Member Since: Nov. 03, 2010

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Ken Kuhlken

Biography

Ken Kuhlken's stories have appeared in ESQUIRE and numerous other magazines, been honorably mentioned in BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES, and earned a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

His novels include MIDHEAVEN, finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Award for best first fiction book, and the Hickey family mysteries: THE BIGGEST LIAR IN LOS ANGELES; THE GOOD KNOW NOTHING; THE VENUS DEAL; THE LOUD ADIOS, Private Eye Writers of America Press Best First PI Novel; THE ANGEL GANG; THE DO-RE-MI, finalist for the Shamus Best Novel Award; THE VAGABOND VIRGINS; THE VERY LEAST; and THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING.

His five-book saga FOR AMERICA, is together a long, long novel and an incantation, a work of magic created to postpone the end of the world for at least a thousand years.

His work in progress is a YA mystery.

His WRITING AND THE SPIRIT advises artists seeking inspiration. He guides readers on a trip to the Kingdom of Heaven in READING BROTHER LAWRENCE.

Also, he reads a lot, plays golf, watches and coaches baseball and softball, teaches at Perelandra College, and hangs out with his daughter when she comes home from her excellent college back east.

Where to find Ken Kuhlken online

Website: https://www.kenkuhlken.net
Twitter: @https://twitter.com/kenkuhlken
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-kuhlken/11/b1b/336
Blog: https://www.kenkuhlken.net/blog

Where to buy in print

https://www.hickeybooks.com

Series

Hickey Family Crime Novels by
The Hickey family novels, which begin with Tom Hickey's first investigation at age twenty-one and continues, over ten books, until his eighty-fifth year, are riveting stories of crime, heroics, and sacrificial love that also offer a vivid and panoramic vision of California as it transforms from a frontier to the most influential place on earth. Readers who accompany Tom and his extraordinary family on their adventures enrich their knowledge of America and the dark and bright recesses of the human heart. “Tom Hickey is one of detective fiction’s most original and intriguing creations.” San Francisco Chronicle “Elegant, eloquent, and elegiac, Kuhlken’s novels sing an old melody, at the same time haunting and beautiful.” Novelist Don Winslow
The Loud Adios
Price: $4.99 USD.
The Angel Gang
Price: $4.99 USD.
The Do-Re-Mi
Price: $4.99 USD.
The Vagabond Virgins
Price: $4.99 USD.
The Very Least
Price: $4.99 USD.
The Answer to Everything
Price: $4.99 USD.
For America by
FOR AMERICA is a long, long novel, a saga, and also an incantation, a work of magic created to postpone the end of the world for at least a thousand years. The five books are: Supermen: Otis Otterbach and his best friend and catcher Casey get drafted to the MLB. But Casey’s mother, homicidal Cynthia Jones has a different plan. She means for the boys to kill her sister's son, whom she believes is a demon she calls the Enemy. This Rough Beast: A story of the 1960s including the Vietnam war through the eyes of an infantry soldier, a helicopter pilot, and a deserter; protest movements in Berkeley; and the Manson family from the point of view of a girl who belonged. The Gas Crisis: In Iowa following the loss of his home and dearest friend, encounters with famous writers living and dead deliver Otis to haunted desperation. War: Otis agrees to kill the Enemy and sets off on a suicide mission. The Holy Grail: In a Mexican prison, Otis rediscovers baseball. Then comes news of the rape of a woman he loves. He escapes and goes to settle with the rapist, with relentless Cynthia Jones, and with a team of Manson worshippers seeking revenge.
Supermen
Price: $3.99 USD.
This Rough Beast
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Gas Crisis
Price: $3.99 USD.
War
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Holy Grail
Price: $3.99 USD.

Books

Hickey & Hickey by
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 139,580. Language: English. Published: July 24, 2021 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical
The two books that together become Hickey & Hickey are the harrowing story of a talented brother and gifted sister attempting to make good in early 20th century Los Angeles. This is hardly easy, given World War I, the wild and violent prohibition era, the Great Depression, and the facts that their father went missing when they were little and their mother is mad.
The Vagabond Virgins by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 73,130. Language: English. Published: February 13, 2021 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical, Fiction » Mystery & detective » International crime
A Holy Virgin, or a convincing fraud, appears in Mexico, dedicating herself to the overthrow of the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institutional. And a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister brings San Diego law student and private investigator Alvaro Hickey a chance to help reform the country of his birth.
The Do-Re-Mi by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 75,030. Language: English. Published: January 23, 2021 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Hard-Boiled
A Shamus Best P.I. Novel Award finalist. Rural Northern California, 1972, Tom and Wendy Hickey’s adopted son Alvaro, a musician booked at a folk festival, flees from a murder accusation. His brother Clifford’s best chance of proving him innocent requires the help of hippies and Jesus freaks.
The Angel Gang by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 68,590. Language: English. Published: January 2, 2021 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Hard-Boiled
(Lake Tahoe, San Diego, L.A. 1950) An L.A. mob’s beef against Tom leads to the kidnapping of pregnant Wendy Hickey. Alone, Tom can’t save her, but with the help of the Nevada mob and Tahoe’s resident angels, in whom Wendy steadfastly believes, maybe . . .
The Loud Adios by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 73,720. Language: English. Published: December 12, 2020 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical
Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel winner. In 1943, Tom Hickey, an M.P. on the U.S./Mexico border, accompanies Private Clifford Rose to a Tijuana nightclub where Clifford claims German Nazis are holding his sister captive. They find Wendy dancing naked on the stage. She appears so lost and innocent, Tom agrees to rescue her.
The Holy Grail by
Series: For America. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 53,200. Language: English. Published: February 17, 2020 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Supernatural, Fiction » Literature » Literary
The Holy Grail concludes the For America saga with Otis escaping from prison and fleeing Mexico in pursuit of revenge and to settle with his nemesis Cynthia Jones and with the man she calls the Enemy, who has returned to his family home on a spiritualist commune near Mount Shasta.
War by
Series: For America. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 40,370. Language: English. Published: January 1, 2020 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Adventure » Action, Fiction » Historical » USA
Book Four of For America. Otis Otterbach decides he won't live in the same world as the ones who killed his dearest friend. He trains to make himself into a ruthless warrior then and sets off on what he supposes will likely be a suicide mission. After searching in wilderness and jungles, he finally arrives in the capital of Mexico, where the Enemy and followers await him.
Happy by
You set the price! Words: 10,830. Language: English. Published: December 13, 2019 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Nonfiction » Philosophy » Movements / existentialism, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Christian Life / Spiritual Growth
Soren Kierkegaard has helped me navigate through difficult times, some of which involved a state of mind Mr. Kierkegaard lived through. Rather than use a more clinical (and offensive) word, I'll call it melancholy. For Christmas, 2019, I'm trying to share and honor the philosopher's wisdom.
The Gas Crisis by
Series: For America. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 42,200. Language: English. Published: November 28, 2019 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller
Following the loss of his home and best friend,, Otis faces tough questions including whether to stay married and whether to kill Henry Tucker, whom his nemesis Cynthia Jones calls the Enemy. These dilemmas send him from California to Iowa where he enrolls in a prestigious graduate school, encounters famous writers living and dead, and flees in haunted desperation.
This Rough Beast by
Series: For America. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 39,350. Language: English. Published: October 17, 2019 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Historical » USA, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller
Otis Otterbach attempts to make a life after his best and most trusted friend disappears, perhaps on the run from arrest for murder. The story follows and interprets the hopes and turmoil of the 1960s including the Vietnam war, protest movements in Berkeley, and the Manson family from the point of view of the girl whose testimony assured Manson's conviction.
Supermen by
Series: For America. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 36,690. Language: English. Published: September 4, 2019 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Coming of age, Fiction » Sports
Otis Otterbach, born the day the atom bomb destroys Hiroshima, is mentored by his grandma, a poet and painter who teaches him to believe in the implausible, and his father who coaches him in baseball so well, he becomes a big-league pitching prospect. But wicked conflicts visit in the person of Cynthia Jones, mother of Casey, Otis’s best friend and catcher.
Hickey & McGee by
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 274,130. Language: English. Published: December 1, 2018 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Romance » Action/adventure, Fiction » Christian » Mystery & detective
Hickey and McGee is at once an epic love story and a novel of crime, corruption, faith, madness, and extreme courage. A Hickey family crime novel: "Elegant, eloquent, and elegiac, Kuhlken's novels sing an old melody, at the same time haunting and beautiful." Novelist Don Winslow
The Answer to Everything by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 92,500. Language: English. Published: December 1, 2018 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Courtroom, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Hard-Boiled
The Answer to Everything: (San Diego, Tijuana, Lake Tahoe, 1990) Attorney Alvaro Hickey assists in the murder of a Tijuana cartel sicaro then becomes the murderer’s lawyer. The cartel, which has lately massacred an entire family, now targets another whole family -- Alvaro's.
The Very Least by
Series: Hickey Family Crime Novels. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 97,080. Language: English. Published: October 1, 2018 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Crime thriller, Fiction » Literature » Literary
The Very Least: (San Diego, Tijuana, Lake Tahoe, 1985) A dear friend of journalist Clifford Hickey's cousin Bo crosses the border on the run from a charge of molesting children in a church nursery school. After Clifford offers to help Bo clear her friend, he infuriates killers, politicians, church leaders, and tycoons on both sides of the border.
Newport Ave. by
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 65,920. Language: English. Published: March 1, 2018 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Crime thriller, Fiction » Christian » Suspense
A fugitive from a manslaughter charge returns home to a foggy California beach town hoping to protect his sister from her estranged husband, a mob-connected gambler. He and his closest old friend, a devoted Christian family man, decide the only sure way to protect the sister is to kill the gambler. Newport Ave, a gripping novel in the noir tradition explores crime's endless consequences.
Cars: California Stories by
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 47,000. Language: English. Published: February 16, 2016 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories
Cars: California Stories: The lowdown about a state we all should visit though we might not want to risk living there.
Write Smart by
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 10,550. Language: English. Published: December 3, 2013 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Nonfiction » Publishing » Self-publishing, Nonfiction » Reference » Publishing & books
(4.00 from 1 review)
Ken Kuhlken shares insights gained over thirty-some years as a novelist and professor. By following the Write Smart process, writers will efficiently conceive, create, revise, and sell their stories.
Reading Brother Lawrence by
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 34,230. Language: English. Published: October 29, 2011 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Religious biography, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Christianity
(5.00 from 1 review)
The Practice of the Presence of God is a classic of Christian literature, loved by Catholics and Protestants, praised by the likes of John Wesley and A.W. Tozer. During a troubled time, novelist Ken Kuhlken discovered the book helped him find some peace and promised even more if he could fully understand. Reading Brother Lawrence chronicles his search for understanding.
No Cats, No Chocolate by &
Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 27,310. Language: English. Published: October 4, 2010 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Nonfiction » Travel » Trip Journals, Nonfiction » Publishing » Playwriting
In No Cats, No Chocolate, mystery authors Ken Kuhlken and Alan Russell hit the road with high hopes and dreams of winning the fame they're convinced they deserve, as guests on a national television show.
Road Kill by &
Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 12,650. Language: English. Published: October 1, 2010 by Publisher Hickey & McGee. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
Road Kill introduces Ken Kuhlken and Alan Russell, an odd pair of mystery writers on an epic journey to convince America's readers. to buy their books. But allied against them are dark forces perhaps led by their competitors.

Ken Kuhlken's tag cloud

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