Cleo Dunnit is a forensic psychiatric nurse in a maximum-security prison for males in New York State. The book is a combination of Cleo's own opinions and her perspective as a nurse. It reveals the criminal mind at work in all its manipulations, selfishness, and lack of remorse. It reveals how the manipulative behavior of the inmates is condoned versus being corrected. It reveals the bureaucratic incompetence of the state system.