Duane Wooters

Building Fences: a Novel Duane Wooters

This is a story of lust, love and murder. Jonah Whalen returned to his hometown of Webster, Nebraska devastated by the effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He sought peace and quiet-an escape from stress and discovered the solitude of building fences. For years he is content with this hermit-like existence, and then he meets Emily Robinson-a young married woman twenty-five years his junior. Their friendship develops quite nicely. Emily's father is dead and Jonah fills the void. On the other hand, Jonah dreams of her charms with lustful fantasies. Into their lives walks the dangerous Rayford James. His jealousy of their relationship drives him to the brink as he attempts to get what he wants or physically harm Emily in the process. Then Rayford's younger brother Wade James arrives on the scene. He makes matters worse with more threats and innuendoes. He is brutally murdered two weeks after his arrival. Jonah finds love in the person of a widow named Rachel Moreland, and discovers that building relationships is as foreign to him as building fences is familiar. Nonetheless, his relationship with Rachel grows dramatically by the time he is arrested for the murder of Wade James. Ultimately, the forces of lust, love and murder intertwine to send Jonah Whalen to death row.