The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld (Goodreads Author)

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a rather strange book, narrated by a deathrow inmate Arden ( we actually learn very little about him and the unspeakable crime he committed other than he likes to read and imagine himself far away) he tells about life in "the enchanted place" prison.

There is the young boy imprisoned for two years for joyriding in a car and used by a corrupt guard to reward Risk for being his informant. How the boys cries for help go unheeded and the boys despair when he realizes the guard will find a way to extend his prison term and the solution he devises.

There is York (ostensibly the main character) who wants to die, but whose execution is being reviewed by "the Lady". How the Lady finds the mitigating circumstances (born with syphilis, sexually abused) that would mitigate his sentence to Life, but allows him to make the choice to die.

The Fallen Priest who serves the prisoners as penitence for letting his girlfriend down and how his relationship with the Lady develops.

And the Warden who holds onto his humanity while surrounded by death.

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