Really good book about an interesting topic, it's slightly worrying that some people simply walked away from prison, some of the mistakes by the authorities are mind boggling.

I liked that the author managed to make the stories engaging, without glorifying the criminals involved, a tricky thing to do when some of the escapees seemed to be adverse from harming any members of the public that they came across.

Smart, Gripping, and Insightful.

On The Lam is more than just a collection of prison escape stories—it’s a sharp look at the cracks in the justice system. Lorna Poplak mixes true crime with history in a way that’s both entertaining and eye-opening. A must-read for anyone who enjoys real-life thrillers with depth. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I enjoyed Lorna Poplak's On the Lam - it was fascinating and insightful and a good example of the fact that truth is always far more stranger than fiction

ON THE LAM by Lorna Poplak
⭐️ rating: 6/10

read if you like:
📖 non-fiction
🔪 prison escapes
📍 Canada

summary:
This book tells the stories of many epic prison escapes across Canada through history. Some of the tales are pretty fascinating — an inmate who escaped, returned, and attempted to instigate a mass prison break, a murderer who evolved from folk hero to fugitive after killing a police dog and a US fugitive brought back from Canada after her face was on America’s Most Wanted.

The book also goes into detail about the background, details and weaknesses of various old and modern prisons, and what breakdowns allow these prisoners to escape. The author balances that with the escape stories, along with historic tales and more recent escapes. The balance is fun, as it makes it less of a historical non-fiction and more an overall story of the prison system in Canada. While most of the criminals were….less smart, I do wish there was more of a balance with some better, calculated missions to show some of the ingenuity of these felons.

Overall, I would have loved a few more stories and a bit of a broader lens, but if you like prison escape stories, this book is for you! Thanks to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy, and check this book out when it releases on November 11!

There were a few interesting and compelling stories; however, there were sections that contained multiple accounts of escape in rapid succession which was confusing with so many names/characters appearing all at once.

I would have preferred more in depth focus on a few accounts of escape.

Well researched and written in a way which both informs and entertains, this is a wonderful addition to the shelves of any fan of true crime accounts. It is not sensationalist in nature and offers interesting analysis and insights about the systems in place at the various times covered by the cases. I particularly enjoyed learning more about the cases occurring in Canada, which is not a jurisdiction with which I am very familiar. The breadth of time covered by the cases also shows how much or little has changed.