Available June 16, 2026
Rope Burn — Kirk Sheppard
About the Book
Luke Anderson has spent fifteen years running the behind-the-scenes operations of a small regional Indiana wrestling promotion. He handles everything that Stan Weizenschmidt won’t — the logistics, the crises, the aftermath — because this world is the only one that has ever felt like his. When Stan’s decisions grow more desperate and the promotion’s future grows uncertain, Luke is forced to confront what it has truly cost him.
Rope Burn is a novel about loyalty, identity, and what it means to love something that cannot love you back.
“Kirk Sheppard understands the world of indie wrestling better than anyone.”
— Big Mama, NWA Women’s World Television Champion
Excerpt
“I guess we’ll have to go in another direction.” Stan Weizenschmidt and I stared at our biggest star, Kole the Krusher, with his head cracked open on the cement floor, blood pooling beneath his long blond hair.
We both should have been more rattled by it. But I had seen worse. Stan had caused worse…
Read the full excerpt →Events
Apr
25
Roebling Books Block Party
Roebling Books & Coffee · Covington, KY
Jun
16
Rope Burn — Publication Day
Available everywhere books are sold
About the Author
Kirk Sheppard
Kirk Sheppard spent over twenty years in independent professional wrestling as a producer, director, and in-ring talent for the Northern Wrestling Federation. In 2018 he was inducted into the NWF Hall of Fame.
After retiring he moved into Cincinnati theatre as a critic and playwright. He continues to write about Cincinnati theatre through his blog, Off Book Cincinnati.
He has also worked as a mental health counselor for over twenty years. Rope Burn is his second novel.
Also by Kirk Sheppard
Fiction
Nonfiction