Rock Gods & Messy Monsters

Her dream job. Her worst nightmare. One woman refusing to lose her soul.

It's the 1990s. The recession is brutal, and landing a job at Acht Records is everything Alex Scott ever wanted.

But nothing is what she expected.

She navigates the corridors of Acht Records, her improbable blonde hair streaked stress magenta and anger black while her brain is captive in her cerebrum urn. Her boss Langley explodes blood vessels that Alex must sew up.

The head of the company holds titles including Deity and Ruling Dictator. And the aliens who bought the record company force staff to hatch a superstar.

And what the company wants from her is the one thing she can't afford to lose. Her soul.

What follows is a darkly funny, surreal descent into the heart of corporate America, where Alex navigates crazed corridors of power, a comedic cast of characters, and a music industry that has completely lost its mind, all while trying to hold onto the one thing the system most wants her to surrender. Herself.

The 1990s New York music scene has never seemed so alien. Or so familiar.

Wickedly funny and quietly devastating, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is an absurdist novel about power, identity, and what it costs to stay human inside an institution designed to break you, especially when that institution was supposed to be your dream.

Part corporate satire, part self-discovery journey, the book is for readers who like their absurdist fiction and satire with emotional stakes and sharp teeth.

Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is book 1 in the Mind Monsters series.

Select Reviews

"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

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

"So perverse it causes one to laugh out loud... This is truly satire at its best." — US Review of Books

"A fast-paced, entertaining comic treat — a droll examination of the corporate-music world." — Kirkus Discoveries

Awards & Recognition

Eric Hoffer Award 2024 — First Runner Up & Grand Prize Shortlist Finalist
#1 Amazon Hot New Release in Absurdist Fiction & Pop Culture
Winner, Indie BRAG Medallion

Starred Reviews: Independent Book Review · The International Review of Books · US Review of Books

Finalists: Da Vinci Eye Award · First Horizon Award · Foreword INDIES · The Wishing Shelf

Continue the Adventure with The Mind Monsters Series
Follow Alex's path from disconnection to remembrance across four books.
Book 2: Fallen Spirits
Book 3: The Light of Wounds
Book 4: The Journey Home

Join the Journey — The Mind Monsters Series
New to Alex's world? Start with a free short story prequel at dianehatz.com, then follow her path across all four books.

(Originally published as Rock Gods of Acht)