48 Broad: Stories

By Tom Lady

When nine-year-old Barry Roggebusch, in all his bedwetting glory, swipes that thick wad of cash from Dad's sock drawer to feed his Garbage Pail Kid habit, he inadvertently sets off a chain reaction that spares no one under that Queen Anne's roof at 48 Broad Street.Not his father, whose newfound inability to pay off the cleaning lady for a certain something-something leads to no shortage of aw-shits.Nor his mercurial stepmother, whose iron-fisted rule just barely compensates for imaginary conversations with her violently abusive father, a rule that is tested when she can no longer finance her son's band camp.Not to speak of Bunny (as most don't, since most can't see her), the "spooky" smart violin prodigy who's taken up residence in Barry's room.And did I mention Barry's six half/step-brothers, one of whom is the town kingpin, and another of whom is just to the right of Attila the Hun?Let's put it this way: Gorbachev, the family Lhasa Apso, OD'ing on pot is the least of this family's problems.48 BROAD is a linked story collection set in New Jersey during the spring of 1986. Pay a visit to this address and you'll find the merry (not) Roggebusch clan, ten stories crammed in a three-story house bursting with boiling resentments, hostile agendas, and a sweaty desperation by all to make it work, come hell or the High Street church.So what are you waiting for? No need to knock. Come on into 48 BROAD, kick back, and make yourself at home.Just don't forget to duck.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1790454271
• ISBN13: 9781790454273
• Release Date: December 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 396 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"