Sometimes keeping things in the family is harder than you think.

After their mother's death, brothers Malcolm and Richard had to take on the responsibility of managing the daily care of their special needs brother. Balancing his care with their demanding careers presented a challenge. After a few missteps, they thought they had finally found a solution that worked.

Detective Crawford faced a challenge of his own. A series of letters start arriving at the station, presenting an unexpected problem ? Crawford had an admirer, and a deadly one. The unwanted fan mail was from the latest killer stalking the city, who wavered between praising and taunting the detective.

There is an old saying that refers to challenges as the thing that makes life interesting. If that is the case, then what is it called when one person's challenge becomes another person's burden?

Kathleen Lopez started writing early on at age 14 as a junior high school journalist; a career she continued with throughout college. She also had several poems published during her college tenure. While professionally she has turned from the world of journalism to the corporate world of project management, she has always continued with her passion for writing short stories and poetry. Suspenseful thrillers, mysteries and stories that took the reader along for the journey have always been amongst her favorite to read as well as write. Prodigal Son is a follow up to her first publication, Between the Shades of Light and Dark.