From Publishers Weekly
Steven Russell, the subject of this true crime story, is a rare individual, a genius who has run afoul of the law, a prodigious intellect endowed with boundless energy, audacity and guile. Russell pulled off his first jailbreak while waving a stolen walkie-talkie at a guard as he sauntered out the front gate, and his last escape-a feat of staggering self-discipline-by faking a terminal case of AIDS over several months and forging his own death certificate. Russell also walked out of prison and into a six-figure job as a CFO of a major company-twice. (The title of the book refers to Russell's only proven weakness-his steadfast love for one-time fellow convict Phillip Morris.) Journalist McVicker has written an unexceptional book about this exceptional man, but Russell's charisma-shining through lackluster prose-is what makes this offbeat biography a success. Like any great con man, Russell has a charm that is both disarming and overpowering, but his criminal antics are more effective and make for more interesting reading because they are coupled with unlikely virtues: sincerity, diligence, fidelity, affability. What McVicker does well is capture the accident of Russell's descent into criminality, a series of events that turned a once law-abiding husband, father and former police officer into one of the most innovative criminal minds in recent memory.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
To escape from a Texas jail or prison once is unusual. To do it four times is incredible. To do it four times in five years and always on a Friday the 13th is the stuff of legend. Welcome to the world of Steven Russell. Con artist. Thief. Swindler. Embezzler. Hopeless romantic.
A husband and father, Russell was a church organist, prosperous businessman, and onetime Boca Raton cop before turning to his life of crime. Arrested for a string of felonies, with a specialty in fraud, his real expertise turned out to be his uncanny ability to escape from jail. Between 1993 and 1998, he orchestrated a string of prison breaks that were as audacious as they were ingenious. Using whatever unlikely materials were at hand—a Magic Marker, a pay phone, a walkie-talkie, a pair of stolen bright red women's stretch pants—along with an innate talent for analytical thinking and boundless quantities of sheer nerve, Russell again and again arranged his own "early releases" from jail. Unfortunately, for Russell, staying out of jail is another matter entirely.
Over the years, it became increasingly clear that Russell's talent for escape is matched only by his knack for getting arrested. One thing always seems to trump Steven Russell's careful planning, cool head, and instinct for self-preservation—love. Russell cannot resist the urge to try and spring the great love of his life—a fellow inmate named Phillip Morris.
In I Love You Phillip Morris, journalist Steve McVicker goes right to the heart of this improbable-but-true story of crime, punishment, and passion. Thanks to unprecedented and exclusive access to Russell, his family, and his friends, he retraces Russell's journey from small-town businessman to flamboyant white-collar criminal and jailhouse Houdini. It's the darkly comic tale of a man with a spectacular ability to manipulate almost everyone he meets, yet who is himself helpless in the face of love.
About the author
Steve McVicker is an award-winning journalist who has worked for the Houston Chronicle, National Public Radio, The New York Times, the Houston Press, and People. He lives in Texas. I Love You Phillip Morris is his first book.
