Behind Prison Bars

By: Sandra Olson

Narrated by: Ayelet Sror

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Samantha Owens applied for the vacant position offered by the State of Texas prison officials for a Registered Nurse with obstetrical experience to work in their OB clinic. After her somewhat frightening orientation what she actually ended up working was the night shift position making her responsible for over 900 inmates in the women's correctional facility. Facing the challenges of triaging pregnant inmates and those with multiple medical issues was daunting and often dangerous during the minimally staffed night shift.

For Amy Graham who was incarcerated for writing hot checks, the challenges ranged from simple embarrassment and loneliness to the horrors of being a relatively innocent victim of the dangerous women around her.

Although this novel is a work of fiction and the characters' names have been changed to protect the author, Samantha Owens experiences are based on actual incidents that happened to the author when she worked as a nurse in a women's correctional facility.

©2013 Sandra Olson (P)2015 Sandra Olson

Its frightening but this really COULD HAPPEN!

I've always enjoyed medical thrillers but have never read one that took place in a women's prison before. It was interesting getting a glimpse into that world and gain an understanding of roles and risks that the people who work there face. I had never thought about how pregnancy and labor and birth are handled in a female prison population or even considered that there would need to be procedures around that possibility. The book will give you much to discuss is you enjoy debating medical ethics with your friends. It will also scare you as you realize how much trust is often given to those in medical 'authority.'
The story was well developed and I felt like I would have recognized the characters if I met them on the street. The story built to a page-turning climax and then wrapped up with a feel-good ending. I did receive a copy in exchange for an honest review but even if I hadn't I would have recommended that you read or listen to this one! And..I was considering a minor foot surgery later this year but now... YIKES!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Whoa!! I could see this happening today.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an easy listen. Starts gently by building a skeleton and then Sandra begins to flesh out the story. Good twists at just the right time. Simply a good story.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that this could actually happen (and probably does) in the world today. I am a fan of old time radio shows (I love good story telling). This fits in well with what I like to listen to...just a good story.

Have you listened to any of Ayelet Sror’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I had not listened to Ayelet yet. This is my first. Good pace, nice smooth voice. Her character voices are nice. Helps to follow the story and figure out what character is speaking. I look forward to more of her narration.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Be careful of minor surgeries.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A different kind of prison story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. The story was an interesting variation of the prison life

Would you recommend Behind Prison Bars to your friends? Why or why not?

Not sure. Possible

What aspect of Ayelet Sror’s performance would you have changed?

I felt her performance was too monotone

Was Behind Prison Bars worth the listening time?

I probably would have preferred reading the story.

Any additional comments?

We always see prison stories from the prisoner or guard’s point of view. Behind Prison bars is told from the perspective of the nurses that care for the inmates. How real it is, I can’t judge, but aside from the fictional aspect of the medical thriller, I can well imagine it might be as portrayed in the story. The nurses are told not to care about their patients. “Don’t get dragged into their story,” the warden tells them, but as Samantha (one of the nurses) points out, isn’t that why nurses become nurses to begin with? They care about people and whether they’re hurt or sick. What I liked about this story was the interesting characters Sandra Olson cast. From Samantha, the naïve nurse, Susan whose only goal in life is to take care of her sick daughter, but ends up sticking her nose in too far, poor Amy who will learn a valuable lesson about over-spending, and of course the greedy doctors, and the ignorant warden. The first half of the story kind of drags as the author gets technical about the medical aspects of the nursing field and connects the prisoners to the main story, which in my opinion (others I’m sure would disagree) was too much information. The second-half of the story finally begins to move and the suspense builds as the characters fall into place. Overall it was a good story. The narration was okay but a little flat and monotone through much of the story. I’ve listened to many audiobooks and some have turned me off so much I had to stop listening. I was able to stick with the story here.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thriller? Not hardly!

This is a terrible performance of a not-very-good book. Thriller? Not hardly. I listened to the whole thing, hoping it would get better, but it never did. Waste of my time and money. The narrator is horrible.“Been” does not equal “bean.” There are many other similar odd pronunciations, but this one happens repeatedly. I won’t be listening to anything else she’s done.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

dialogue is lacking

the dialogue is lacking, accents inconsistent and voices strange. part of this is undoubtedly because the writing is lacking. story has a lot of potential but characters lack direction and are confusing. who's our heroine? zero development.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

not my favourite read

I blame the narrator, her voice was tinny, boring, emotionless and lacked emotion . storyline ok