Sleepers

This has to be amongst the most captivating, mesmerizing book I have read. Brilliantly executed and masterfully crafted.

A fantastic story about revenge, redemption, coming of age. The middle section of the book is intense, hard to sit through without it inducing anxiety inside you, but sit with it for there is hope on the other side.It is extremely difficult to believe that these experiences truly happened to the author, who writes in the first person. However, certain things that happen to boys have happened in the past and probably continue to happen to this day. It's eye opening, disturbing but there is hope that they can move on.

I was truly blown away by this true-life account. It's a deeply upsetting read and not for the faint of heart. I think Carcaterra took a lot of courage to write this book and spread out his life so raw like that. It follows four young boys who get sent to a juvenile prison and the horrors they had to endure whilst they were there. The setting of Hell's Kitchen is a colourful one at that with equally colourful characters, with the real hell being Wilkinson's prison where the setting is cold and horrific.I think the author built up the characters in such a way that you became protective of them, you really cared for each of the boys and even the street characters. I loved King Benny and Father Bobby, I'd actually love to read more about them to be honest.I watched the movie years ago and forgot about it but the book came up as a recommendation recently and I'm glad got a chance to read it.x

'Sleepers' by Lorenzo Carcaterra is a true-life account of the 1960s New York City's Hell's Kitchen and events that took place at the the Wilkinson prison for boys. Through all of this though are four boys who come to realise that the only one thing they have at the end of the day is their friendship and this is the only thing that keeps them getting through it.

This book was recommended, I can honestly say I wish I hadn't bought it. The back cover reads so good - four friends share everything. Eleven years later, one had become a journalist, one a lawyer and two killers for the mob., from which a trial brings them together. I found it so boring, which was a shame.

Interesting read but there are a errors in the story. First were told Shakes roundabout his dad was a murderer at the age of 12 and then later on he says he found out at the age of 14. The boys ages also don't match up throughout the book.Worth a read though