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Bogies
Sara doesn't have many friends. In fact, her best friend is her granddad Henry. She spends most hours of every day with him at the care home and will even pick up a copy of Granny Sluts magazine for him every now and then. She doesn't have much time for boys.
Until a chance meeting with the Joe, the grandson of another of the residents. Joe's a shy boy, and struggles to make conversation with any girls, let alone pretty girls like Sara.
They make a connection and each think they've found a kindred spirit, until a horrible discovery threatens to kill it off before it's even begun...
Until a chance meeting with the Joe, the grandson of another of the residents. Joe's a shy boy, and struggles to make conversation with any girls, let alone pretty girls like Sara.
They make a connection and each think they've found a kindred spirit, until a horrible discovery threatens to kill it off before it's even begun...
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 8, 2013
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Bracha
33 books37 followersRyan Bracha is the Amazon-bestselling author of eleven novels, a novella, and a collection of short stories. In his early twenties, he made a brief foray into independent filmmaking. At 24, he wrote and directed his debut feature Tales From Nowhere, a limited-release cult oddity he once described as “Pulp Fiction meets Kes.” Though the film’s lifespan was short, it ignited a passion for bold, unorthodox storytelling.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 30, 2013
As the author, I only write stuff that I myself would want to read. Stuff that makes me laugh. I like laughing. I like reading. This combines the pair to perfection. I hope others feel the same.
December 28, 2013
A collection of eleven stories of varying length, some previously published but now deleted and reissued in this single volume.
Ryan Bracha is like Marmite (a yeast based foodstuff that provokes widely spread reactions of the taste buds) you’ll either love or hate his work. This collection of stories aptly portrays the wide range of Bracha’s subject matter and a writing style that is best termed ambitious and challenging.
Personally I place myself in the former Marmite camp (both liking Bracha and the yeast based foodstuff). I’ve previously reviewed Strangers… and Tomorrow’s Chip Paper. Both proved unusual and challenging reads. Bogies, as you can probably tell from the title, is no different. All of the stories are provocative, most are funny.
The book opens with Baron Catastrophe and the King of the Jackals. It comprises two story arcs that subsequently combine - a first person character who has a powerful OCD tendency and his sandwich man neighbor, a hard working member of society who makes a simple spelling mistake on his sign that sets off the whole episode.
The third installment is The Bad Day. This is an interesting diversion from the ‘norm’. The author’s stories typically have a hard Northern seam running through them, but are balanced with a heavy lacing of humour. Not this one, it's grim from beginning to end. That being said it is well written and the multiple plot strands are cleverly built and concluded in such a short space.
Call Me Doctor F*ck Knuckles is previously unpublished. The main character is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. He’s working class, they’re all wealthy, and with a very strange set of behaviours. The title is the name the prospective father in law insists he be called throughout dinner. It’s a funny (as in haha) read accompanied with a quite a bit of wincing.
Written in the first person Tha Dunt... tracks a short episode in Fintan's bored life. He had a terrible upbringing, living constantly on a porn set (his mother the star) and he's now totally skewed by his experiences. He has no real friends and spends his time trying to entertain himself. He's a seriously damaged character. Then someone has an idea, pretend to be a secret millionaire. The trouble is Fintan hates people, has no regard for them at all, himself included, and he ends up putting the one person close to him in an embarrassing situation.
The final story is the longest of them all, The Banjo String Snapped… It’s a rude and lewd read, the story of a group of lads on a stag do in Leeds. Full of swearing, drugs, drinking and dodgy happenings, this is a blast, thoroughly enjoyable but with a lot more to it than just recounting a particularly dubious drinking session. Seen from multiple viewpoints it unfolds in an interesting fashion.
Overall the writing is free and highly engaging, but if you have any sensitivity at all to plenty of strong language and adult situations then this is not the book for you - and vice versa. The author deliberately challenges the reader in style, language and content. If you like a wild ride with the occasional hairpin corner then Bracha is an author you should seek out.
I think the best place to finish this review is with the author’s dedication to his wife which is right at the start of the book ‘For Rebecca, who just wishes I would write something normal for once.’
Please don’t.
**Originally reviewed for Books & Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**
Ryan Bracha is like Marmite (a yeast based foodstuff that provokes widely spread reactions of the taste buds) you’ll either love or hate his work. This collection of stories aptly portrays the wide range of Bracha’s subject matter and a writing style that is best termed ambitious and challenging.
Personally I place myself in the former Marmite camp (both liking Bracha and the yeast based foodstuff). I’ve previously reviewed Strangers… and Tomorrow’s Chip Paper. Both proved unusual and challenging reads. Bogies, as you can probably tell from the title, is no different. All of the stories are provocative, most are funny.
The book opens with Baron Catastrophe and the King of the Jackals. It comprises two story arcs that subsequently combine - a first person character who has a powerful OCD tendency and his sandwich man neighbor, a hard working member of society who makes a simple spelling mistake on his sign that sets off the whole episode.
The third installment is The Bad Day. This is an interesting diversion from the ‘norm’. The author’s stories typically have a hard Northern seam running through them, but are balanced with a heavy lacing of humour. Not this one, it's grim from beginning to end. That being said it is well written and the multiple plot strands are cleverly built and concluded in such a short space.
Call Me Doctor F*ck Knuckles is previously unpublished. The main character is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. He’s working class, they’re all wealthy, and with a very strange set of behaviours. The title is the name the prospective father in law insists he be called throughout dinner. It’s a funny (as in haha) read accompanied with a quite a bit of wincing.
Written in the first person Tha Dunt... tracks a short episode in Fintan's bored life. He had a terrible upbringing, living constantly on a porn set (his mother the star) and he's now totally skewed by his experiences. He has no real friends and spends his time trying to entertain himself. He's a seriously damaged character. Then someone has an idea, pretend to be a secret millionaire. The trouble is Fintan hates people, has no regard for them at all, himself included, and he ends up putting the one person close to him in an embarrassing situation.
The final story is the longest of them all, The Banjo String Snapped… It’s a rude and lewd read, the story of a group of lads on a stag do in Leeds. Full of swearing, drugs, drinking and dodgy happenings, this is a blast, thoroughly enjoyable but with a lot more to it than just recounting a particularly dubious drinking session. Seen from multiple viewpoints it unfolds in an interesting fashion.
Overall the writing is free and highly engaging, but if you have any sensitivity at all to plenty of strong language and adult situations then this is not the book for you - and vice versa. The author deliberately challenges the reader in style, language and content. If you like a wild ride with the occasional hairpin corner then Bracha is an author you should seek out.
I think the best place to finish this review is with the author’s dedication to his wife which is right at the start of the book ‘For Rebecca, who just wishes I would write something normal for once.’
Please don’t.
**Originally reviewed for Books & Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**
November 19, 2014
A collection of short stories with a difference. A lot of the time short stories leave me unsatisfied, like there's a bit of can't be arsedness about them. Here however, the stream of consciousness writing style crams enormous detail, energy, and emotional intensity into its short bursts. It's not for the faint hearted. If profanity, grit or just plain weirdness offends, it's not for you. If you like to laugh, and don’t mind what at, it is. But pick underneath the scab and the writer treats his characters with enough empathy to avoid creating clichéd cartoons worthy of only derision or contempt. Human beings of all psychological shades. Anyway, like all good quickies they'll leave you drained and satisfied. I hope it's good for you.
August 9, 2013
Another super little slice of Bracha humour. Nothing is quite as it seems as the author manages to fit several twists and turns into this novella. That the main theme is 'romance' is also a surprise but it descends into chaos. Well written, great prose.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews