Chain Done Clanked: [A Psychological Thriller] (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798507550388)

Seven days to freedom. A lifetime of secrets. And a chain that won't let go.

In the blistering 1952 sun, the Asheville highway isn't just a road-it's a furnace. For Bo Kittle, it's the final stretch of a ten-year sentence. He's a "soft" trustee, a man who has learned to navigate the unbending, "Godly morality" of Captain Hull and the razor-thin line of the inmate code. With only a week left until he walks free, Bo is looking for a quiet exit.

But on the chain gang, silence is a luxury and mercy is a weakness.

When a pale-faced newcomer from the North collapses in the ditch, Bo's act of compassion ignites a powder keg of resentment. Mert, a vitriolic lifer with a sharpened shiv and a missing row of teeth, sees Bo's impending freedom as an insult. Along with the massive, bone-crushing Big Sid, a plan begins to take shape-one involving a stolen key, a mess hall riot over a tray of brownies, and a desperate break for the tree line.

As the group is pushed into the dense North Carolina thickets and through the blood-stained rows of a peach orchard, the true nature of survival comes to light. In a world where men are "lawless builders" and the sun offers no shade, everyone has an angle. Some seek redemption, others seek revenge, but only the most adaptable will survive the clank of the chain.

A gritty, atmospheric work of Southern Noir, Chain Done Clanked is a haunting exploration of betrayal, the brutality of the post-war penal system, and the cold calculations required to stay alive when God has turned His back.