I’ve been waiting for publication week to post (and boast) about my glowing Midwest Book Review write-up, which just went live on the review site’s Bookwatch page.
MBR Senior Reviewer D. Donovan highlights the snowball at the book’s beginning, which was the nexus that led to my involvement in a federal prison case and eventually to my book Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir:
The fact that Conti has a researcher’s eye for detail but operates (at least, initially) from outside the prison system lends discovery and surprise to the story, which emerges from Conti’s opening lines that consider the source of all these events:
This book exists because a convict once threw a snowball at a prison guard and hit him in the face.
The resulting fallout from this seemingly innocuous move rippled and expanded like an exploding supernova to embrace inmates, guards, administrators, and prison outsiders such as Conti and Scott. The violent chain reaction which emerged eventually led to the closure of an experimental prison program that pinpointed and reflected a broken prison system’s terrible practices.
I can’t express how much I love Donovan’s poetic encapsulation of the book’s direction and themes. (No surprise there, as she is also author of the book San Francisco Relocated and editor of Donovan’s Literary Services.) Her in-depth review made even me want to read the book again, which is ridiculous, but that’s saying something!
And Donovan went a step further by discussing Chained Birds’ potential impact on people working within the prison and justice systems, suggesting this:
… CHAINED BIRDS deserves a prominent place in any library strong in criminal and justice system probes. However, its recommended audience shouldn’t stop here. Ideally, CHAINED BIRDS will be used as a foundation text in college-level classroom for students of social issues, criminology, and justice system management; as well as profiled in book club and reader groups.
I’m honored by this perception and should note that Midwest Book Review sends my write-up to the Cengage Group for inclusion in its Book Review Index, which goes out to thousands of school and community libraries throughout the US.
Midwest Book Review is unique among reviewers in that it prioritizes small press publications while advocating for literacy and the use of public libraries.
Here is the complete review by Donna Donovan, Editor & Reviewer, Donovan’s Literary Services:
CHAINED BIRDS is a true crime memoir that follows journalist Carla Conti into a legal effort to advocate for federal prison inmate Kevin Sanders, the client of her lawyer friend Scott. Conti never anticipated that helping her friend would land her in a deadly mix of prison politics, abuse, and justice system failures.
The fact that Conti has a researcher’s eye for detail but operates (at least, initially) from outside the prison system lends discovery and surprise to the story, which emerges from Conti’s opening lines that consider the source of all these events:
This book exists because a convict once threw a snowball at a prison guard and hit him in the face.
The resulting fallout from this seemingly innocuous move rippled and expanded like an exploding supernova to embrace inmates, guards, administrators, and prison outsiders such as Conti and Scott. The violent chain reaction which emerged eventually led to the closure of an experimental prison program that pinpointed and reflected a broken prison system’s terrible practices.
From the start, CHAINED BIRDS presents scenarios of dovetailing adversity and struggle that challenged Conti’s new role as part of a legal defense team. As she navigated the impact of political, social, and justice system processes, she embarked on a personal journey into an investigation that revealed more and more underlying influences and dangerous prison trends. These proved dangerous to her and Scott as they became involved with other prison inmates over promises of retribution and violence.
These revelations emerge within the context of daily trial proceedings, family relationships challenged by Conti and Scott’s involvements, and the influences of Mafia-like hit men, FBI agents, and prison and justice system precedents.
Abuse, cover-ups, revenge, paranoia … all these factors and many more result in a portrait that will prove eye-opening not only to those outside the prison/justice system, but to many professionals operating within these systems.
This is why CHAINED BIRDS deserves a prominent place in any library strong in criminal and justice system probes. However, its recommended audience shouldn’t stop here. Ideally, CHAINED BIRDS will be used as a foundation text in college-level classroom for students of social issues, criminology, and justice system management; as well as profiled in book club and reader groups.
It holds invaluable debate material, couched in a riveting series of events that reads with the drama of fiction, delivered with the one-two punch of reality.
D. Donovan’s review of Chained Birds also appears on her website Donovan’s Literary Services
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
