Sign-In
Cart
Thirty Six Hours
Paperback
Mystery & ThrillerHistorical Fiction
Publisher: Iron Gate Press
Published: Dec 15 2025
Pages: 372
Weight: 0.81
Height: 0.83 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
For thirty-six hours, there was no one left to stop what men wanted to do to each other.
In the early morning of February 2, 1980, a routine inmate count inside the New Mexico State Penitentiary went catastrophically wrong. Two guards were overpowered. Keys were taken. Doors that were never meant to open did. Within minutes, the prison ceased to function-and for the next thirty-six hours, more than a thousand inmates controlled it.
Thirty Six Hours is a gripping work of historical crime fiction based on the deadliest prison riot in American history. Told through multiple perspectives-men trying to survive, men preparing to hunt, and officers watching authority erode-the novel examines how violence doesn't erupt suddenly, but accumulates, fed by overcrowding, fear, administrative blindness, and the slow breakdown of restraint.
As routines fracture and supervision weakens, long-simmering resentments surface. Predators begin to move with purpose. Protective custody becomes a liability instead of a safeguard. Rumors harden into targets. And men who believed neutrality could protect them discover how thin that illusion really is.
Grounded in public records, investigative reports, and contemporary accounts, Thirty Six Hours is not just the story of a riot-it is a descent into the psychology of confinement, the anatomy of fear, and the terrifying speed with which civilization can unravel once control slips away.
When the gates finally open, survival depends not on strength or justice-but on timing, perception, and knowing how to move when the rules disappear.
Also in
Mystery & Thriller
Coffin Road: An Utterly Gripping Crime Thriller from the Author of the China Thrillers
May, Peter
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-In Edition): Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy
Larsson, Stieg
Paperback
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
Big Little Truths: Reese's Book Club: A Novel: The Sequel to Big Little Lies
Moriarty, Liane
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover
The Altar of Pergamon: The Mystery of the Dark Angel and the Future of the World
Cahn, Jonathan
Hardcover