Like a Thief’s Dream

James Ray Renton-thief, counterfeiter, and bank robber- became one of America's Ten Most Wanted Men when he was charged with murdering a young Arkansas policeman in 1976. After a daring escape from the Tucker Maximum Security Unit in the 1980s, Renton made the FBI's Fifteen Most Wanted List before eventually being recaptured. Then, while in solitary confinement, Renton wrote a 60 his escape and adventures, sent in a series of letters to Danny Lyon, a close friend of Renton's since they had met in the Texas prison system in 1967. After Renton's death in 1996, Lyon visited the Arkansas town where Renton had been convicted. Following an incredible paper trail left behind by the crime and 1978 trial (in which Lyon had testified), Lyon located Dinker Cassell, who was sentenced to life along with Renton for the murder-but who may be entirely innocent. LIKE A THIEF'S DREAM is Lyon's gripping story of two men-one alive, the other dead-and an unparalleled portrayal of prison life in the 1980s and 1990s. A tale of murder and betrayal, romance and robbery, LIKE A THIEF'S DREAM is Lyon's first non-fiction novel, replete with mug shots, prison album photos, and photographs by the author.