Alex Lane is a hardened criminal. A misfit. A freak. When he is released from a juvenile detention center at the age of eighteen, he doesn’t know what he will do with his life. Alex does not want to return to a life of crime, but he is not sure how to change. A criminal is all he has ever been. And thus he begins his journey.Alex finds himself living with his brother and his family, a family he does not know. He also finds friends who eagerly accept him into their group of misfits. On the outside, everything seems to be going his way, but inside, Alex struggles to leave his criminal life behind. He struggles with change and with the realization that in a life absent of crime, he must give up control. He must learn that there is more to living a normal life than just choosing not to be a criminal again. Much more.
Wesley Gerhard has lost everything. To cover the pain, he’s succumbed to the desire to be constantly numb, and has hidden away in a world of addiction. In this world, there is no hope except for what is contained in the certainty of death.Wesley’s family, however, will not give up on him. Their constant support, along with an unexpected opportunity attached to Wesley’s prior famed art career, push him toward a change that he doesn’t think possible. A change that will test Wesley in ways that he’s not prepared for and will force him to face the things he’s locked away in his intentionally numb state. In the end, Wesley will either fall prey to his self-destructive habits or realize that his theory of happiness is more than just a theory.