Ken Kuhlken books in order

A man accused of murder returns home to a foggy California beach town, determined to protect his sister Olivia from her alienated husband who so happens to be an avid gambler with ties to the mob.

He seeks for the help of his closest old friend, who is now a devout Christian family man and Sunday school teacher.

Having accessed all possible options, they agree that the only assured way of protecting Olivia is by killing the gambler.

Newport Ave by Ken Kuhlken is an exciting novel in the noir tradition, taking a closer look at crime and its endless, inevitable repercussions.

A man, who happens to be a close friend of Clifford Hickey’s cousin Bo, crosses the San Diego/Tijuana border after being accused of molesting children in a church nursery.

Given that Bo is convinced by his innocence, Clifford agrees to carry out investigation.

But in the process of looking for answers, he ends up making dangerous enemies in the form of gangsters, politicians, and tycoons on both sides of the border.

Good thing he crosses paths with Jodi McGee who helps him discover his purpose and write this story.

Born as Nicolas Herman in 1614 in the Lorraine region of France, Brother Lawrence first served with the military during the Thirty Years War before joining the Carmelite monastery in Paris as a lay brother. There, he took the religious name, Lawrence of the Resurrection.

Despite his low-ranking position of working in the kitchen and repairing sandals, Lawrence became famous for his wisdom, with many coming to seek his spiritual guidance.

The advice that he gave, in the form of conversations and in letters, would be the cornerstone for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God, compiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort.

Novelist Ken Kuhlken came across the book which helped him go through a difficult time.

Reading Brother Lawrence is as such an account of his search for understanding.

In this book, author Ken Kuhlken has a casual conversation with a friend on your couch; the kind of sharp, wise, multiple-PhD-holding friend, if you have one of those.

His thoughts on the world about us, writers in history and his personal experience—that cannot be without his failures and accomplishments—form an insightful, pertinent work for all writers of faith.

He explores the inner and outer conflicts that all writers must engage with in order to produce meaningful work, and also looks at the practical conditions that writers go up against in a bid to produce ‘the words sing’.

This handbook is a must-read for every artist.

Private investigator Tom Hickey has an adopted son, Alvaro, who spent his early years as a Tijuana street orphan.

A beautiful and fragile musical genius is caught in the web of the very worst of Hollywood,.

A group of wild and problematic teens are addicted to fast cars.

A California rock star is looking for refuge in Europe

An artist comes to learn that his gift is actually a curse.

A youthful man makes a fresh start, beginning a more purposeful life following a Billy Graham crusade.

This book is a collection of nine short stories that accurately capture California as a wonderful dream, a hallucination and a nightmare.

Set in and around the picturesque Lake Tahoe basin during early 1970s, this tale is told by a seventeen-year-old torn between her quest for God and her love for a man.

In a place of immeasurable wealth increasingly becoming a millionaires’ playground, a determined high school senior forgoes drugs and boys to become a radical Christian.

Whereas her motive was her father’s poor gambling habits and the arrogance of her wealthy peers, she still falls in love with her English teacher who is an avid gambler and a dedicated unbeliever.

Her will, her faith, and her love will be tested to the fullest.

The is a crime novel comprised of:

Midheaven: A determined high school senior forgoes drugs and boys to become a radical Christian after getting fed up with her father’s poor gambling habits and the arrogance of her wealthy peers.

The Very Least: A man accused of molesting children in a church nursery crosses the San Diego/Tijuana border. A journalist who then agrees to search for answers ends up making dangerous enemies in the form of gangsters, politicians, and tycoons on both sides of the border.

The Answer to Everything: This is an enthralling tale featuring high courtroom drama, providing insights into the nature of evil, and the ingrained connections between crime and governments.

In Write smart, celebrated author Ken Kuhlken offers his perceptions gained throughout the more than three decades that he has served as a novelist, a university creative writing professor and as founder of Perelandra College.

Upon reading this book, writers will undoubtedly know how to conceive, create, revise, and sell their stories.

Topics include in this book include: conceiving the idea, developing the idea, thinking ahead to a book proposal, finding and applying a structure, creating the story in rough; revising in steps, seeking an agent and publisher or choosing to self-publish, and marketing the book.

Having just lost his home and best friend, Otis Otterbach faces even tougher challenges; unsure of whether to stay married, the kind of work and life to pursue and, most importantly, whether to kill Henry Tucker, whom his archrival Cynthia Jones calls the Enemy.

Determined to find solutions, he travels from California to Iowa where he enrolls in a reputable graduate school.

Uneasiness and encounters with accomplished writers, both living and dead, however makes him run away in desperation.

This is the first book of For America Series.

Otis Otterbach is on a road trip to the little league world series.

Share his torments prompted by sex and other facts of life, and accompany him and his best friend and catcher Casey through the MLB draft.

Also get to know about their strange mission directed by Casey’s mother, the crazy and homicidal Cynthia Jones.

Otis Otterbach attempts to make something of his life after baseball and after his best and most trusted confidant goes missing—perhaps on the run after committing murder.

The story explores the hopes and turmoil of the 1960s, taking us through the Vietnam War through the eyes of an infantry soldier, a helicopter pilot, and a deserter.

Tales also contained here include the protest movements in Berkeley, the rise and fall of the folk music and coffee house scene, the Manson family and what its existence caused and taught, as told by the girl whose testimony led to the conviction of Charles Manson.

This is the second book of For America Series.

Tom Hickey, with the help of a partner, opens a club named Rudy’s Hacienda, in downtown San Diego.

Cynthia Moon, the jazz singer who entertains admirals, generals, and tycoons at the club, holds Tom’s ticket to a life of luxury and family harmony.

So when she mysteriously disappears, Tom launches a desperate search that takes him from the village of Mount Shasta and into the trail of a Hindu-inspired occultist.

Upon learning the first part of her plan, Tom moves to Denver in search of an assassin.

From Denver to San Diego, Tom has to proceed with speed if he is to break the spell of Cynthia’s vengeful quest.

With Wendy Hickey pregnant and weak, Tom’s biggest priority is taking care of her as the couple attempt to fulfill their happily ever after on the shore of Lake Tahoe.

The services of Tom are however needed elsewhere when Cynthia Moon, a former jazz singer at Rudy’s Hacienda, seeks for his help in exonerating her of an arson charge.

Although Tom has no plans of staying in San Diego for long, his investigations intensify after Cynthia blames an L.A. mob for the arson.

When the pregnant Wendy is however abducted, Tom—certain that he can’t rescue her alone—enlists for the help of the Las Vegas mob as well as angels, in whom Wendy trusts.

Evergreen is far from what it was a year ago when Clifford Hickey last visited.

The once serene city has been taken over by Bikers who are determined to poach from the hippies’ marijuana plantations.

Plans for Clifford, and his brother Alvaro, to perform at the Evergreen folk festival, are thwarted by sheriffs following a murder on the very night Clifford arrives.

In the processing of trying to exonerate his missing brother who is charged with the murder, Clifford makes lethal enemies in the form of a gang of outlaw bikers led by a miniature sociopath.

And to prove Alvaro’s innocence, he must enlist the help of hippies and Jesus freaks.

A heavenly apparition in the form of a Holy Virgin appears in Baja California, rallying the people to overthrow the corrupt and tyrannical Partido Revolucionario Institutional.

Alvaro Hickey, a San Diego law student and private investigator, is presented with the chance to bring change to the country of his birth by a woman who claims to be the Virgin’s sister.

Although Alvaro has his own reasons for helping the polished Lourdes Shuler find her "sister", his reasons for helping defeat the Partido Revolucionario Institutional go way deeper.

With Alvaro Hickey joining the bandwagon, will they succeed in overthrowing the corrupt and powerful Mexican government?

The year is 1926.

Musician Tom Hickey learns of the killing of a Negro whom he realizes was his old friend.

Upon inquiring more from his neighbor Leo Weiss, who is an LAPD detective, Tom is shockingly informed that the lynching never happened.

Although the murder took place in Echo Park, not far from the temple of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, the police and the media have refused to acknowledge that the crime ever happened.

As he goes on a desperate search for answers, Tom gathers crucial clues from a sermon at the temple entitled “The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles”.

The key to solving the murder lies closer than he could have possibly imagined.

It’s the summer of 1936.

When pauperized farmers from the Dust Bowl descend upon California, an old friend brings police detective Tom Hickey a manuscript with clues surrounding the mysterious disappearance of his father.

Determined to finally get some closure, Tom places himself at the risk of not just losing his job and but also his family as he follows the lead.

Why launch such a passionate pursuit with a lot at stake, even going against the advice of Leo Weiss, the retired cop who is his oldest friend and mentor?

Jodi McGee, narrator of The Answer to Everything, has a seventeen-year-old daughter, a husband in prison, and a great liking for San Diego journalist Clifford Hickey.

Alvaro Hickey, an attorney and Clifford's brother, plays a crucial part in the murder of a Tijuana drug cartel sicaro before becoming the lawyer of the murderer.

The cartel, which has recently been linked with the killing of an entire family, now turns its attention to the Hickey-McGees family.

This enthralling tale features high courtroom drama, providing insights into the nature of evil, and the ingrained connections between crime and governments.