The Prisoner, by Carlos J. Cortes

In the not-so-distant future, there has been a revolution in prisons.  Rather than warehousing criminals in cages, hibernation facilities warehouse criminals in tanks.  Carlos J. Cortes's novel The Prisoner hits the ground running with a gutsy prison break from one of these facilities.  A team of rescuers gets themselves convicted and checked in, fully immersed in a hibernation tank, then with inside help get themselves and their target out of there.  Russo has been in hibernation for years, falsely imprisoned by a political rival.  

Most of the first half of the book is the escape itself, through the labyrinthine sewers of Washington, D.C.  This is the most memorable part of the book.  Not only do they experience the utterly disgusting reality of human waste--not only organic waste, but all the diapers, tampons, condoms, hair, fat, and other things that go down our drains and we flush down our toilets--they encounter a whole civilization of people who inhabit long-forgotten underground spaces.  It is gross and fascinating.  

Once they manage to get out above the ground, they still have to navigate the disgusting flow of corruption, personal vendettas, political maneuvering, and financial misdeeds that are still the hallmark of Washington.  Their mission: to expose the abuse of the hibernation prison system, which unlawfully detains people like Russo and others for a fee.  The abuse is so deeply engrained in D.C. culture that opposition, official and unofficial, greets them at every turn.

The Prisoner goes from a gripping and fascinating start, to a confusing and convoluted chunk, to a clever and satisfying conclusion.  It did leave me with one thought: I hope hibernation prisons do not become a reality, and if they do, keep me far, far away.