This one was really hard to listen to, to sit through all the abuse this poor kid was put through, apparently just for sport. I can't feel much grief over Aunt Jennie's death. Even though most of the cruel ideas seemed to come from the boyfriend and Aunt Jennie seemed to show at least muted signs of regret and remorse for the things that were being done, she did still allow them to be done and she was along for the ride the whole way, and as his legal guardian it was her responsibility to care for him. It was thematically appropriate (and logically consistent in his head) that their cruel lies for sport turned around in their grasp at the end and killed her (was he dead too? I don't remember). But in the end, even though in a sense he is free of her, I don't think he will ever be free of this act. If he ever grasps the full reality of the situation he will live with murder on his conscience, and he might end up spending the rest of his life in a psych ward when I think he could've otherwise had a very functional life with just some job training. Worst of all, if he ever gets out, Peanut Butter will probably have already died.
I almost didn't listen because of the promise of puppy killing, because I am very much a dog person myself, but I decided to stick with it. That was hard to listen to, but I made it through that part okay.
Overall, very effective, but hard to recommend because of some of the more touching elements.
I am glad you enjoyed my story. My name is Robert Reed, but I am not THE Robert Reed of hundreds of books and stories. This is first and only published story to date. You have not been the only person to assume I was the great fantasy and science fiction author. I would hope to have a career as half as glorious as his, but until then I will keep plugging away the best I can. Again thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Have you considered using a different name for publishing? Maybe using a middle initial? Having the exact same byline as a well-established author, that's going to cause you some ongoing problems with people mixing the two of you up. If you are ever considering writing novels, any publisher you end up with would almost definitely ask you to not use the exact same name, because otherwise there'll just a whole shelf of Robert Reed and easy way to tell from the spines which are which.
For instance, there is a Kevin J. Anderson and a Kevin Anderson who are separate people.
Anyway, just a thought.