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Aliens have hatched a rockstar. Brain extractions, falling body parts, and blood-vessel explosions have become the norm.

Alex’s dream job has turned into a nightmare. What should she do?

It's the 1990s. Alex arrives to work at Acht Records, her improbable blonde hair streaked stress magenta and anger black. Her first duty is to wipe blood off her boss's walls. It goes downhill from there.

Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a humorous story about life inside a record company. Yet underneath and between the lines of satire and absurdism, the book is a cautionary tale.

It reminds us that dreams can be illusions. Discovering who we really are takes courage and a commitment to self-love.

Reviewers have called Rock Gods & Messy Monsters “SNL meets Wizard of Oz meets Matrix meets Succession,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Music Industry” and “Theodor Adorno filtered through the whimsy and humor of writers like Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut”.

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Editorial Reviews

"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." -- Independent 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.” --Midwest Book Review

"Once readers orient themselves with the idiosyncrasies in Hatz's darkly whimsical--yet ultimately relatable--novel, they're in for a fast paced, entertaining comic treat. Character-driven, this loopy satire is a droll examination of the corporate-music world. -- Kirkus Reviews ​​

"Everyone must read this book. It's exactly what I didn't know I needed - medicine for the soul and spirit disguised as a Voodoo Donut plastered in Fruity Pebbles. It reads like SNL meets Wizard of Oz meets Matrix meets Succession - and it's fantastic." -- E. Siboldt, filmmaker 

"A Swiftian take on the 1990s music industry viewed through a Daliesque lens, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is a deft satire on corporate culture that will resonate with anyone who has ever worked in a corporate environment. A rollicking good read with memorable characters and insane -- albeit relatable -- situations." --JP Gardner, Survivor of a Fortune 10 Conglomerate ​​