A Very Innocent Man

by Edward Belfar

“Edward Belfar’s twisted redemption story perfectly mirrors the well-earned cynicism of our times. Highly recommended.”
— Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works
“Belfar weaves the tale of [a doctor’s] downward spiral with a deft hand for dialog and a sharp ear for storytelling.”
— Jerry Mikorenda, author of America’s First Freedom Rider and the novel, The Whaler’s Daughter
“Lies and hypocrisy abound in this witty, farcical, hilarious story, so full of corruption that it feels, well, a bit like the world in which we live…”
— Brian Duren, author of Ivory Black and of the award-winning novel Whiteout

Life’s going great for Dr. Robert Rosen. He has a New York City medical practice, his dreams of TV fame as “Dr. Sober-Up” are coming true, and he’s making big bucks selling oxycodone prescriptions for cash. What could go wrong? Sure, his personal life is a bit rocky—his brother, mother, and son all seeing him as a swindler and a low life—but you can’t have everything. Besides, he has a wonderful young assistant/girlfriend in Tamika Jones and a skilled if out of control mentor in Dr. Barry “Bulldog” Bullard, so really, who needs them?

Unfortunately,  his opioid side business includes selling prescriptions to a bogus pain clinic run by Russian mobsters, mobsters who don’t have a lot of respect for Dr. Rosen’s position nor his fees, nor, for that matter, his apartment and personal possessions.

Inevitably his house of cards collapses when one of his patients rats him out to the FBI and he is arrested. Out on bail, he can’t work, he is hemorrhaging money, and the prospect of spending a long stint in prison looms. He’s got to do something, but the more he tries to get ahead of his troubles the worse they get.

Finally he hits on a plan: reinvent himself as a life coach and motivational speaker. Once again, his fortunes appear to be on the rise. However, he finds, to his dismay, that he cannot escape his criminal past; the Russians have not finished with him yet.

In the spirit of John Kennedy Toole and Chuck Palahniuk, a Very Innocent Man is a darkly comic novel that, as with all good satire, may not be so absurd after all.

About the author

Edward Belfar’s collection of short stories, Wanderers, was published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press in 2012. One of the stories in the collection was chosen as the winning entry in the Sports Literature Association 2008 fiction competition, while another was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  His fiction and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Shenandoah, The Baltimore Review, Potpourri, Confrontation, Natural Bridge, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and Tampa Review.  As a reader for The Plentitudes, he reviews both fiction and nonfiction submissions.  He earned his BA in history and MA in creative writing at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his PhD in literature at Temple University.  He lives with his wife in Maryland, where he works as a writer and editor. He can be reached through his website at www.edwardbelfar.com.

A portion of the proceeds from A Very Innocent Man will be donated to Whitman-Walker. Since 1973, Whitman-Walker has worked toward building a society where all persons are seen for who they are, treated with dignity and respect, and afforded equal opportunity to health and wellbeing. https://whitmanwalkerimpact.org/