LockdownRating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


Prison is mostly all Jamison has known. He was in and out for years when he was younger, but now it’s his home with no chance of parole for almost another two decades. Jamison thinks he is exactly where he belongs as violent men like him don’t belong in the outside world. He’s alone and he tells himself he likes it that way until Brees becomes his new cell mate.

Brees didn’t have much of a chance growing up. His drug habit led him to commit an unspeakable crime and prison is his home for the next eighteen years. He doesn’t think he will make it out alive as pretty men like him are prey behind the prison walls. Brees sees Jamison as a mountain of a man and Brees is terrified of him, but also a little turned on. Against all odds, the men develop an attachment to each other and have a little bit of hope in their lives for the first time ever. But, the men certainly don’t know everything about each other and it’s what has been unspoken that could crush the one good thing either man has ever had.

Daya Daniels is a new author to me and I was impressed with the tight, first person narrative that she crafted. This book is all about prison life and neither Jamison or Brees are good people. They know this, they admit this, but they would have preferred if things could have been different.

The book is told in alternate point of view that really allows us to get into the mindset of both men. Brees is new to the prison and he fears for his life and has no reason to think he will make it out alive. When he realizes that he will be sharing a cell with Jamison, he thinks, with good reason, that his new cell mate might be the one to kill him. But something about Brees immediately calls to Jamison and he wants to touch and protect him. Brees has already been in prison for 15 years and he has many more years to go. He is 45 and we know that he is older than Brees, but I never did get a handle on exactly how old Brees was.

The connection between the men is instant and there is both insta-lust and insta-love going on here, but the author made it work for the characters and their setting. As expected with a prison book, there is violence and the relationship between Jamison and Brees is certainly rough around the edges, but Jamison has no intention of letting any harm come to Brees.

The author sets up a great reveal as the story moves along. I was then trying to figure out how these men would come to terms with it all as well as their relationship when the book ended at 82%. Not only did it then end unexpectedly, it ended abruptly with a lack of real closure for me. The book was well paced until then, but where and how it ended wasn’t the best fit for me.

I would look into other works from the author as I did like her style overall. The book was a fast read and if you are looking for books with a prison backdrop you could check out Lockdown.

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