Dark Humor Satire

Barry just wanted to get through life. Working a useless job by day, drinking at a forgotten bar by night. It was a miserable cycle, but one he grew attached to over time. Then Barry died.

At the turn of the 20th century, as he composes a treatise on melancholy, Jacov Reinhardt sets off from his small Croatian village in search of his hero and unwitting mentor, Emiliano Gomez Carrasquilla, who is rumored to have disappeared into the South American jungle - "not lost, mind you, but retired." Jacov's narcissistic preoccupation with melancholy consumes him, and as he desperately recounts the myth of his journey to his trusted but ailing scribe, hope for an encounter with the lost philosopher who holds the key to Jacov's obsession seems increasingly unlikely.

A season-ending party is to be held at Highfart Hall. To his surprise, Dr Platupous, a quietly suffering, quietly balding, always anxious private practitioner of medicine, receives an invitation. Once inside the hall, his bravery, perseverance and gelatinous backbone will be put to the test as never before. There, within its walls, he is subjected to the mad whims, snobbery and open hostility of the Highfarts and their guests amidst the backdrop of inexplicable disruptions to the space-time continuum. In a place where madness reigns and his senses are left reeling, Dr Platupous comes to an ...

It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong? Our narrator has many of the advantages of life: young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, she lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like everything else, by her inheritance. But there is a vacuum at the heart of things, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents in college, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her alleged best friend.

"If you love novels teeming with family drama and satire, grab a copy of Beetlebum." —READERS' FAVORITE Liam O’Shea had a plan: get his degree, get a job, and get on with it. But when his long-lost father, Francis Henry O’Shea, suddenly kicks the bucket and leaves him an unexpected fortune, Liam’s carefully structured world takes a sharp detour. The question is, what kind of man inherits a golden-ticket windfall from a father who long ago perfected the art of absentee, dumpster-fire parenting? The answer: a very bewildered one. Francis was a self-made success—if by “success” ...

Ferdinand Mount’s stinging satire plunges into the dubious world of London PR firms, the back rooms of Westminster and the campaign trail in Africa and America. We follow the hapless Dickie Pentecost, redundant diplomatic correspondent for a foundering national newspaper, together with his stern oncologist wife, Jane, and their daughters, Flo, an aspiring ballerina, and the quizzical teenager Lucy.

A hilarious, wildly erotic, and biting satire of Hollywood, Blue Movie tells the story of King B., an Oscar-winning director who's determined to shoot the dirtiest and most expensive X-rated movie ever made; Sid Krassman, a producer who's made a fortune catering to the tastes of the American public, and Angela Sterling, a misunderstood sex symbol who'd give anything (and everything) for a chance to do something "serious."

Deportation Content is what happens when the line between citizen and outsider shifts overnight—and nobody wants to admit they saw it coming. Sam was born on the "right" side of the border. That used to mean something. But in the shadow of the Great Deportation Surge, even third-generation Americans are being reclassified. A grandparent’s paperwork error, a decades-old border crossing—suddenly, that’s enough to get you deported. His dad said talking might save him. His girlfriend said caring might save him. Neither worked out. So now, caught somewhere between the last protest chant ...

A billionaire who smuggles guns, a middle school girl terrified of them, and an aging trailer park queen who can't live without them. They're all kidnapped by an insane cult that crosses white supremacist Christianity with fundamentalist Islam, headed up by a mysterious leader called the Big Kahuna. Published just before the Las Vegas massacre, TRIGGER HAPPY is a dazzlingly prophetic look at U.S. gun culture that mixes high and low into an explosive new cocktail.

A collection of stories: The Possessed Printer Blues: A woman buys a printer at a yard sale. The Long Day Sun: A photography student helps out a friend. Savory Taro Pudding: A short nightmare based on true events. Billionaire Babies: It turns out you can't trust billionaires. Bath Salts Vampire: Teen girls with low self-esteem + a drug dealer who thinks he's an ancient vampire. What could go wrong?

Lady Blake was convinced that the mere thought of aging was more terrifying than any horror scene she had ever witnessed. Every wrinkle, every gray hair, every achy joint felt like a countdown to the end of her youth. One day, as she sat in her fancy dressing room, surrounded by expensive anti-aging creams and potions, Lady Blake couldn't help but let out a dramatic sigh..."I've got wrinkles!" Thus, the idea to keep her youthful appearance became an obsession, with Lady Blake thinking of various ways to preserve her fleeting beauty. However, despite her fears of losing her looks, Lady Blake...

A Small Town, Absurdist, Dark Humor from the Twisted Mind of Count Fathom. A dying man delivers, with his last breath, a message to a tavern full of drunks, in a storm. Struck by lightning, this modern prophet says he speaks with the stars and beyond. His message he sets in the hearts of the new apostles. They, in turn, spread the message to build a brand around the Martyr, bringing unity, hope, and financial prosperity to the town, and to themselves most of all. The drunks spill their cups in a mad dash down fortune’s path, as greed leads the town astray. Cursed with the common self-...

A marijuana mystery, the story of Rolland Greene. Rolland Greene, a local writer, and his friends find themselves wrapped up in a complex paper chase. Rolland Greene takes you to the heartland of Northern California and reveals the mind and heart of a Mendonesian caught up in high strangeness. Rolland spends his time writing his political treatise, but suddenly finds himself trying to survive the tumult surrounding his lifestyle and friends. Rolland and his buds all find themselves tormented by bad luck when criminals begin pursuit of a treasure unique to Mendocino, the guidebook to crime. ...

A quaint English town, a body, and a headline that reads: “Citizens of Delby Rish Not Safe In Their Beds. Police Clueless.” The latest case for Detective Inspector Andrew Manson and his pathologically stylish partner, Detective Eric Steinway, has more twists than a contortionist at a Delby Rish parish fete. Juggling a homicidal wife on fertility treatment and the unwelcomed advances of the local pathologist’s lovely assistant, Manson must bring this crime and his domestic affairs to a speedy resolution. Because if this case doesn’t kill him, there’s a very good chance his wife will.

The Underwear Uprising Nobody Asked For (But Everyone Needs): EPIC EXITS III is Here There are books. There are bold books. And then there’s EPIC EXITS III — The Story of an Underwear Revolution: a chaotic, sweat-drenched, lion-roaring, menopause-powered masterpiece that somehow—against all odds —makes perfect sense. This is not just a book. This is a movement. (And in some cases, a pelvic one—see: **Spuddle Man Pants™**.) Bollocky & Buff, once a forgotten relic of bargain bins and uncomfortable gussets, has risen like a phoenix in properly ventilated knickers—and you’re ...

George thought he’d finally escaped Shawna by picking up an easy bartending gig in Bocas del Toro, Panama. With an extra 400 dollars per month to edit an online love column keeping him afloat, he spends his days swimming and drinking beers with his roommate PJ. Does the occasional female tourist ever sleep over? Sure. But that’s nothing compared to PJ’s scorecard. PJ should be registered with the center for disease control. Warm water, cold beers, and no Shawna - life couldn’t be better on the island. Until George takes a little road trip to Colombia.

Juice is a man who contains multitudes: He's a top shagger; a drug-dealing, gonzo porn star; and taxi driver. As we ride along in Juice's cab through the depraved streets of Edinburgh, Juice encounters a series of charmingly filthy characters, all of whom present their own, uh, unique challenges. Has he finally met his match in Hurricane "Bawbag"? Can he discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison?

More preoccupied with drinking, sleeping, and writing, an unnamed student neglects his studies and invents three separate openings for a novel. The first introduces the Pooka MacPhellimey, "a member of the devil class", the second involves Mr. John Furriskey, a character belonging to another of the student's creations (writer Dermot Trellis), while the final opening features legendary Irish heroes Finn Mac Cool and Mad King Sweeny. Soon, Trellis' creations rebel against him, doing as they like while he sleeps, and the characters begin wandering in and out of each other's tales.

Satan, fallen angel, chief devil, and ruler of Hell seems to have everything: immortality, a kingdom, cool superpowers, and lots of minions to grovel at his feet. So why isn’t he happy? Simple. Satan wants more. He’s just not sure, though, what “more” even means in his case.

Rachel Klein never meant to kiss her creative writing professor, but with his long eyelashes, his silky hair, and the sad, beautiful life he laid bare on Twitter, she does, and the kiss is very nice. Zahid Azzam never planned to become a houseguest in his student's sprawling Connecticut home, but with the sparkling swimming pool, the endless supply of Whole Foods strawberries, and Rachel's beautiful mother, he does, and the home is very nice.