Millersville

by Brendan Detzner

The Illinois Youth Center in Millersville is a maximum security prison for teenage girls. There are no newspapers allowed in the facility, no internet, no TV news. No way to tell that something in the world beyond the fence has gone very wrong. At least not at first. Brendan Detzner's short fiction has appeared in Podcastle, Pseudopod, Chizine, One Buck Horror, Tales to Terrify, the Exigencies anthology from Dark House Press, and many other venues. He is the author of two story collections, "Scarce Resources" and "Beasts".

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

180 pages, Paperback

Published February 3, 2016

About the author

Brendan Detzner lives, works, and writes in Chicago. His work has appeared in Chizine, Pseudopod, Edge of Propinquity, Ruthless Peoples, Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, and the Book of Dead Things and Exigencies anthologies, as well as elsewhere. Brendan has also been featured at the Twilight Tales and Reading Under The Influence reading series in Chicago and runs his own reading series Bad Grammar Theater (http://www.badgrammartheater.com). You can keep track of what he's up to at http://www.brendandetzner.com.

Reviews

[Mariam Barakat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To begin with, this book was nothing like I expected.
Instead of seizing the premise of a maximum security girls' prison as an opportunity for a blood-curdling thriller, Mr. Detzner instead uses the setting to explore the motives that compel us to make the most important decisions of our lives and their effects on us. In the book, we journey into the minds of Analisse, Yolanda, Sonia, and several other prisoners as they try to make their way in such harsh surroundings. We sympathize with them and we care for their well-being but the masterful writing and storytelling never allow us to forget that there's a reason they ended up in the prison to begin with.

We also get an insight into the minds of the guards and officials of the prison: how each of them chooses to act with the inmates, why each of them chooses that method, and their motives behind working this job. This adds to the appeal of the story because it highlights how, despite the apparent notion that they're opponents, the guards and the inmates are actually on the same team. Everything that adversely affects the inmates has a similar effect on the guards, something that doesn't appear externally but we can tell since we have access to their inner monologues.

One of the greatest strengths of this story is that the author manages to create complex artful and compellingly human characters. They are not by any means endearing. After all, they're teenage girls who have managed to land themselves in prison. But you sympathize with them and you find yourself rooting for them (and taking sides when they fight amongst each other, which is a lot). Creating personable, relatable characters that stay with you after you've finished the book is an extremely difficult task and in this story, I found it completely mastered.

However, one of the book's major strengths (the exploration of the girls' characters) has given way to my major problem with it: there is most certainly a plot and a story going on in the background while the author tells the stories of the imprisoned girls. It starts to really unfold by the end of the book when all the excitement begins. Unfortunately, as a result, the beginning of the book is a little slow. Not much is going on, something some readers might find discouraging. In addition, as a direct result of the slow start of the book, once the action starts to pick up, the events can start to get overwhelming and confusing. However, by the end of the book, the confusion clears up.

The ending of the book is chilling. It's subtle. You might miss the implication presented by the ending of the book. I almost did. But once I noticed them, they gave me goosebumps.

Overall, the book deserves no less than 4 stars for its masterful and intricate storytelling. Not to mention the emotional punch it packs in the end and when you manage to connect two aspects of the story together. (Trying my best not to spoil anything.)

[Justin Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote a huge review on this book and somehow deleted it... frustration.

This book took a bit for me to get into and some of the characters were hard for me to follow at the beginning. Things smoothed out about 75% through though and I started to see where the book was heading. (just went ahead and saved the review at this point in case I hit whatever button it was that deleted the last one). I really started to like the Nelson character and he has a great quote on page 183. I got a pdf of this book so may be a different page on other formats but you will know what line I am talking about because it is bad ass. The story seemed to have a great perspective since it felt like a post apocalyptic story but instead of the characters being in the thick of it this was different because it was from the lives of people on the outskirts of it and we never hear their stories... I may be wrong about the apocalypse part but thats what I got and I liked that idea I formulated :)
Brendan Detzner is a great author and glad he picked me to review this and his other bookBeasts: 16 More Weird Stories which I promise I will finish soon. It is on a weird drop box format and aggravating to read on my phone.
Check this guy and his books out!

Thanks Much Love,
Justin

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was among the happy people to receive an ARC of "Millersville".

When I first heard what the book was mainly about - Teenage Girls in a High Security prison - I thought a few things: "Oh, I NEED to read this" and "Oh, this can go horribly wrong" popped into my mind.
I have to admit I was genuinely surprised how the book turned out to be. Detzners writing is clear and precise and he's not wasting too much time on elaborate settings and character descriptions, which sometimes made it a little bit hard to get into the rhythm of the book (for this reason, only four stars), but also keeps you tightly focused on the story without fussing around on details that are not relevant. The teenage girls are described in an utterly realistic way, I never had the feeling that they were artificial and I really could relate to them without ever forgetting that there was a reason for them being incarcerated.
I don't want to spoil too much of the story, but I just have to say that I loved the idea of describing the economic downfall of a country through the eyes of the people in a penitentiary, be it staff or prisoners. It's an extremely clever idea.
Also, a big thank you to Detzner for including a link to Prisoners Rights and Literacy Volunteers of Illinois, two organizations that seem to do very important work and are definitely worth ones attention.

[R.J.K. Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reader’s Copy for Brendan Detzner’s novel, Millersville, in return for an honest review. So here it is, with no real spoilers to speak of:
I actually ended up liking this much more than expected. The first chapter pulled me in, I was kind of interested in where Queen was going, but then we headed into this situation at a prison for girls that seemed kind of mundane at first. I was like what am I reading here? So I just pressed on to find out when we’d get back to Queen and to try to puzzle out where Queen was related to the prison story. But the last half was good. It’s a slow build to a theme that sticks with you afterwards. Not a book that gets in your face about anything, until it does. Fitting that, after the end of the novel, there’s a link to a site about prisoners’ rights. The novel has a realism traced with subtle discomfort to its pacing and reveals.
It was hard for me to get into the setting at times, mostly in the middle, because of how sparse the writing is, though after reading one of his short story collections Beasts, I did expect a sparse, sort of bare noir style, though I had expected more horror. By the end of Millersville, I feel like the tone and style of the novel fits with the story as a whole. I’d say stick through to the end. It’s not a book full of baggage or long description that will take up your reading time (though I’m also a fan of books like that, I do like some meaty description), and by the end it presents a story with clear relevance to our troubled times. There is horror, but not the grotesque or constant suspense I might’ve expected based on some of Brendan’s short stories. This is a more subtle, messed-up real life horror.
Oh, and I should point out, in the ARC I received there were a few spelling errors that poked at me here and there. All rather minor, I shrugged them off. Maybe the author fixed those in the current edition, or will do so in the future. Despite that, I still recommend giving this a read. Worth both the price and the troubling unease it will leave you with.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was very fortunate to receive an ARC (advance readers copy) and all that was requested of me was an honest review.

This is the second book (the first being Beasts which I loved) I have read by Brendan Detzner and I must say that there is as much difference in these two books as day and night. This man is versatile beyond anything I could have imagined. So, if you read and didn't care for Beasts you should not make a decision about reading Millersville based on your reaction to Beasts.

First don't be afraid to read this because of spoilers. My reviews are always based on how I like or dislike the book and why not a book report that is just a summary of the book. I don't like to read any details about a book I am going to read so that's how I write them.

Now to my review of Millersville: The main characters in Millersville were well rounded and I felt like I was right there with them through much of the book. Three of them I admired very much. Their stresses and fears made my heart pound and their moments of happiness and triumphs sometimes made me cry. This story could be true and someday may be. I hope not but I am a realist so I know that bad things do happen and the series of events in Millersville seem extremely possible and flow in a way that I could see as almost inevitable. On the other hand, a few things occurred that completely and totally shocked me to my core (they could still, very easily, happen). All together a great read and I hope that you will enjoy it as much it as I did.

[Kathryn Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I joined goodreads.com to explore some new authors. I was lucky enough to win this book in a giveaway. This is the first book that I have read, which was written by Mr. Detzner. This author did an amazing job describing women; how they act, talk, etc. in a women's prison. I should know, I was a correctional officer in a women's facility for three years. This was a fantastic story, it was hard to put it down so I could meet my obligations. Although, I have questions. At the beginning, middle, and, the ending, there is something going on with "Queen." Is this a queen or, is Queen just her name? Who is she; how does she relate to the story? Also, who's bones is she digging up? I'm not smart enough to figure out what is going on there. I guess I could use more meat in those sections. Anyway, if you have ever been interested in knowing what goes on in a women's prison, just read this book. Mr. Detzner portrayed it amazingly well.

[Digital Book Freak · Rating 4 out of 5]

First a big thank you to author Brendan Detzner, for giving me this opportunity to review Millersville for an honest review. My rating is 4 stars!

Wow! This book sucked me in from the beginning. Made me think of the history of Alcatraz Island Prison, Francisco Bay, where they had to close the penitentiary as it cost much more to operate than other prisons in 1963.

What this book is about?
A maximum prison for teenage girls on its way to destruction. The states’ cheques bounce, no money is coming in, food rations gets less for prisoners, the staff get suspicious and resign. Security cameras are broken and that means….nobody is watching… And that means anything can happen.

A great read and I would recommend this for everyone!

[Kirsten Tattersall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
To start off, this book wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but that wasn't a bad thing. In the book we follow the perspective of several female inmates, as well as the staff of the prison, and how they interact. The book creates a sense of needing to know how these people are doing you want them to do well.
You really get pulled in to the mystery of the Queen, and there's a sense of some serious things going on in the background while the characters are doing their thing. It is a compelling read and I highly recommend it.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, unusual story. There are so many characters, it is difficult to develop any of them fully. It would be interesting to take the story of Annalise, to see if she continues the "new awakening" she is experiencing in the early part of the story.

What happens to Yolande after the end of this book would make a rather intriguing tale.

The chapter titled "Four Years Later" suffers from too little information. The incorrect use of punctuation (I think) at first leads one to believe two people are talking. After three readings I determined that this is one person, and the ex-governor is never actually talking. I still haven't figured out who is talking to him.

So, who is asking for a job? It should be Yolande, but how did she get the paperwork?

The lack of page numbers is unusual.

[PJ Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite heavy reading, to know that things like this really happen is very disturbing.
I wish I had liked it more but I found it difficult to read, not just because of the subject. For me it was a little too slow going, which may suit other people.

[Amber Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that this book hit the very real experiences and situations of prisons, but for me this book was very slow going, and so I couldn't get into it and had to force myself to keep reading.

[Fatimah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's slow and quite confusing.