Hadrian's Walls

by Robert Draper

After serving 15 years in prison on a murder charge, Hadrian Coleman escapes and lives the next several years on the run. When his best childhood friend and current prison director Sonny Hope secures a pardon for Hadrian, he returns home to face his past. But coming home means reuniting with Sonny and Hadrian soon learns that his pardon comes with strings attached.

The premise of this book was good. Hadrian's troubled past, along with Sonny's golden life, provide an interesting conflict. In a small Texas town where everyone either works for the prison or is in the prison, there isn't much chance for big dreams. There was always this question in the back of my head: Once he got his pardon, why didn't Hadrian just leave Shepherdsville, Texas and make a life for himself somewhere else? The answer: Because then there would be no story.

Because Hadrian was 15 when he went into prison, maybe it never occurred to him that he had choices and could leave. He had an entire lifetime of being told what to do and when to do it. I think that's the key to this whole book. Until Hadrian really learns what freedom is, and how to use it, he would be trapped in Shepherdsville and under Sonny's thumb forever.