What do you think?
Rate this book
Being Free: On the Inside
Based in part on the author's own spiritual journey, Being Free: On the Inside is a magical realism novel of hope and redemption. Telling his story is Corey Astin, a young lawyer of privilege who will spend the next six years incarcerated. As he begins to pay for what he has done, he must face the stark reality of life behind bars in the old Maine State Prison. The nature of his crime makes him an instant target for other inmates. County jail offered only a tiny preview of the harsh environment in the maximum-security state prison. Corey arrives in shackles in the middle of the cold Maine winter, to a poorly-heated cell block, knowing only one person, Carl, from his time in county. Corey soon meets Dalton, a man who will become his mentor and teacher of a special way of seeing and using energy called The Choice. Being chosen is a great honor, but Corey doesn’t know it yet. He is just beginning to understand what kind of magical world exists within for those who can manifest it. Told in the first-person, Corey explains his experience in the prison, and his growing friendship with Dalton. The story unfolds as if you are with him, listening to his concerns, and baring his soul. This first book in a series is a private and perilous trip into a world that few have experienced.
273 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2023
About the author
J.H. Lyons
1 book8 followersBorn in New Orleans, Louisiana, but raised in New England, J. H. Lyons now lives in rural Maine with his husband, their Mini Aussie dogs, and a cat in a "big house, little house, barn" farmhouse. He holds degrees in law, political science, computer science and French.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2023
Being Free on the Inside is a very accessible book, but by no way is it easy. Lyons builds a case by starting with foundational concepts that most humans know to be true: the golden rules of redemption, forgiveness and second chances. He takes us in hand and walks us along Corey's journey, and shows us our societal shared beliefs and then asks us, "What about him?" Corey's crimes, although unexplored in this book, would be considered monstrous by most people's standards. Being Free asks us to see the Human in Corey as he begins his journey of self realization, redemption and eventually self actualization. He is a man we have all known a version of, a man that our logical brains cannot grapple with, because he offers us no excuses or explanations for why he acted as he did. Instead, he offers himself as a flawed, guilty man who has deep desire to transcend his past demons and crimes and transform into a force of unconditional love. As this is the first of three books, the journey is only the beginning for Corey, and as readers we may not be satisfied with where he is by the end, but intrigued by where he is going next. Lyons challenges a lot of human truths by asking his readers to consider: if true redemption is not possible for Corey due to the nature of his crime, then redemption is subjective and therefore we as society are rendering most of our societal beliefs to be hypocritical. By avoiding details of the crimes committed by either Corey or his fellow inmates, Lyons has created a reduced but flavorful analysis of crime and evil, which is to say that severity of crime/evil should not be a factor when reconciling redemption and forgiveness. A person's capacity for a second chance and true transcendence does not hinge upon how "bad" the crime they committed, but rather their capacity to feel true repetance and their willingness to ask their God or whatever they believe in, for true forgiveness. Lyons presents redemption as an active, not passive. Corey is beginning to act, and I for one, am rooting for him ; even if I do not understand nor forgive the crime Corey committed, I want to believe that he is redeemable, because then we all are.
November 4, 2023
The author painted a well thought out setting of prison, where the reader is drawn through an extraordinary journey, and not mired in the anxiety of prison life.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews