Rock Gods & Messy Monsters

Top 30 Impressive Indie Books of 2022 from Independent Book Review

Acknowledgments

  • #1 Amazon Hot New Release in Absurdist Fiction, Pop Culture, and Pop Culture Music
  • 1st Runner Up, Eric Hoffer Award, Science Fiction & Fantasy 2024
  • Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize 2024 (Short List Finalist)
  • Da Vinci Eye Award 2024 (Finalist)
  • First Horizon Award 2024 (Finalist)
  • BookBub New Releases for Less (Sept 2022)
  • Finalist, 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award (Adult Fiction Humor)
  • Recommended Review The US Review of Books
  • Finalist and Highly Recommended, The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
  • 2023 IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree
  • Top 30 Most Impressive Indie Books of 2022, Independent Book Review
  • Starred Review October 2022, Indepedent Book Review
  • The International Review of Books 2023 (Starred Review)
  • Bookbub‘s Most Frequently Wishlisted Book (Dec 2022)

 

ORDER ROCK GODS TODAY!

Book Description

Everything Everywhere All At Once” meets “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (in a 1990s record company!)

Aliens have hatched a rockstar. Brain extractions, falling body parts, and blood-vessel explosions are the norm. Alex’s dream job has turned into a nightmare. 

What should she do?

It’s the 1990s. Alex arrives 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 between the lines of satire and nods to science fiction, the book is a thought-provoking female narrative and social commentary on the corporate world.

Join Alex as she weaves through a comedic cast of characters and down crazed corridors of power, where her boss attempts to thwart her at every turn. 

The 1990s New York City music scene never seemed so alien, yet so familiar.

Carol Anderson from the US Review of Books captures its essence perfectly: “The novel is so perverse it causes one to laugh out loud at the deranged storyline and detailed descriptions. This is truly satire at its best.

Scroll up, click, and buy Rock Gods & Messy Monsters today!“Satirical, zany, hilarious—a gut-punching commentary about the inner workings of the music industry, its power complexes, and power plays.” The BookLife Prize

 

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.” (Joshua Ryan Bligh)

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.” (D. Donovan)

US Review of Books

The novel is so perverse it causes one to laugh out loud at the deranged storyline and detailed descriptions, offering an easy-to-read yarn for those looking for something different. This is truly satire at its best.” (Carol Anderson)

Kirkus Discoveries

“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.” 

The BookLife Prize (from Publishers Weekly)

Satirical, zany, hilarious—a gut-punching commentary about the inner workings of the music industry, its power complexes, and power plays.” 

Visit the Book Review page to read the full reviews and others.

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