Eight great books set in prisons

International bestselling author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His novels have been translated into 15 languages and have won critical acclaim across the globe, including stars from every major pre-publication review outlet. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Parks is a former journalist with The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. He is now a full-time novelist living in Virginia with his wife and two school-aged children.

Parks's new novel is The Last Act.

At CrimeReads he tagged eight great books set in prisons, including:

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Okay, two King books in the same list. But this one is too terrific to leave out. Through the eyes of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe, we get the story of John Coffey, a giant of a man who is sentenced to die—but, it turns out, has supernatural healing powers. Originally released in serialized form, as six separate works, it has some great cliffhangers in the middle if you consume it as one volume. A quick caution: don’t read the execution scene of Eduard Delacroix if you’re about to go to sleep. Just don’t.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue