Boldo is a good place to raise a family. That's what Briscoe told Annie Mae in the 1890s when they moved back to Boldo after the Crane Wars in Coal County Tennessee. Briscoe, a well respected and much loved figure in the community of Boldo, has carried dark secrets from those times for the last fifty years. Now in 1946, as his grandson, James, moves to Boldo these secrets are sneaking out. Briscoe is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Because of his memory lapses he often slips back to those times in his mind and says things that arouse James's curiosity. James is discouraged from seeking answers to his questions by family members but soon is obsessed with finding out what really happened all those years ago. Over the next eleven years, James grows physically, mentally, and spiritually, grounded in the basic life principles and deep-rooted faith taught to him by Briscoe. Despite Briscoe's declining mental state, James strives to understand the secrets of the past and learn why people say, "Briscoe was a hero" and "No matter what, your Pa was a good man."