"Wil’s honesty really had me gripped, and his description of his first night in jail is something I won’t forget." (Emily Webb, crime author and podcast host of Australian True Crime)

Wil Patterson was just an ordinary working husband and father. Always one to make light of things, inside he was becoming increasingly desperate about how he was going to pay bills and keep up with the new cars, house renovation, and beach house.  

One day, while at work for one of Australia's biggest financial institutions, temptation presented itself to Wil in the form of a check addressed to someone with the same name. Wil knew it was wrong, but the temptation was too great. Soon enough, he found himself down at the bank cashing that check.

After vowing ‘"ever again", it wasn't too long before Wil's mounting debt meant he just could not resist. No crime goes unpunished, and Wil was eventually caught and charged and, to his horror, sentenced to three years in prison. Mr Ordinary Goes to Jail is Wil’s account of his time in a contemporary Victorian prison, the unusual characters he met, the often hilarious and terrifying situations he found himself in, and the ways in which he comes to terms with his past and forges a new, more hopeful future.

For anybody who has ever wondered how they would cope facing similar circumstances or speculated what life is really like on the inside, Mr Ordinary Goes to Jail is a gripping and fascinating listen.

About the author: Wil Patterson lives in the outer east of Melbourne, Australia, with his partner and son. He says his experience in prison has taught him to be gracious and calm in an all-too-often hectic world.