A New Bo Fexler Story

The short story "Least Favorite Son" is up at Darkest Before the Dawn this morning. A missing tree stand, a neighborhood feud, and, as the title suggests, a Least-Favorite Son.

This story has a piece of character development that is of great, recurring interest to me. I'm fascinated by who a person becomes-- because of, or in spite of, their past. Does the Least-Favorite Son try, still, desperately to gain affection? Or does he pretend he doesn't care? Or, a third option, does he try to return the favor of years of hurt?

Oh, one last note on this story-- it was inspired by a true case in my local paper. I ripped this story out of the police blotter some time ago. All the police blotter had was the bit about the missing tree stand. Without any witnesses or leads, the case was closed. That didn't seem right to me, so, fictionally, I reopened the case and solved it. ;-)

Anyway, enjoy the story. I've got a few others out on submission, so there is hope for new Bo Fexler short stories in the coming weeks and months.