Quick Synopsis

When a high security prison fails, a down-on-his luck cop and the governor’s daughter are going to have to team up if they’re going to escape in this “jaw-dropping, authentic, and absolutely gripping” (Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author) debut thriller.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Kurt Argento, an ex-Detroit street cop who can’t let injustice go—and who has the fighting skills to back up his idealism. 

If he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he’s going to rescue her and cause some damage.  

When he does just that in a small corrupt Missouri town, he’s brutally beaten and thrown into a maximum-security prison. 

Julie Wakefield, a grad student who happens to be the governor’s daughter, is about to take a tour of the prison. But when a malfunction in the security system releases a horde of prisoners, a fierce struggle for survival ensues.  

Argento must help a small band of staff and civilians, including Julie and her two state trooper handlers, make their way from the bottom floor to the roof to safety.  

All that stands in their way are six floors of the most dangerous convicts in Missouri.  

Book Review

If you saw my Instagram stories while I was reading The Ascent, you know that I went into this book without doing the research I usually do prior to reading, especially for a book written by a man. And oh boy, I regretted it. Since I read an e-copy from the library, I could not quickly flip to read the inside flaps before borrowing it, where I would have learned that The Ascent is written by a white former police officer.🚩

The Ascent focuses on a Detroit cop who likes to use excessive force and finds himself arrested and in prison. (Yes, a prison pretrial, not a jail.) Shortly after he arrives, the prison’s electronic security system seemingly malfunctions preventing some doors from locking. What results is partial chaos and a dangerous situation. As luck would have it, the governor’s daughter was also touring the prison for a class and is trapped inside with no way to escape. What results is “the ascent” of a small group to the roof to be rescued, led by the (hero 🙄) cop.

The Ascent is a fast-paced thriller that I would liken to a car accident. You know how human nature pretty much demands you look at a wreck when passing it? Yeah, this novel is engrossing in that way. If you love a story filled with gratuitous violence, even better since this book is chock full of it and violence is the plot.

The Ascent begins with an interesting incident that I hoped would unfurl during the narrative. Unfortunately, that is not the focus of the story. It is simply used as a set up to place the protagonist in prison, although it is a stretch that he would be sent to a prison and not a jail. Plantinga relies heavily on kismet to set up the necessary circumstances for his prison break. From there, the story takes off in an over-the-top fashion, desperately aiming to be a cinematic action movie with a giant budget for special effects make up. Essentially, if Marvel produced a prison break movie where the superhero is a cop, I imagine it would be something along these lines. Well, except that Marvel tends to be a bit more “woke” than this narrative and its author, a very apparent cishet white man with a law enforcement background

The Ascent heavily relies upon tropes, stereotypes, and violence. You have the hero cop, the woman who needs saving, idiot prison guards, and the mostly minority prisoners. Plantinga’s stereotyping of prisoners, particularly those of color, is outrageous and offensive (essentially what I would expect from a white cop). His depictions of the mentally ill are highly problematic and completely without empathy. It is hard to look past the inherent hate emanating from the page, more so when there is virtually no character development and the plot consists of gratuitous violence. And any reader opening The Ascent‘s pages should probably have a “Blue Lives Matter” sticker on their car if they do not want to be disgusted by the novel’s blatant degradations of the Left or any marginalized group.

I mentioned before that The Ascent is very apparently written by a man, and I want to explain that a bit more. As someone who primarily reads books written by women (or male authors I have already vetted), the language, actions, and prose used in this book scream, “I am a man.” It can be a bit tricky to explain, but I will do my best. The actions the characters take often do not make emotional or logical sense. In addition, the characters themselves are largely stereotypical, whether they are guards or prisoners. The protagonist tries painfully hard to be funny and fails in a way that is cringey and characteristic of older men. The descriptions of women, particularly the governor’s daughter, made me uncomfortable and largely just describe her physical attributes. Essentially, misogynism is very apparent on the page.

Overall, The Ascent is a fast-paced thriller for lovers of action movies and the police state. If you are a woman, person of color, marginalized individual, politically left, or nonviolent you will likely be put off by this book. The only thing this cop propaganda has going for it is violence and police idolization.

To close, I will share quotes my favorite 1 star Goodreads reviews of this book: 
“This is just porn for people who think kneeling for the anthem should be a felony.”
“This book is a great option for people with ‘Calvin peeing’ decals on their car.”

Rating

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Character Development