Cast No Shadow was filed away in my ever-growing TBR list, where it quietly waited. This week, I finally pulled it out.
Before diving into it, I spent some time on Brandon’s blog, where he’s shared a range of his work. I explored his recent projects and lingered over The Undersides of Trees, which I found genuinely wonderful—thoughtful, textured, and quietly powerful in a way that stays with you.
One might assume, by all he's seen, that Beau suffers from PTSD. He dreams of the jungle, mice, and maggots. By day, he repairs fences for aging neighbors and takes his family to the movies. By night, he stalks drug gangs and settles old scores. The contrast is stark and unsettling, and it works.
This story is perfectly titled. It unfolds as a relentless burn, each turn tightening the tension just a little more. It oscillates between the warmth of family life by day and the cold resolve of an avenger by night, the contrast revealing how tightly Beau’s two lives are bound together. There’s a constant sense of unease beneath the surface, a feeling that something is always on the verge of breaking, and it keeps you guessing, pulling you forward, refusing to let go.
I received a copy of this short story from the author.
About the Author
Brandon Dragan is an attorney in Tennessee and winner of the American Bar Association Journal's 2021 Ross Writing Contest. His writing draws on a wide array of influences from modern novelists such as Cormac McCarthy and Richard Yates to classic writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky and Jane Austen.