The Thirteen Lives of Frank Peppercorn

by Ryan Bracha, Dominic Adler, Jason Beech

Thirteen ways to remember the dead. Thirteen histories of a loving husband.

Betty Peppercorn is burning her husband Frank today. Well, she's burning her property. The corpse she was left with as a reward for loving somebody for better or worse. Frank exists only in her thoughts, anymore.

To her knowledge, Frank had no friends. Betty's not even sure he existed before they met. It comes as a major surprise, then, when several strange faces appear at the funeral, each of them bringing their own stories of what Frank meant to them.

As the day goes on, it becomes increasingly apparent that Frank was not the man she thought he was.

Thirteen new and established writers collide in this brand new novel-of-stories project from Ryan Bracha, the brains behind Twelve Mad Men, The Switched, and The Dead Man Trilogy. All proceeds will be donated to Alzheimer's charities.

Featuring contributions from:

Dominic Adler - The Ninth Circle
Jason Beech - Moorlands
Kevin Berg - Indifference
Paul D. Brazill - A Case of Noir, Guns of Brixton, Kill Me Quick
Robert Cowan - The Search For Ethan, For All is Vanity
Craig Furchtenicht - Dimebag Bandits, Behind the 8 Ball
Shervin Jamali - The Devil's Lieutenant
Jason Michel - The Death of Three Colours, The Black-Hearted Beat
Allen Miles - This is How You Disappear
Alex Shaw - The Aidan Snow series
Martin Stanley - The Gamblers, Glasgow Grin, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Billingham Forum
Mark Wilson - The dEaDINBURGH series, On The Seventh Day, Ice Cold Alice

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 19, 2017

About the author

Ryan 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.

Reviews

[Caz C Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary novel containing thirteen short stories from various contributors in a framework by Ryan Bracha. The proceeds go to Alzheimer’s Charities. The day is May 15th and today Betty Peppercorn will bury her husband Frank. The strangers arriving for the funeral tell her about Frank’s life before they met and it is fascinating …

— Foreword —

We all have someone with or close to someone with Alzheimer’s. We all know the effects – a human life torn apart with every memory that is missing. The most hurtful aspect of it is that those with Alzheimer’s are fully aware of what is happening and of their inability to stop the process. The disease is not a lethal one for the body but it is to the mind. When parents have trouble recognising their children and marriages of years are disrupted because of Alzheimer’s, that is simply devastating. We need to figure it out, need to find a way to a solution and to a dignified life’s ending. What are we when we have lost the ability to love, to remember, to look back on our lives? That is why I support this initiative for Alzheimer’s Charities.

— The Initiative —

As the dedication in the book makes it all too clear, most of us know someone who has (a family member with) Alzheimer’s. This is why authors and friends Mark Wilson and Ryan Bracha wanted to do something and their initiative led to this novel of stories, as they call it. A lovely initiative and a worthy cause. The goal is to raise money for Alzheimer’s Charities within the UK and also the US. Every six months another Alzheimer’s Charity is chosen to be the recipient of the proceeds of The Thirteen Lives of Frank Peppercorn. The first recipient is Alzheimer’s Research UK.

— Introduction —

When you fall in love and get married – have a life together filled with loving moments and your love dies, all that is left are the loving memories of the things you did for love, celebrating the impact your husband had on your heart. Betty is Frank Peppercorn’s grieving widow and now is the time to bury him. They had been together for almost ten years and Betty thought she knew everything about his life – accepted that Frank never had many friends nor was at any time more than “the remarkable man excelling in being unremarkable.” As the day of the funeral goes on, Betty finds new insights into her husband and his life – and meets his friends, for the first time ever. Who was Frank? Come to his funeral and I will show you.

— Storyline —

— Betty Peppercorn —

May 15 is “the day I recycled his (Frank’s) carbon,” says his widow Betty Peppercorn engraving the date in her memory. Frank sounds like the perfect husband, the man-in-the-middle who liked his toast just a golden shade of brown and who never raised his voice. There was one thing Frank excelled in: his passionate love for Betty, a “Jackson Pollock masterpiece” according to her. Now she has to say goodbye to him and people telling her it will get easier is not what she wants to hear. She wants to keep Frank in her thoughts. But then, one by one, the strangers appear, giving Betty an insight into Frank and his life before they met. A man who collects debts, an actor, having an affair with a ravishing Italian beauty, it is almost unbelievable that ‘their’ Frank is the same as Betty’s Frank! A Frank who listened to music (not with Betty), who danced the night away? Now we find all the hypocrite people around her, the ‘vultures’ Betty calls them, people who feed on drama and the sorrow of others, but there is nowhere Betty would rather be than with these strangers who provide her with so many, until now, unknown aspects of Frank.

When a best friend from fifty years ago approaches Betty, he tells her about his friendship with Frank and how he longed to have seen him once more. He also gives Betty something to cling on to and somehow, it provides a consolation against her grief. But the next contributor to Frank’s former life, or should I say, contributors, tell a completely different tale in which there is no solace to find for Betty. No wonder she is glad the next stranger, a woman, owes her life to Frank and explains to Betty how and why. The next storyteller receives no sympathy from Betty and thankfully for him, Officer Otis Marshall appears, anxious to share his past friendship with Frank with his grieving widow. Although Betty is quite upset after Otis has told his story, exactly why she experiences mixed emotions she is not sure. Then the next man is ready to tell his tale and she knows for sure, he is an enemy. His story adds to Betty’s grief but at the same time, it allows her to speak out which feels pretty good, she has to admit.

— The Short Stories —

*Pieces Forgotten – Kevin Berg
A boy growing up with no goal in life. His father dies and he sees no alternative for his failed path to university but to drown it out in alcohol and drugs. It comes as no surprise that soon, he is out of work and in debt. The only way out is the army. Then something so gruesome and terrible happens so that his life spirals downwards, but then he meets Frank Peppercorn.
*Paid with Interest – Dominic Adler
Paul hates his job as a debt-collector. But he has no way out. Not unless he fancies some broken bones or worse. Now Frank Peppercorn is with him to show him how to collect debts. But nothing is what it seems to be …
*Il Guanto Nero Uccide Ancorai – Jason Michel
We find Frank in Rome, at the cinema, watching himself on the big screen when he is approached by an Italian who asks him to feature in another film. He accepts the role of the villain and thereby meets the leading lady, the enchanting Arianna Bongermino. Is it a wonder they become lovers? The director barely speaks English and another beautiful actress is jealous of Arianna and eager to replace her. Somehow, things are rapidly going out of control and become dangerous.
*The Ballad of Benny Baines – Paul D. Brazil
Apparently, Benny Baines is in trouble: his wife kicked him out for playing around. Even worse, for having kids with different women while she herself was unable to conceive. That hurts and now Benny sits in a pub awaiting a drink to drain away his sorrows. Then Frank comes in and the men have a heated dispute. What are they arguing about and how are they connected?
*Franny the Tyranny – Robert Cowan
A man who met Frank fifty years ago relives the darkest days of his life when he was with his best friend Frank, the one who wanted to be different and who did not care about the world looking on. He spent the rest of his life searching for Frank.
*Via Cua – The King of Nothing – Shervin Jamali
What horror took place in Vietnam? Do circumstances make a man prone towards primitive and barbarous cruelty? Find out in this tortuous tale of evil.
*You Fucking Diamond – Martin Stanley
She had an abusive husband. Frank was their neighbour and could not avoid hearing the beatings. Until she could take no more.
*Salt and Peppercorn – Ryan Bracha
Frank found a way to turn Salt into Pepper – or better said Peppercorn. How? To marry Elizabeth (Betty) Salt. We learn to know Betty, the grieving widow, and hers is no ordinary tale. It seems that Frank and Betty had more in common than they know. “Serendipity is working her magic” and it is simply touching.
*No Safe Haven Here – Craig Furchtenicht
A marriage and a pregnant wife – you would think that life is good for the young couple, apart from the bullet holes in his body and their blood-covered clothes, that is. What is going on? A baby about to be born, a truck slamming into a hospital and much more … where does Frank come in?
*Trivial Pursuit – Allen Miles
A man seeks an escape and finds it in toy trains. From then on, the attic is forbidden ground for his wife and children. Yes, he is getting obsessed with every addition and, with hindsight, he would have been better off not knowing … Now he does and Frank is somehow involved, whether he likes it or not.
*Rum Slap – Alex Shaw
Frankie is down in Barbados, as a favour to his ex Jennie. Once he loved her but since then she had been married to another man. Now she wants the best divorce settlement she can get and that is where Frankie comes in. Or does he?
*Chicken Neck – Jason Beech
A boy growing up with his mother as a single parent – a boy turned 18, sipping his first beer, ready to meet his father and to get to know him. Yes, Frank is the supposed father. Only Frank has no wish to meet someone claiming to be his son and this attitude baffles the young man. What will he do? What will Frank do?
*Crafty Pig – Mark Wilson
Now, this is a story you will not see coming! Frank has a brother! Not just any brother – but it would be a shame to tell you or Betty. Why? You have to find out for yourself.

— My Thoughts —

Wow. This is quite an exceptional book, almost impossible to review. I love the concept of the framework, such a great idea, Ryan Bracha. What a remarkable day and what a journey protagonist Betty has been through at the end of the book. When she sets out to bury her husband, she only knows that she buries but the carbon copy of him, his being is deep within her and in her thoughts, she finds his presence, he is with her still. Although the premise of a set of stories within a framework is hardly new (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales being the outstanding example) this is special because each story has a different author, contributor. Each story relates a part of Frank’s life and Ryan Bracha has had his work cut out for him to connect them in a way that speaks to the reader. There is a bit of dark humour in Jason Mitchell’s story as well as Ryan Bracha’s Salt and Peppercorn (this was quite unexpected!), and a plot twist in Dominic Adler’s tale. Some I found hard to fathom and kept me wondering like Craig Furchtenicht’s story, and the most shocking one was probably Shervin Jamali’s Via Cua. For me, the most touching ones were Mark Wilson’s moving story of the two brothers and Kevin Berg’s story, brilliant in its simplicity. An extraordinary collection of stories and a great initiative!

Read the review on my website: https://www.bitsaboutbooks.net/thirte...

[Jason Beech · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in this, so I'm biased, but the rest of the stories outside my own are top-notch and the whole thing is threaded together beautifully. You'll fall in love with Betty.

[Martin Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betty Peppercorn is burying her husband, Frank, today. He was kind and gentle and loving. He's also a man of surprises, as Betty finds to her dismay when a group of strangers crash the funeral and tell her what Frank meant to them.

The Thirteen Lives of Frank Peppercorn gathers a group of very fine writers who deliver some top quality short stories. But without Ryan Bracha's link writing, it wouldn't mean a thing. He makes Betty likable and human and warm and gives the disparate stories a sense of flow. This is no mean feat. And as a piece of improvisational writing, it is exceptional. The fact that it feels more like a novel than an anthology is down to Bracha's flair.

As a novel I recommend it highly, but as the proceeds are going to Alzheimer's charities I'd say this thing should be a compulsory purchase. Buy it.

[Neil Carstairs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty ambitious anthology project. Taking the theme of snapshots from the life of Frank Peppercorn on the day of his funeral we meet his wife Elizabeth (Betty). She only knew Frank for the last ten years of his life, and the Frank she knew and loved was not the man the strangers who turn up to her funeral remember. As each of these 13 strangers recount how they knew Frank, Betty learns the secrets of her husband’s life.

So, what was I expecting from this anthology? Certainly, not what I got. I’d describe this as a series of noir stories, sometimes brutal, as Frank becomes, amongst others, drug dealer, enforcer, Nazi hunter and private investigator. They don’t all work, but this is an anthology of shorts wrapped around a running theme of the funeral and wake, so it would be an unusual anthology where every story matched the other. The best are dark explorations of the human psyche; PTSD; Marital abuse; Obsession. But all add different layers to the life of Frank Peppercorn. And then there’s Betty and how she copes with the revelations about her husband and the friends who compete to be chief mourner.

An unusual anthology worth reading, and buying, as all proceed are being donated to dementia charities.

[Katrina Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betty has said goodbye to her late husband and observes as others say goodbye to what she now only sees as the space he once occupied.

The funeral is playing out and the new widow can only observe.

Strangers start to arrive, each bringing with them a surprising tale about the exciting lives Bettys calm, peaceful and reserved husband lived over the years.

Frank has certainly lived, as they say, a 'full life'....just how many stories can one man have and, will there ever be enough?

This compilation is another remarkable project from the source that gave us Twelve Mad Men and, the expectations I had after the aforementioned were met and exceeded, as always.

A cracking compilation of wickedly talented authors, all weighing in with a standalone tale, tightly woven and narrated into a fun, intriguing and startlingly easy to believe tale of adventure and woe.

Definitely recommend.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading this I wasn't sure what to expect. 13 authors all writing parts each - would it make any sense? I had only previously read 2 of the author's work so wasn't really sure this book would be for me BUT I was pleasantly surprised.

I was enthralled by Frank Peppercorn's life from the very first chapter. I found I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what happened next and who I would meet. It kept me guessing the whole way through, there was just no way of knowing where we would be led to next.

It flowed together nicely and if you weren't aware so many authors were involved you probably wouldn't even be able to tell.

The stories are all very different but actually all say the same thing....Frank is a nice person who does bad things.

[Daniel Norrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever and original collection of short stories that’s woven together with wit and intrigue. You’ll struggle to pick your favourite in this bunch of awesome tales

[Shervin Jamali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirteen gifted writers at the top of their games. And with all proceeds going to fight Alzheimer's, you now have fourteen reasons to invest in this book. As far as anthologies go, this is as good as it gets.

[Matt Cowper · Rating 3 out of 5]

As many have noted, this was an ambitious project. Herding together thirteen authors, with their diverse styles, themes, and idiosyncrasies, and then trying to stitch together an understandable narrative? I expected this “novel of stories” to either be a home run or collapse from its own weight – but, as it turns out, it's neither excellent nor dreadful. Some of the stories are scorchers, some are ho-hum, others have flashes of brilliance but then take wrong turns.

Kevin Berg is the only writer I'm familiar with in the collection, and his entry is the rawest of the entire collection. Many of the themes he explored in “Indifference,” his debut novel, appear in “Pieces Forgotten” – maybe too many? Berg again uses the “damaged war vet” character, but this time the character has suffered from the War on Terror, not Vietnam. Nonetheless, still a good story, with an ending that isn't the hopeless one you expect.

The collection meanders along for a while, with the reader learning more and more about our deceased title character. Frank Peppercorn is not the Caspar Milquetoast his widow, Betty, conceives him to be – he has seemingly limitless facets, and is capable of both great cruelty as well as a rough sort of compassion.

Things pick up with “Franny the Tranny,” Robert Cowan's excellent story. Cowan could've shouted Frank's “tranny” rebellion at us from a bullhorn, but instead he has Frank calmly and matter-of-factly state his reasons, which makes it much more compelling. There's violence and death, but the story is still strangely quiet, with Frank's unruffled actions sitting in the center.

The next few entries are also excellent. Shervin Jamali's tale of “kingpin” Frank shows our protagonist (if you can call him that) at his murky best. Is he hero, anti-hero, or villain – or do none of these terms apply to him? Likely the last one.

Martin Stanley shows us the “roughly compassionate” Frank. Stanley has a steady hand, and his characters are well-drawn. Despite the battering the wife takes and Frank's not-so-saintly intervention, there's a quietness to the tale, like Cowan's “Franny the Tranny.” I guess it's the writing craft showing – Stanley is here to tell a solid story, not preach at us or throw cheap shocks our way.

Craig Furchtenicht's story is the most action-packed and wildest of the bunch. Crazed Amish mafia thugs with pitchforks? I think that's how it goes? Well, you can never have enough of those, can ya? This presents us with “secret agent,” or at least “collaborator” Frank. Furchtenicht also tosses in some social commentary on teenage pregnancies, commentary you won't hear on the nightly news. A small detail, but one that stuck with me.

Allen Miles follows up with a demented train-set collector. I've always wanted to write a story about a demented stamp collector, and this is the next closest thing. The man presents his delusions so earnestly that you start to believe model trains and the small worlds you can build around them are worth tossing your life away. How Frank shatters the man – literally and figuratively – is predictable, but that doesn't weaken the story.

Before I move on to the ending, I'll talk about Ryan Bracha, the man who's supposed to hold all this together. Does he succeed? Overall, no – and that's mainly because of the “novel's” structure. Betty Peppercorn, Frank's widow, sits passively while Frank's gallery of enemies and friends tells her their stories. After they're done, Betty's perspective returns, at which point she needs to do something, anything, to make up for being virtually absent from the story.

Bracha tries to get her moving and acting, but it's not enough. Mainly she repeats that she's glad to get another piece of Frank. Occasionally she gets angry. A few times she acts strong and forthright, but again, it's not enough the counteract her captivity. And that's what she is – a captive, as other people (and other writers) tell interesting stories that, except on very few occasions, don't involve her at all. Captive characters aren't engrossing.

Some of the writers try to involve Betty (“Don't look at me like that, Mrs. Peppercorn,” or something similar), but before long the pull of the narrative takes over, and she drifts away. By the end of the novel, I didn't know much about Betty, and I didn't care to know more. These writers have made her late husband so interesting that it's reduced her to a non-entity.

Finally, the last story, Mark Wilson's “Crafty Pig.” Seriously? After all this, and we have such an absurd plot device foisted on us? I'm not going to reveal what it is, but it's a cheap twist where no twist was needed. If I sound bitter, I am – this “novel” deserved a strong ending, not the head-scratching one we get.

Now, on to the formatting. Yes, we need to talk about this.

I've never seen a work of literature formatted like this. Usually writers indent at the beginning of a paragraph, yet in “Thirteen Lives” indentations are few and far between. The text is just stacked on top of itself. It's not a wall of text; the writers do press “enter,” they just don't press “tab.” It makes the reading difficult, especially when I'm reading dialogue.

Some writers use multiple line breaks to separate paragraphs (Berg does this in “Indifference,” but he also indents), which is fine – what isn't fine is to do nothing, and just stack and stack and stack the text. According to my notes, Martin Stanley's and Mark Wilson's entries are the only ones with correct formatting. I'd like to double-check this, but I can't, at least not easily – which brings me to my next point.

This book begs to be professionally formatted. (In the off chance it has been professionally formatted, the authors need to ask for a refund.) If I want to review a particular author's story, I can't just go to the table of contents or the Kindle's “Go To” function and click on a link, and be instantly whisked to where I need to be – I have to swipe through the file for who knows how long until I find the story I want.

In a standard novel, with one author, you could maybe get away without professional formatting. With this many authors, it's a necessity.

The text size did change at random times throughout the novel, which, again, could've been rectified by a formatter. Also, while many of the stories are flawlessly presented, several have far too many spelling and grammar errors.

That's a lot of discussion about the formatting. How much has it affected my rating? Say half a star. With a better ending, and a cleaner file, this is a four-star work. As it stands, three stars is as high as I can go.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘A Novel of Short Stories’. What’s that supposed to be?
Glad you asked.
In this audacious project, the lead writer (Bracha) writes a main narrative designed to connect contributions from a group of writers. With the remit of tell a story about Frank these writers sent their offerings to Bracha to perform his witchcraft on. The lad doesn’t set easy tasks for himself, but that’s the reason Bracha has developed so fully as a writer and why he remains the most exciting Indie writer in the UK at present.
The creativity and skill required to connect these stories- in a manner that flows along in a smooth, engaging narrative where the reader is never jarred form the story, despite the section written by others, as a novel from a single author working alone would- is both considerable, and completely at Bracha’s disposal.
In Frank peppercorn we have a series of tales of Frank’s childhood, teens, adulthood, crimes, loves, and losses, linked into the main narrative set at Frank’s funeral. Throughout the story Frank’s past is revealed to the reader, as well as his widow. We discover a man with a colourful, dark, desperate, and touching history.
Bracha leads his reader form one entry to the next utilising, what I consider, his finest writing to date. The brash Bracha of old, who’ll try to finger your pet and make you laugh at his insolence, has vanished, to be replaced by a much more considered writer, who has created a perfect storm of bottomless creativity, skilled technique and heartfelt emotion to produce a standout novel (of shorts).
Funny, entertaining, heart-breaking, ostentatious and immensely invigorating, The Thirteen Lives of Frank Peppercorn is a triumph.

[Kevin Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin?

One of the most difficult things for me to do when a good book is finished, is coming up with a review that will do the story (and the author) some justice. Something that can let you know how good this book really is, and why I enjoyed reading it so much. This one has a total of thirteen storytellers, each one given a small piece of Frank's life they have chosen to share with you.

I won't spend your time summarizing the contributions everyone has made to this story, the twelve other brilliant writers who have made this project something special. An impressive collection from so many talents. Instead, I would like to focus on one. The main author, the one who took the pieces from all of us and tied them together so seamlessly. Absolutely perfect.

I was late to the game, completely bored with reading and the stories available out there for me. One day I lucked out and came across a book including novels from two of the writers in this piece, one of them the main author for this beautiful book you are reading about now. That lucky find resurrected my love for reading, and I have since flown through every work this man has presented to the world. Each one better than the last. Every new Bracha tale is another favorite, only to be replaced when his next release hits the market. Since the first experience I had with this author, I have enjoyed his storytelling ability, but it has also been something exciting to watch evolve and become even better. Something to appreciate. Something like a desire to emulate.

The instructions were simple, stories from different parts of Frank's life. That is it, though. He was given twelve stories about the different lives of a dead man, and had to fit them together into a single plot line that makes sense. One main narrative to wrap up the words of so many different styles and events. Incredible.

A novel of stories, this creation of the very skilled Mr Bracha, will entertain you. It is something truly remarkable, that will carry you through the emotions of Frank's widow, and the revelations from strangers on the day of her husband's funeral.

Initially, the idea may seem too difficult. Unbelievable. Impossible. Maybe for most, but I will never again doubt the abilities of the man behind this. Mr Bracha highlights the talent of the indie scene while showing us all that he is definitely at the top of his game.

A skillset that cannot be ignored, ability that should never be doubted. Something to be envied.

Pick this one up, and see what makes this project so good. You won't be disappointed.

[The P.Turners]

Please see blog for review: https://thepturnersbookblog.wordpress...