By Kara Fellows

The idea of an anti-hero, where the protagonist of a story lacks conventional heroic attributes, is not a new concept in literature, but with awareness of police brutality and gun control in America rising, it is becoming increasingly common.

Stephen Simon King’s “Mistaken Identity” engages these culturally relevant ideas in a tale of rash decisions, murder and what happens when people take the law into their own hands.

Based on a true story, “Mistaken Identity” begins in the late 1940s in Bangor, Maine where a group of Marine Corps veterans are dealing with assimilating to civilian life. After one of them dies from a hemorrhage while in police custody, the veterans grow suspicious of the officer who made the arrest due to his past record of unnecessary violence.

The rest of the group decides to avenge their fallen friend by arranging a hit-and-run while the officer is on nighttime traffic patrol. But after going through with their plan and successfully killing the directing officer, the veterans discover they murdered the wrong officer, and must deal with and avoid the ensuing consequences.

What emerges is a tale of loyalty, guilt and the lengths people will go to when put in a corner.

Author Stephen Simon King is an 85-year-old retiree who took up writing after years in the construction business. This particular story had been on his mind for quite some time.

“It was a story that I carried in my head for many years and I just thought that apparently it would make a pretty good yarn for somebody to be entertained by,” King said.

King only started writing about four years ago and has already published his first book, proving that you can teach old dog new tricks. King has lived all across the country from Arizona to Texas to Maine, where the story took place. King’s time in Maine allowed him to put some of his own experiences in the book as well.

“There’s one part of the story that I wrote that involves a hunting trip to a cabin in the central part of Maine, that part of the story is actually true, that actually happened to me,” King said. He also had a short boxing career, like Vinny Cipriani, one of the veterans in the book.

He published his first book after following his own advice.

“Don’t give up on any story. In other words, if you think it is a worthwhile story to tell, by all means tell it.”