He spent his career putting men in cages. Then the cage door closed behind himself. On a frozen December morning, an ex-police officer rides a van toward a parole office, with twenty minutes left as property of the Correctional Service of Canada. Both Sides of the Razor Wire is a true memoir of addiction, betrayal, solitary confinement, and gang ranges-and, against all odds, a redemption built not by the system, but by an internal rulebook, the convict code, and a woman who refused to let go.
• The Badge: A top-of-his-class recruit who worked homicide, undercover, and high-risk entries discovers the dark side of policing: internal cover-ups, institutional self-protection, and un-debriefed trauma leading to heavy drinking and pills. Tasked with investigating one of his own, the tip of the spear ends up in handcuffs.
• The Fall: Following an arrest, years on bail drain his career, home, and savings before a sentence brings unexpected relief.
• Inside the Machine: Shoved into segregation in a stone building with no AC, he detoxed without medical monitoring. Armed only with a memorized inmate rulebook, he survived Victorian fortresses, target-making news clippings, a minimum-security farm, and lockdowns.
• The Brotherhood: Cast-off convicts threw him lifelines. A biker taught prison economics, a shot caller gave him standing, and he eventually ran a volatile range on three simple rules: daylight table talks, nobody goes hungry, and violence is a last resort.
• The Betrayal: Days before Christmas, family betrayal led to a paper-thin case adding eighteen months behind the wire, testing his resolve to protect those who failed him.
• The War on Paper: Refusing to break, he organized fellow inmates, documented staff absences, and weaponized the federal ombudsman and Human Rights Commission against systemic neglect.
• The Woman Who Held the Rope: Isabella stayed. From a blind date through prison parking lots to a provincial border reunion, her steadfast love served as the ultimate counterweight to the system.
• Faith, Hypocrisy, and the Fence: Contrasts the wealthy, image-driven "Barbieland" church culture with a small Baptist congregation that practically loved and served convicts.
• What Prison Is For: Drawing on Jung, Maté, and personal experience, Carlos argues that true change requires safety and healing, presenting a data-backed counter-proposal to punitive incarceration.
• The Map & Who It's For: Delivers twelve hard-earned principles for inmates, families, justice workers, and readers of Orange Is the New Black and In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
