The Hot House Book Report

Michael Ciuffoletti The Hot House The Hot House tells the story of life inside Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. It was named the hot house because of the lack of ventilation and its dangerous prison population. There are many layers to the experiences inside the prison, but the reader is consistently reminded that there is a code of behavior that exists inside its walls and being labeled a snitch is the kiss of death. A level of mental instability may have lead these inmates to commit crimes that make them become prisoners, but this same instability also leads to making the world inside the prison much more complicated. Prison world is “drama-driven” in an environment of survival and the constant need to be respected. Respect has a different meaning in prison because it can easily determine your survival and the quality of life prison holds.
Crimes against children are not tolerated among inmates. (I find it ironic that there exists a barometer of acceptable crimes in prison!) The book begins with the story of a child abductor/molester, Joe Hicks, who needs to be transferred to the hot house from Michigan because he will not survive since he is a child molester. He goes to the hot house as an informant and it does not take long for the inmates to know he is a snitch. For example, Hicks and his cellmate plan a jailbreak via helicopter, Hicks informs the guards, and Hicks’ cellmate is severely punished with Hicks getting a lighter punishment. Next, Hicks gets a new cellmate without explanation. This raises a red flag in the mind of the prisoners and the plot thickens and further unfolds in Chapter seven with prisoner Carl Bowles.
Carl Bowles has had his own suspicion about Hicks being an informant, but needed proof. It is understood that prisoners are not transferred from one facility to another without some type of back-story at play. Bowles discovers a magazine article that discusses widely publicized cases that involve the abduction and