by Joseph Bathanti (Author) Fiction. First time in paperback. This novel, which won the Novello Literary Award in 2006, hits hard and doesn't stop hitting. Bathanti surely drew on his extensive experience teaching in prisons to create a scad of unforgettable and unforgiving characters in an equally unforgettable and unforgiving setting: a prison camp. Cal Gaddy is haunted by his father, a guard who took young Cal on hunts for escaped convicts, despite protests from Cal's religious mother. And then we have Thrake, the hardcore sergeant who much resembles Cal's father and who brooks no disciplinary problems from the prisoners--with the exception of the camp's voodoo man, Pitch, a contraband dealer who keeps Thrake fearful of his powers to curse and maim.