An American Cage by Ted Galdi

From Goodreads

Three inmates break out of a maximum-security prison in Texas, one of them Danny Marsh, a suburban kid in his twenties who landed in jail because of a crime he never intended to commit.

An American Cage follows Danny and his two escape partners over a twenty-four-hour period as they struggle to cross Texas to freedom in Mexico. On this dangerous journey, Danny has to evade the rabid Texas authorities, and even worse, the schemes of one of his closest allies, who isn't who he seems.

The second novel by Amazon #1 bestselling author and multi-award winner Ted Galdi, this psychological thriller is packed with suspense, twists, and grit, all while having heart. The story follows its young male protagonist on a journey of self-discovery and redemption as he weaves through a rocky landscape of family issues, guilt, betrayal, and questions about the nature of good and evil.

Along the way, he encounters an eclectic supporting cast, including a renowned psychology professor, a car thief, a young female hitchhiker, the leader of a biker gang, and a small-town Texas policeman with big ambitions.

Featuring vivid descriptions of East Texas's Piney Woods, Austin, and El Paso, a cinematic unfolding of action, and a examination of existential philosophical concepts, An American Cage would be a pleasing read for fans of literary thrillers as well as commercial thrillers.

The book has echoes of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men, in addition to the crime fiction of upmarket writers like Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos.    

My thoughts

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I did give this 3 stars or 6/10 initially, after some thought I've changed my rating to 2.5 stars or 5/10.

I so wanted to enjoy this story more than I did. I struggled with it and found that it didn't really keep my attention, at times I found it a chore to pick up. I definitely found the second half better than the first, as I found the pace of the story picked up.

The story centres around three escaped convicts and what happens to them following their escape. Whilst, on the run we find out a lot about them and our attitude towards some of them may change as the story progresses. It just goes to show that you can't believe all the people all of the time.

Whilst, the story isn't an all out and out action one, I found this to be an asset as it gave us a more character driven story and I felt that in the second half we certainly found out quite a lot about certain characters. This helped us to understand certain things better.

Will I read other stories by Ted Galdi? Yes I will, in order to see how he develops as a writer.