The B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S. Chronicles

DRIFTWOOD

In search of fame and fortune, Mahdakis, an offbeat sixteen-year-old poet/musician, runs away from his home in the dismal rural settings of The Mountains, and catapults himself towards the bright lights and Promised Land of Philadelphia. But a funny thing or two happen on the way to The City of Brotherly Love; not the least of which being a five-year detour into Norford, a large culturally and financially diverse suburbanite city in northern Delaware. It is here, in a purgatory of his own creation, he must learn to successfully walk the fine line of sanity and madness, lest he become nothing more than another tragic teenage statistic; a feat only compounded by incessant wrestling with the demons of his murderous past.

As the assortment of characters he encounters become increasingly more bizarre, Mahdakis accepts the possibility that these B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S.™ he relents to calling friends, may represent nothing more than pinball bumpers, deterring or directing his one shot at ultimate glory and musical success. What he doesn’t count on is the ferocious passion, stuffed inside each and every one of these people, like a jack-in-the-box waiting to be sprung free, and how that passion would forever scar and bless him, simultaneously.

It is while running through the maze of these friendships, towards tomorrow’s dream, and from yesterday’s sorrow, that Mahdakis discovers who he really is, who he really was, and how there is no escaping either.

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CRIMES SEEN

As the quest for fame, fortune, and common sense continues in book 2, Mahdakis finds himself in a spiraling psychosis of sexual deviancy and cunning deception; a world in which the price for daily survival is the purity of his own heart…….Considering this a fair trade, Mahdakis jumps in with both feet and immediately finds himself living on the streets with fellow B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S.™, Floyd and Carl; going day to day without the security of knowing where they will sleep, if they will ever wake up again, and if so, where their next beer is going to come from.

But there is little time to dwell on such matters, as his bands popularity explodes for a brief moment in time and gives them all a taste of what the good life could have in store for them – if they’re willing to play ball. For the manner in which the band has become well known is questionable; yet still, with nothing but determination for stardom, Mahdakis finds himself catapulted even further into an ethically questionable lifestyle that he continues to embrace with open arms…..That is, until he unintentionally partakes in a gruesome act of violence that leaves him scarred for life; a wake-up call, forcing him to rethink the direction in which he has been steering himself.

Now, regardless of his self-righteous pride, he knows he must seek immediate sanctuary from this chaotic existence if he wishes to keep what little is left of his soul. Ironically, the one and only person who possesses the power and willingness to liberate him from such damnation, is the one person he fears most.

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BENEVOLENCE & BETRAYAL

Martians, nymphomaniacs, drug dealers, federal agents, and ghosts all partake in their share of heartbreak, suicide, murder, rape, cocaine abuse, car crashes, and incontinence in this third installment of The Chronicles, as pandemonium and infidelity run rampant in this era’s final installment of the B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S. Chronicles™; an era which drives some to psychiatric furlough’s, some to newly invested lives of crime, and some to the Missing Persons databas

It is an era that Mahdakis finds his creativity drowning in an overwhelming wave of F.A.G.G. Metal music; music he feels threatens his chances of any musical future, as male musicians dressing like women, are now the only ones being signed to recording contracts because genuine women are inexplicably drawn to them and their hokey love songs.

But perhaps this is merely an excuse he uses to rationalize his apathetic behavior towards growing up and becoming a responsible Human Being; denial shrouding any chance of clear thinking, as the only real drowning being done is that by his own hand; drowning in a self-created sea of scotch, anger, and LSD, accentuated by the formidable, yet intoxicating, sexuality of Jezebel Crowley, as their love soars to a volatile peak in a no holds barred wrestling match of the hearts.

But so caught up in the intensity of his passionate frenzy, he injudiciously underestimates his opponent’s will and desire for independence…and victory. For Jezebel too, finds herself trapped in the same furious liaison of orgasmic euphoria from which she secretly desires no escape.….but unlike him, begins to understand the dire consequences if she does not.

Desperate to remember himself, he returns to The Mountains for answers.

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PARADISE IN PURGATORY

As book 4 opens, Mahdakis accidentally stumbles upon a much-needed change in his life and unconsciously slams a door shut behind him while bumbling his way through another, opening him up to an unsullied colorful world of sobriety and optimism; a world filled with shiny happy people exuding positive reinforcement.

This phenomenon, of course, sickens him.

Yet, despite his reluctance to adapt, he inexplicably finds himself playing with some high school seniors in a local F.A.G.G. Metal band (Female-Aspirant Guy Group) and socializing among young F.A.G.G. Metal ilk.

While degrading to him at first, he slowly begins to feel an invigorating sense of purpose and motivation as he warily feeds off the refreshing bombastic innocence of these F.A.G.G.’s.

On Other Fronts:

After getting reinstated as a mortal being by the super hero committee, Pumpkinhead seeks validation as a Middle-Earth Wizard……..The Norford Police Department sets up a sting operation to put Jack Scentoola away once and for all……Charlotte Cummings starts to show very vivid true colors……Snowy McPeet returns from his capture in a top secret government lab……Goiter has a coming out party……Mahdakis and Nicki Tater leave for Cincinnati, to start life anew. While they find solace in one another, they don’t find much of anything else……Captain H. has his hands full when the AIDS virus hits close to home and new promotions are being given to some and death sentences to others.

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PLACID ANIMOSITY

Before his untimely death in 1983, lyricist Roger Daniels managed to amass a small collection of poetry.

When Mahdakis, his best friend and would-be assassin, fled The Mountains, he not only did so with Roger’s blood on his hands, but with Roger’s poetry stuffed in his knapsack. He held on to all the original writings and along the way, used them to enhance his own song lyrics, which by themselves, quite frankly, often lacked finesse, style, or purpose of any kind and generated even less interest.
He took all the credit for the writings back in those days, of course, and provided further confusion to many of the copyright dates. In fact, many of these songs and poems can be found on the hard-to-come-by original recordings of Check Engine, The Unthinkables, Bogus Anxiety, and the very obscure, Fourth and Fifty; hard to find recordings not only because of their age, but because another band has since gone on to use the name Check Engine more successfully.

A bottle of Jack Daniels or an extremely guilty conscience must have gotten the better of Mahdakis after all those decades, before his own death in 2005, as he managed to print up a limited number of poetry books and calling it ‘LIFE (generic brand); Poetry of the Late Roger Daniels’.

Now, with the Daniels family’s gracious permission, I have taken the liberty of releasing that small body of work to the public in hopes that the memory of Roger never be forgotten….and Mahdakis, for whatever that is worth.

While I was never given reason to question the integrity of Roger, I will always wonder as to the sincerity of Mahdakis’s true intentions; as should anyone. But as that truth was forever buried with each of them long ago, we have only these very limited writings in which to judge for ourselves.

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IN CASE YOU WERE TOO STONED TO REMEMBER…

An introduction to The B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S.™ for new readers, or a refresher for others, A definitive collection of who’s who and what has happened in the first three installments of The B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S. Chronicles™.

In Case you were Too Stoned to Remember is a collection of some of the most essential B.U.R.N.O.U.T.S.™ moments, and is designed as a preview for those who are mildly curious about the entire series.

While these excerpts allow you to catch up, or better understand the story line, they do not give the story’s endings away and will not spoil anything should you decide to hop on board with the series.