The Return of the Quiet Stranger in the Black Hat

The master storyteller, Paul John Hausleben's most mysterious character, returns in another collection of short stories. Once again, the Quiet Stranger in the Black Hat returns in a new set of captivating adventures, along with a new cast of characters.

This collection of short stories runs the gamut from romance to crime fighting and a few other subjects in between! Truly, the stranger seems omnipresent in his adventures, and these stories display the author's versatility as a writer in creating fictional fantasy stories laced with elements of real-life issues and situations.

Amongst all the gems of stories, this collection contains two of the author's most popular short stories.

In the classic story, When the Night Closes In, the mysterious stranger teams with a hard-boiled NJ district attorney to track down criminals, ensure justice and help to solve complex crimes. When life seems hopeless, he magically appears to shape the lives of the lost, and intervene in the lives of people who need him the most. The story introduces the characters of Charles "Chuck" McCracken as a no-nonsense, hard-drinking, hands-on crime fighting district attorney and his faithful bodyguard, the dashing and courageous James "Jimmy" Reeves.

In the story The Circle of Life, the author touches upon the tragedy of dementia and Alzheimer's disease with a subject near and dear to the author's heart and his own experiences. The stranger arrives to assist an old machinist afflicted with dementia as the old man regains his dignity, his memories once more for one last delve into his trade, and the old machinist creates his greatest piece ever.

The mysterious stranger says very little, but when he does speak and act, the words are powerful and his actions unforgettable. Yet the question remains? Is the quiet stranger a superhero, a ghost, an angel, a time traveler from the past or the future, or perhaps he might be all of those things and much more? Mr. Hausleben is not telling, instead, he leaves it to the reader to determine in his or her own way!

There are no zombies, no end of the world, and no wild invasions of aliens in these stories. Instead, the reader will enjoy fantasy stories of a different type. These are stories that will make you wish that somewhere in this mysterious world, the Quiet Stranger in the Black Hat really exists and that he is watching from within the shadows of our world to help make this world a better place.