Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas

— Vol. 3: of North Texas Crime and Criminal Justice Series

Published: August, 2004  Pages: 360  Features: 40 illus. Notes. Bib. Index.

From one o’clock on the afternoon of July 24, 1974, until shortly before ten o’clock the night of August 3, eleven days later, one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in the history of the United States took place in Texas’ Huntsville State Prison. The ringleader, Federico (Fred) Gomez Carrasco, the former boss of the largest drug-running operation in south Texas, was serving life for assault with intent to commit murder on a police officer. Using his connections to smuggle guns and ammunition into the prison, and employing the aid of two other inmates, he took eleven prison workers and four inmates hostage in the prison library. Demanding bulletproof helmets and vests, he planned to use the hostages as shields for his escape. more... about Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas

• Violet Crown Book Award for best nonfiction, from the Writers' League of Texas, 2005