The Penal Colony

✍ Scribed by Herley, Richard

• Book ID: 100594377
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 231 KB
• Edition: 1st Ballantine Books ed
• Category: Fiction
• City: New York, Great Britain, Great Britain.
• ISBN: 0345358759

✦ Synopsis

From Library Journal

Only violent criminals are brought to the island penal colony of Sert. Gunships circle the waters. There are no warders and no rules. There is only the Community, which provides a rigidly imposed order in exchange for a modicum of security and comfort. Madmen and sociopaths roam beyond the gates. Into this world descends Anthony John Routledge, sentenced for a crime he did not commit. Before Routledge is permitted to join the Community, he survives assault, attempted buggery, and murder, and kills three men. Then, the elders draft him to work on a plan to escape. They succeed, achieving victory both against those who condemned them and the barbarians who wait outside the gates to destroy them. A gripping novel, as thriller or novel of ideas.

From the dust jacket

It is 1997. The British government now runs island prison colonies to take dangerous offenders from its overcrowded mainland jails.

Among all these colonies, Sert, twenty-five miles off the north Cornish coast, has the worst reputation. There are no warders. Satellite technology is used to keep the convicts under watch. New arrivals are dumped by helicopter and must learn to survive as best they can.

To Sert, one afternoon in July, is brought Anthony John Routledge, sentenced for a sex-murder he did not commit.

Routledge knows he is here forever. And he knows he must quickly forget the rules of civilized life.

But not all the islanders are savages. Under the charismatic leadership of one man, a community has evolved. A community with harsh and unyielding rules, peopled by resourceful men for whom the hopeless dream of escape may not be so hopeless after all...

WC : 103,844
Work Table : My Scan
Formats : EPUB, PDF, ZIP

✦ Subjects

Great Britain