I got this book from Netgalley so I can read and review it before its published. I actually kept scrolling past this book on Netgalley, but a few days ago, I stopped and clicked and was intrigued.
I have always been a bit fascinated with Alcatraz, and when I took a trip to San Francisco in 2005, Alcatraz was one of the places I visited, and it was pretty amazing and eerie!
I didn’t know anything about Roy Gardner, but after reading, I learned he robbed a jewelry store, he robbed and escaped from a quite a few delivery trains and, he escaped from prison (not Alcatraz). Throughout the book, a lot of people everywhere think they saw him.
He was at Alcatraz from 1934 to 1938 and during that time, the Golden Gate Bridge was under construction. If things had turned out differently for Roy, he could’ve easily been one of the construction workers on it.
He was married to Dollie, and they had a daughter named, Jean. Even though he was a criminal, Dollie stayed true to him and did some vaudeville theater tours to help him. One of the police officers who captured him, Louis Sonney, also did the same. Dollie eventually left Roy after 15 years and remarried.
Dollie and Louis were trying to get some money so Roy could have brain surgery as earlier, he was working in a mine, and there was an accident. Roy had to have a steel plate inserted. He claims that’s why he did criminal things.
Overall, I enjoyed the book.
