Rock Gods & Messy Monsters
Top 30 Impressive Indie Books of 2022 from Independent Book ReviewAcknowledgments
- IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree
- Top 30 Most Impressive Indie Books of 2022 (Independent Book Review)
- #1 Hot New Release Amazon Kindle in Pop Culture, Absurdist Fiction and Pop Culture Music
- Starred Review October 2022 (Indepedent Book Review)
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Book Description
Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is one woman’s search for herself among the blood-soaked walls, dangling body parts, and alien-hatched explosions inside Acht Records.
It’s the 1990s. Alex arrives to work at Acht, her improbable blonde hair streaked stress magenta and anger black. Her first duty is to wipe blood off her boss’s walls, to clean up his blood vessel explosion. It goes downhill from there.
On the surface, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a story about life inside an entertainment company. A cast of comedic characters exemplifies the inner workings of Acht, where power and greed mask incompetence.
A series of escapades involve Alex, a hard-working, lower-level employee desperately trying to get promoted. When she does, she realizes her dream is a nightmare. Corporate executives are busy working with aliens to manufacture a half-human, half-robot superstar. At the same time, one of the Senior Senior Executive Presidents attempts to overthrow the Deity in charge.
Underneath and between the lines of exploding body parts and brain extractions, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a cautionary tale. The story weaves through themes such as the Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, and MeToo before they were movements. And it reminds us that our dreams can be illusions.
Learning who we really are takes courage and a commitment to self-love.
Book Reviews
Major editorial and reader reviews are coming in. Visit the Book Review page to read more!
Independent Book Review
“Rock Gods & Messy Monsters by Diane Hatz is a bullet-hell critique of corporate and mass culture by way of Theodor Adorno filtered through the whimsy and humor of writers like Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut….The best kind of absurdism; the kind that wears a veneer of the surreal while having the grisly guts of reality right underneath.” (Full review)
Midwest Book Review
“Modern creative writing classes looking for discussion points in experimental literary styles will find Rock Gods & Messy Monsters promises many lively debates about the elements of social examination and the impact of truly creative writing.” (Full review)
“An edgy, experimental parable,” a “highly imaginative populace of Acht,” and “Character-driven, this loopy satire is a droll examination of the corporate-music world.” (Full review) —Kirkus Reviews
Visit the Book Review page to read the full reviews and others.
Media
Podcasts
Ink & Peat – “Diane Hatz Shares Rock Gods & Messy Monsters”
Athena Wellness – “The Journey of Finding Yourself with Diane Hatz”
On Writing and Editing with Wayne Jones – “Self-Love Indie Publishing, and Building Community“
