Action and violence packed, but no real story plot. The story has so many hooks built into it that are not subsequently used later. ( )

I wasn't sure about this novel before picking it up, but it sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. This novel was suspense from beginning to end, with a few clever twists thrown in for good measure. The story highlights that, no matter how secure we may think a facility is, there will always be a need for vigilance. The characters are well-rounded and demonstrate that, while convicts have made some wrong choices and may be dangerous men (and women) who need to be incarcerated for the safety of society, the majority are not completely evil. We all have some good inside us somewhere (though admittedly buried deep in some people). This is definitely worth taking a look. ( )

At Meza Azul, the privately owned prison touted to have the most advanced security system ever invented, things have gone from bad to worse. This prison isn't just top-notch---it's so sophisticated that the only prisoners it holds are the worst of the worst from around the United States . Which sounds like the perfect solution--hold the ruthless bad guys in an inescapable prison, subject them to "treatments" that include 23 hours a day in a cell where the lights never go out and they're under constant electronic surveillance, and don't let them mingle. Which very well might have worked, if it weren't for one Timothy Driver, a former Navy submarine commander who somehow manages to take over the control pod of the prison.

What ensues is death, mayhem, and murder--death of the guards that keep the prisoners in line, and death among the inmates themselves. Driver promises to kill one hostage every six hours until one man is brought to him--Frank Corso, a multi-millionaire author who wrote a book about Driver a few years ago.

Corso arrives, not sure why he's wanted or even why he agreed to come, but almost immediately he realizes that Driver, along with a fellow inmate known as "Cutter" Kehoe, have no plans to go down in a blaze of glory when the prison riot is subdued--and subdued it will be, due to the hundreds of National Guardsmen who have been called in to take back control of the prison.

What follows is a daring prison escape that no one sees coming, not even Corso himself. And what comes after that is a bloody spree that leaves several dead. Hot on their heels but always a day late and a dollar short are Melanie Harris, an investigative reporter who anchors a show named American Manhunt, and FBI Special Agents Rosen and Westerman.

Overall, NO MAN'S LAND is an entertaining thriller that focuses not only on one man's need to have his story told, but about how prisons around the country--like every other enterprise in the USA --are all about the bottom line.

**There were only two things that irritated me with the story. First, Melanie Harris is simply a female version of John Walsh, and American Manhunt a rip-off of America's Most Wanted. I'm sure G.M. Ford did this on purpose to make a point, but having Melanie's daughter be killed years ago in the exact same way as John Walsh's son Adam was a bit of overkill. Secondly, either Ford or his editor are way too fond of commas. Which on its own wouldn't be so bad, if they were in the right place. As it reads, though, if you're like me and use the placement of commas in normal reading to figure out when to pause in a sentence, you're sure to misread a bunch of them, as I did!** ( )

This is one of the worst books I've ever read. The entire plot was pointless. The villian, whose motives are not credible, destroys himself in the end without any assistance from the hero... making the hero irrelevant to the entire book. ( )