Burned

by Richard Bader

Burned —the sequel to Richard Bader’s well-received novel, Booted —picks up where that earlier story left off. Having resurrected his failing career and having moved on from his failing marriage, Victor Barstow now wrestles with the demise of his employer, Winklers Boots, which has burned to the ground and (apparently) taken the Winkler family patriarch to his death with it. Victor exhumes a corpse, confronts a surprise pregnancy, fights off a cult that is holding his daughter against her will, and faces other challenges as he somewhat shakily takes the next steps in his life.
“ Burned offers up a rollicking adventure complete with a faked death, unexpected pregnancy, octogenarian scam-artist, South Florida tennis academy, bow-and-arrow warfare, and a culturally appropriative back-to-the-land cult. As in Booted, Bader keeps us immersed with his irreverent humor, brisk pace, and off-the-wall plotlines that make it hard to put down this inventive follow-up.” —Julianne Ohanian, Director of the Baltimore Writers Group
Richard Bader’s fiction has been featured in a variety of literary magazines and on National Public Radio. Burned is his second novel. He lives with his wife in Towson, Maryland.

228 pages, Paperback

Published October 24, 2022