What do you think?
Rate this book
Budland
Jail didn’t sound so bad to Bud Remmick, a small price to pay for erasing an abusive, blackmailing sociopath from the face of the earth. But the plan to ride out a lenient sentence starts to fall apart when prison life turns on him. Bud faces a reckoning with a lifelong dysfunction that plays out behind bars. His long-suffering wife begins to doubt her loyalty. Bud’s lawyer abandons him. His cellmate attacks him and suddenly, the tidy rules of Budland are no longer in play. Bud’s ultimate support comes from unexpected places, rooted in his past as a journalist. His inner struggle to measure good against evil continues right up to the very end, when he finally walks out of prison to an uncertain future.
142 pages, Hardcover
Published November 27, 2021
6 people want to read
About the author
Tom Kranz
14 books6 followersTom is a Philadelphia native whose 40-year journalism expertise includes radio, television, print and online. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Temple University. He was a New Jersey certified EMT from 1999 to 2021 and served as a volunteer EMT on his local rescue squad in New Jersey. He is still a certified CPR instructor and a life member of the rescue squad.
He worked in Philadelphia radio and television from the mid 1970s until 1991. From 1992 to 2007 he was a producer and senior producer at CBS News. After retiring from the TV news business in 2007, he spent 12 years as director of communications for Chelsea Senior Living and two years as public information officer for the borough of Fanwood, New Jersey.
Tom has written seven books. His single non-fiction book, Liveshot, details his on-scene assignment as a producer for WCAU-TV in West Philadelphia during the ill-fated 1985 MOVE confrontation. During this event, the city attempted to evict the MOVE group from a rowhome but succeeded instead in burning down the house, the entire city block and killing all 11 people inside.
His other six books are novels. Three focus on a married couple, the Bud & Maggie Series, and their struggles with Bud’s sublimated anger and Maggie’s ambition. Two are science fiction stories with climate change as the backdrop, the Earth-Moon Series. His latest work, Wreck and Return, is the story of Griffin Ambrose, a volunteer EMT whose volunteer life and professional life in the TV news business lead to stress, self-medication and a disastrous turn of events that result in a death, injured colleagues, jail and Griffin's exile from EMS. He finds a path to redemption, however, as patients who he helped in his 20 years as an EMT wonder if all the good he did should be erased by one mistake?
Tom resides in New Jersey where he hosts a podcast on creativity and does freelance communications work.
He worked in Philadelphia radio and television from the mid 1970s until 1991. From 1992 to 2007 he was a producer and senior producer at CBS News. After retiring from the TV news business in 2007, he spent 12 years as director of communications for Chelsea Senior Living and two years as public information officer for the borough of Fanwood, New Jersey.
Tom has written seven books. His single non-fiction book, Liveshot, details his on-scene assignment as a producer for WCAU-TV in West Philadelphia during the ill-fated 1985 MOVE confrontation. During this event, the city attempted to evict the MOVE group from a rowhome but succeeded instead in burning down the house, the entire city block and killing all 11 people inside.
His other six books are novels. Three focus on a married couple, the Bud & Maggie Series, and their struggles with Bud’s sublimated anger and Maggie’s ambition. Two are science fiction stories with climate change as the backdrop, the Earth-Moon Series. His latest work, Wreck and Return, is the story of Griffin Ambrose, a volunteer EMT whose volunteer life and professional life in the TV news business lead to stress, self-medication and a disastrous turn of events that result in a death, injured colleagues, jail and Griffin's exile from EMS. He finds a path to redemption, however, as patients who he helped in his 20 years as an EMT wonder if all the good he did should be erased by one mistake?
Tom resides in New Jersey where he hosts a podcast on creativity and does freelance communications work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 13, 2018
Tom Kranz's imagery set the stage of prison life that made it feel all so real. Like actually being there. Behind bars. The main character was so well-developed that it left little question about his troubled inner thoughts and demons. Like him or not, I came to know him well. The storyline never wavered as it remained on track throughout the tale. This character-driven narrative was penned with an easy-to-read style of prose. It was enjoyable - beginning to end.
Borden "Bud" Remmick age 45, had been senior producer at Kaleidoscope News when his life had taken a dramatic downturn. He had been found guilty for the murder of his boss. As bad luck would have it, he was culpable for a mountain of books that had crashed down ending his former employer's life. Death by book. That might be a first. He hadn't planned to kill him. It had been ruled involuntary manslaughter and had been sentenced to spend the next four to six years of his life in Kings Pointe Correctional Institution.
Bud seemed to adjust right away to life in the joint: three square meals a day, access to TV, books, exercise and a place to sleep. What more could he ask for? Let me see - maybe freedom. The author suddenly threw in a shocking twist. From out of the clear blue, Bud had gotten shanked by his longtime cellmate. A makeshift shiv had been plunged deep into Bud's right side. As he lie bleeding profusely on the cell floor, Bud did not know what could have provoked such a deadly attack. Only months away from serving out his full sentence, he had hoped to make it home to his wife. Maybe a new beginning. A fresh start. Both time and blood were running out.
Borden "Bud" Remmick age 45, had been senior producer at Kaleidoscope News when his life had taken a dramatic downturn. He had been found guilty for the murder of his boss. As bad luck would have it, he was culpable for a mountain of books that had crashed down ending his former employer's life. Death by book. That might be a first. He hadn't planned to kill him. It had been ruled involuntary manslaughter and had been sentenced to spend the next four to six years of his life in Kings Pointe Correctional Institution.
Bud seemed to adjust right away to life in the joint: three square meals a day, access to TV, books, exercise and a place to sleep. What more could he ask for? Let me see - maybe freedom. The author suddenly threw in a shocking twist. From out of the clear blue, Bud had gotten shanked by his longtime cellmate. A makeshift shiv had been plunged deep into Bud's right side. As he lie bleeding profusely on the cell floor, Bud did not know what could have provoked such a deadly attack. Only months away from serving out his full sentence, he had hoped to make it home to his wife. Maybe a new beginning. A fresh start. Both time and blood were running out.
March 14, 2018
Very interesting cast of characters that you will either love or hate. Very well written, holds your attention and gives the reader a glimpse into a man who feels he needs to stand up for women that are victims of sexual harrasement. How he does this and the aftermath is what makes this book one you will not want to put down. Some point of view books do not work, they drag or too much insignificant information is given. Not in this book. I will look for more from this author for sure. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
April 30, 2018
I enjoyed the characterization and basic plot of this noir-style tale of crime, punishment and the fall-out from it. The tone was engaging and the motives and actions of the protagonist rang true. I was sorry that it was so short and wished for a more intricate storyline so that I could have continued reading.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews