Sunbury Author Creates a Great Escape

Kelli McRobert | Aug 17, 2022

They used to call us bookworms. Those that loved the library and stayed indoors and could curl up in a corner with a good book and be lost for hours. Books and reading have certainly changed from the days of ‘layered papyrus’ or ‘parchment’ to current online literary offerings and publication options. A library is still a place to go for quiet, solitude, and that indescribable comfort you get surrounded by literary works. For some, the library becomes a haven from the noise of the outside world, a chance to escape, a chance to explore, and an opportunity to learn about distant places and intriguing cultures.

While I appreciated the need for reference manuals, encyclopedias, and historical works, I was drawn to genre fiction, and could spend hours with a good mystery, thriller, or romance novel. Occasionally, I would attempt fantasy or sci-fi depending upon the latest movie trend, and my attempts at mainstream fiction dwindled as I found I preferred seeing it on the big screen as epic tales and adventures where I was surprised by the ending and forth coming sequels. And I still love the feel of turning a page and ending on a chapter, excited about what comes next.

These past few weeks I have had the pleasure of reading a local author’s novel - Early Release.

Lyn McCauley, from Sunbury, Ontario, is also a playwright. Three of her one-act plays (‘Routine, Tea with Enid and Pearl’, and ‘Writing Romance’) were chosen for the Domino Theatre One Act Play Festival, and were performed across Ontario. Her first two-act play ‘Widows Walk’, awaits production.

Lyn had been working on this novel for quite a while and found the much-needed time and focus during the pandemic to re-visit the chapters and reach out to a publishing firm. Once she had established a rapport with her editing team, she began to fine tune the characters, and flow, and took their feedback to heart to produce the 298-page book. When I asked Lyn about how she came up with the idea for Early Release, she said that after working a diverse career in the prison system, she had a rough idea of the characteristics of the lead and how the story would unfold. The lead character, Frank, only came together when she put pen to paper and developed the plot, characters, and storyline.

The book takes you through the planning of an escape with other peripheral players who Frank manipulates to achieve his goal of an ‘early release’. As you move through the chapters, you begin to understand the struggles of a female officer in a male dominated field. You feel the pressure as ‘Frank’, the lead con, is escorted into Maximum Security. I literally tensed up as they closed the gates behind him, shutting off the outside world, and welcoming him into his new reality of restrictions, the colour grey, and mundane routines.

Each chapter draws you deeper into the relationships of inmates, prison employees, and the hierarchy within the walls of the prison. Investigators are led down a path of deceit as they hunt for clues and rule out fact from fiction as Frank leaves them breadcrumbs to follow as viable leads. For thirty-six chapters, you join in the police investigation and live within the confines of the prison as Frank navigates his return to the ‘system’ and works it to his advantage with sociopathic ease. As lives crumble, Frank focuses on the day he will be free of this life and the infamy he will celebrate beyond the gates.

The question is … does he succeed?

Thank you, Lyn, for giving me the chance to enjoy your novel and I look forward to the next one!

For more information you can find Lyn’s book on Amazon at https://www.amazon.ca/Early-Release-Lyn-McCauley/dp/1639884394 or at Atmospherepress.com or locally at Ormsbee Mercantile in Sunbury, and at Novel Idea in Kingston.