In a sun baked southern town near the famous Appalachian Trail, the industrious past of railroads and mills has followed an all-too-familiar descent into poverty and neglect. In Book One of The Speaks Saga, young ex-con Timewall Speaks dreams of nothing more than to be left alone to make his own choices. Born and raised in drug-addled poverty by his fiery mother Blaize, caught up in local corruption, confined by a self-perpetuating system of incarceration, and plagued by his younger sister’s murder, Timewall reluctantly becomes the focus of a movement toward freedom and justice, narrowing his choices to just two: assume the dangerous responsibility of leadership, or take the safer path and go it alone. His decision will call upon talents repressed by circumstances, revealing the potential of those who have been overlooked by prosperity.