Bøker av Russell Hatler

In his debut novel, "Casino Hopping Through the Lower 48" Chuck Stevenson worked for IBM until his untimely encounter with an HR Reduction In Force lollapalooza. In order to come to terms with life he embarked on a 6,000-mile odyssey to "find himself." His estranged wife Bernie said he'd be better off trying to "find a job!" This book takes place three years later. Chuck and Bernie's kids, Tracy and Brandon, are twenty-six and twenty respectively although you'll seldom find the terms "Brandon" and "respect" in any manner, shape or form lurking in the same sentence. Chuck and Bernie are still on the civilized fringe of divorce. Chuck springs for a Labor Day weekend flight that takes him and the kids to Seattle in the great state of Washington where the rain falls daily and grass is everywhere. Yup. Grass. The smoking kind. The novel is all about stupid laws (marijuana and others), unconventional behavior (sexual as well as social), licit and illicit relationships (both private and professional) and how we as adults trapped within the system are compelled to cope. There are a great many bent and twisted characters in the book, some of whom get their comeuppance in the end and others who breeze through life unscathed by the random demands of Karma.

Michael Archer is a Social Worker from Murphy, NC. His boss recruits him for a moonlight stint interviewing the hapless denizens of a nearby cluster of tumbledown shacks at the request of a pharmaceutical company in Atlanta. It seems the firm has found a cure for Alzheimer's and the ingredients they need to manufacture the drug are buried deep beneath Lucas Ridge. The job seems straight-forward at first but when a co-worker ends up dead in a mosquito-infested swamp, Michael begins to wonder whose calloused hands are tugging on his personal puppet strings.

A fractured twist on The Pilgrim's Progress, the book describes the first-person narrator's six-thousand-mile automotive odyssey that covers two weeks and twelve casinos. It is filled with wit, philosophy and homespun advice regarding the eternal battle that pits domestic harmony against the pursuit of liberty. Although casino gaming plays a large role in the tale the narrator also finds himself thrust into the ageless game of sexual hide-and-go-seek when he reaches out to help a gorgeous goddess and comes up with a handful of happy endings.

Sanctuary IV explores the situation where Sanctuary is almost full, the pandemic above the crust is out of control, and rich guys from all over the world are clamoring to get in. Unfortunately, the Sanctuary II solution promised by Carlsbad, NM, is no longer an option. Terrorists posing as patriots have destroyed the fledgling skeletal structure. Plans are laid to bring the construction workers home.An infusion of International Elites may provide a vital inflow of revenue to help fund the new development, but it also brings along a host of problems. Language and cultural differences exacerbate the issue of integrating new citizens into the mix. Technology helps. Artificial Intelligence and Proximate Immortality play their own inimitable roles.In the end The Chosen Ones are left to reflect on their contribution to the survival of species homo sapiens. As you might imagine, they wonder whether the miniscule results have been worth their Herculean effort.

After fifty plus years of writing Russ Hatler is toggling off the laptop, dusting off his Roget's Thesaurus, and hanging up the metaphorical gloves. In one last valiant effort to achieve those twin elusive goals of notoriety and wealth, he has compiled an eclectic collection of literary works from various periods throughout his illustrious career into this slender compendium of short stories, poetry and philosophy. After half a century of coaxing written words to romp unfettered across the cybernetic page, he has reached the inescapable conclusion that it is far, far better to have earned a living programming big mainframe computers, and spent his leisure time writing novels, than it would've been to do those self-same things the other way around. Cheers!

The underground city is taking shape nicely. The infrastructure is in place. Residential buildings are beginning to fill up. Support recruiting is well underway. Otto and Amelie have risen to the rank of full-fledged team members. The existential threat of Climate Change is creeping inexorably toward the tipping point. Virtual Reality competitive activities and salacious scenarios are being designed and developed, when inexplicably, out of an abandoned Soviet biological weapons laboratory, a bug gets loose and out squirts the Pandemic.

Russ Hatler's tenth novel, Giants, is set in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. It tells the story of a brave, resilient people reeling from the wrath of Mother Nature while struggling to survive the machinations of political chicanery. It's also the tale of a young man's treacherous journey from adolescent angst to responsible adulthood. The novel follows the progress of Brandon Stevenson, eponymous protagonist of The Hedonist, from North Carolina to Utuado, a small town in the mountainous interior of the Enchanted Island. Interwoven with the fictional narrative are several historical chapters describing the rape of Puerto Rico by Christopher Columbus and his merry band of Spanish Invaders in 1493 and proceeding all the way up to the rape of Puerto Rico by Vulture Capitalists in the present day. Philosophy, politics, recreational pharmaceuticals and ecological mischief also take their lumps. The humor in the book is dark and merciless.

Dmitri Raskolnikov is going to visit his mistress, Michelle, in Las Vegas. Dmitri made his fortune smuggling weapons. He likes to bury the competition. Literally. On the other side of the world Tony Erickson attends a Las Vegas electronics show where he meets Genny. After chatting Tony leaves for a session. When Tony returns to Genny?s booth she?s gone. He?s told she works for an escort agency. Tony calls the agency. By mistake they send him Genny?s older sister, Dmitri?s Michelle. Tony and Michelle share a torrid sexual session. Next day Tony phones Genny for lunch. They end up at a motel where they too enjoy a torrid session. Tony is torn between two sisters. Genny and Tony?s sexual romps increase in intensity. Tony soldiers on but in the end he?s whipped both literally and figuratively. Meanwhile Tony and Michelle develop a genuine fondness for each other that turns to love. When she finds out, Genny erupts in a jealous rage and plots to dispose of Michelle and Tony permanently.

Misty, Molly and Sally grew up together in Anaheim, CA. Misty and Molly moved to Nashville, NC. Sally stayed behind but they all get back together at Blackbeard's Museum in Beaufort after learning what life's all about. Misty became a dentist with a rural practice. She worked her way through dental school spending weekends flat on her back, delivering compensated sexual favors to the movers and shakers of Raleigh. Molly earned her Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology and is gainfully employed as a glorified accountant for a chicken packing plant. She hates her job largely because she goes home nightly smelling of wet chicken feathers. She's always wanted to be a model. Sally attended U C Irving but dropped out when she became pregnant with Mac's child. Mac did the honorable thing and married Sally, much to the dismay of his wealthy parents in Boston. These are their stories.

Something big is about to go down in the Windy City. Nobody knows the exact details, but they sure know who to call. James "Jimmie Quick" Silver has earned a much deserved reputation as a man who knows where the bones are buried. He is ably assisted in his detecting pursuits by his next door neighbor, Dolly, a topless dancer with more on her mind than fluff. Lucy, Dolly's fellow ecdysiast, has gone to Chicago to help organize a group of dancers and something has gone horrible awry. In the end Jimmie and Dolly save the slumbering Lucy from a fate worse than death, and Dolly becomes more deeply entangled in the web of Jimmie's dubious charm.

In the world of casino gaming, larcenous souls tip the scales of fortune in their favor. Casinos don't stop players from cashing in if the win is honest. But if the rules in the game are bent, casinos counter the results. James "Jimmie Quick" Silver knows life on both sides of the fence. He was a dealer, a player, a winner, a loser and a fugitive run to earth. Now he's a high-tech-gadget toting servant for the house. He finds folks who scam the casino. They cheat or steal; they skip town on a bloated marker. But they leave clues for Jimmie and Dolly to find. When she isn't helping track down scum, Dolly dances in a North Las Vegas dive. Jimmie tracks the casino's current trio of bent blackjack players from Las Vegas to Palm Springs. When the suspects are traced to Puerto Rico, Jimmie and Dolly catch a plane to the Caribbean for a quick trip through the islands, ending up in Santo Domingo for the breathtaking finale.