Alphabet

This novel manages to combine an uncanny knowledge of the bizzare intricacies of the prison system within a compelling narrative. The characters are drawn with sympathy but this is no sentimental portrait of a killer. Rather it is the complexities of the protaganist's personality and the way that this is gradually, painfully slowly, changed over a long period and through bumpy encounters with inflexible authority as well as those who show a genuine concern, which carries conviction.It is a good read as well as a telling reminder of the way in which we can fail to fully comprehend our fellow human beings.