He can escape his body, but his body can't escape prison A high-school shooting costs four students their lives, and 15-year-old Ethan Chiles his future. Now he's got 50 years of hard time to look forward to. But Something powerful has been growing within Ethan, and on the day of his sentencing, it escapes at last. It will change a life that has already been completely changed. It will follow him into the savage setting of a maximum-security prison, where each day is a struggle for survival. Will it be a source of massive power, a chance for redemption, or the cruelest of curses?

A high-school shooting costs four students their lives, and 15-year-old Ethan Chiles his future. Now he's got 50 years of hard time to look forward to. Something powerful has been growing within Ethan, and on the day of his sentencing, it escapes at last. It will change a life that has already been completely changed. It will follow him into the savage environment of a maximum security prison, where each day is a struggle for survival. Will it be a source of massive power, a chance at redemption, or the cruelest of curses? In this second HARD TIME collection, Ethan leaves solitary confinement and rejoins the prison's general population. But can his strange power keep him and his few friends alive?