists that all but proves the successful escape from inescapable prison.

Widner and Lynch gain ethos with a detailed background of the criminal’s childhood, upbringing, early encounters with the legal system and then lifelong illegal activity. Quite frankly, John and Clarence Anglin were destined for prison their entire lives, until they weren’t.

The co-authors do an incredible job incorporating photographs, documents, letters and historical artifacts to help ferry the reader through the life and mischievous journey of the two brothers.

Towards the end of the book, a lot of the story is left to interpretation, hear-say and conjecture, which was inevitable considering the two brothers were forced to disappear and cut ties completely with their former lives. So although necessary, the reader is left with a sense skepticism in moments of fabricated dialogue between characters left in the story.

Overall, the book was well paced, well researched and entertaining. I will be grabbing the hard copy for my collection as soon as it hits shelves.

Fascinating story of 3 brothers rumored to have escaped the unescaple Alcatraz prison. Written by family the book details how the escape was pulled off.

A very interesting and detailed look into the infamous escape from Alcatraz.

Knowing that the author is a member of the family makes the book feel more intimate and the details about the upbringing was fascinating, especially the relationships with the siblings.

When Frank Morris and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz, their bodies never recovered from the freezing waters of San Francisco Bay, what resulted was decades of speculation. The most common is that they drowned, their bodies swept out to sea.

This new account of their escape, written by a nephew of the Anglins, suggests that they were able to successfully escape with the aid of mobster Mickey Cohen, and make their way to Brazil, where they lived out their lives. It's tempting to discount this account as wishful thinking, and the authors use of reconstructed dialogue doesn't help matters. But I found the book persuasive. An important addition to the growing body of literature on "the Rock."

This was an excellent book about a subject that has intrigued me for years. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Alcatrez, especially the last escape, to read this one.