Showing results by author "Robert Rahula" in All Categories

An ambitious doctor opens up a fancy weight-loss vacation resort for the ultra-wealthy in Panama, hoping to kickstart an Ozempic empire. The profits are high, and Wall Street is hungry for a piece of the pie. But when the clinic's semaglutide cocktail turns out to be a recipe for murder, expat Dan Landes is drawn into the investigation.

Dan Landes is one of many US expats who thought he had escaped the madness of the world when he emigrated to Panama twenty years ago. Panama was his safe haven, his piece of paradise. But international conflicts are spreading, and encroaching on utopia. Outside of Panama, the world is plagued by a new type of warfare. Strategic small wars, driven by AI, are erupting all over the globe. The US has retaken the Panama Canal; Iran has been nuked; and China is threatening retaliation after the bombing of its ports in Mexico. But US resources are spread thin.

What is the connection between bitcoin and the collapse of the Bronze Age in 1177 BC? Between the Temple of Moriah in ancient Jerusalem and the central banks of today? Between the Knights of Templar and the end of civilization? Follow ex-detective Dan Landes as he tries to unravel the riddle of thirty-three centuries in the Treasure of the Gran Ventura.

One day, one short day, in the life of Panamaniac and expat Ricardo, a day where nothing - and everything - happens, from a magical talking Giant Fly to lectures on the effect of gravity on love by the old man of the town. Ricardo, stuck in Panama, bounces from the bars to the brothels to the gay bathhouses, and experiences his entire life, all in one day.

The aging American expat Ricardo lives alone in a quiet town in Panama and dreams of one last romantic fling. But his nightly dreams are invaded by images of a mysterious brujo, an ancient sorcerer who has not been seen in 15 years.

When Ricardo moves into the small apartment complex of expats in Panama, he thinks he’s found paradise. An emotional and sexual sanctuary from all he left behind in the states, until Alison points out how strange some of the residents are.

A young writer meets an older man in a Belgian bar who weaves an erotic and disturbing story about a famous author that the younger man has long admired–a story that reveals dark secrets about all three men.

When Death—that uninvited and unwelcomed guest—arrives, all plans cease; everyone has to stop and make adjustments; and everyone has to deal with it. Magali, a young prostitute of Villa Rosario, Panama, has died. Her ex-lovers, including friends Ricardo and Dan Landes, attend her funeral, each harboring different memories of her. In fact, everyone harbors different memories of her, because no one really knew who she was. But her ghost comes back from the grave to prod ex-detective Dan Landes to uncover the truth about her death.

Dan Landes is “ex” everything: expatriate, ex-detective, and exhausted. He has returned to Panama from a year of recuperation in the United States, ready to resume a quiet life of hunting ayahuasca plants in the mountains. But evil is coming to Panama—or rather, through Panama—as a sinister team of murderers seeks to smuggle the world’s most lethal biological weapon into the United States through Central America. A dead body in a hotel room starts the investigation, and that dead soul returns from beyond the grave to force Dan to find the killers.

No one would suspect that Dan Landes, an ex-LA cop known for methodically building cases against criminals, was a former ayahuasca user. He thought he had buried his past when he retired to Panama 10 years ago. But a brutal murder forces him to return to the States. Now, to save his soul, he has to prevent another murder. But to do that, he may need to drink the psychedelic potion again.

In an unnamed and timeless Latin American country, the lives of six men and three police officers intertwine after a brutal murder in a gay bathhouse. Dan Landes, an expat LA cop, is recruited to hunt for a serial killer who preys on lonely men in the dark steam rooms. Dan is forced to use his friend Ricardo as bait for the killer.

Robert Rahula delivers a dazzling collection of contemporary “portilla” short stories—that writing style that interweaves graphic sexual detail, existential philosophy, wry political commentary, and intricate dream-like plots. A large talking bear waxes philosophical on the nature of evil while eating pancakes. Scientists work together mapping the Higgs Boson particle while secretly plotting the seduction of each others’ wives. A man joins the Bad Luck Club and learns the ultimate method for changing his luck. Forbidden pleasures in a crematorium. A duck walks into a bar.

What if, after you die, your life just continues in exactly the same manner as when you were alive? In this riveting and often humorous novel by Robert Rahula, an American expat wakes up dead in Toledo, Spain, and discovers that nothing has changed, except that he is dead. He continues to interact with all his old friends, and they with him. Only he alone knows that he’s dead. In his journey through this afterlife, he ponders the choices he made during his life, the nature of consciousness, the nonexistence of free will, the flow of time, and existence of multiple universes.

What really happened in the Garden of Eden? Who was behind the serpent and the apple? What was God thinking? At last, it can be told! The unexpurgated story of what really happens in Heaven. Why God created time. The truth about his friendship with Satan. Those rumors of a drinking problem. The meaning of life. Whether sin really exists. The political power of the three angels’ unions. Hear all about it! These are the stories that the cherubim don’t want you to know! This is what really goes on Behind the Pearly Gates.

Does it feel like people are getting stupider? No, it’s not your imagination. New government data shows that the general intelligence level in the US is plummeting. Investigative reporter Ben Wozniak is trying to uncover why. Is the quality of teachers to blame? Or the increased use of AI? Or dependence on social media for all of our opinions? Or is it the rise of book banning by conservative school boards? Or chemicals in the water? Or maybe something in the in the air?

A dying confession from an old man in a nursing home leads ex-detective Dan Landes and Panamanian Police Chief José Fernando into an amazing and twisting story of real crime, including million-dollar real estate fraud, illegal Ibogaine retreats, prostitution, scams, international cover-ups, political pressure, tycoons shielded by high-priced lawyers, and, of course, murder.

What happens when AI hits the porn industry? Dan Landes is about to find out in INAUTHENTICITY, a tale of murder among the upper echelon of porn producers who are fighting to control the new world of AI porn. When a top porn producer is found dead of a heart attack in Panama, ex-detective Dan Landes suspects foul play. But who would benefit? It turns out that everyone would. Everyone has an axe to grind, including the FBI. Expat Dan Landes travels from Panama to Madrid to unmask who is really who in the new world of AI porn.

When police chief José Fernando recruits his friend Dan Landes to help investigate a case of murder and human trafficking, neither of them expect to find that solving the case rests on the memory of a single mentally-challenged lottery seller.

What if you created the PERFECT meme crypto coin? Not a scam, not a rug pull, not a hoax, but the perfect new crypto token that everybody wanted to buy? Hector Gonzalez, a 15-year-old in Panama, has done exactly that, and people are buying it—by the millions.

What if there was a pill that stopped all addiction? Dr. Disraeli Gaye has developed such a pill, and it’s on its way to FDA approval. The drug cartels are watching nervously. But everyone else wants in, from drug addicts to doctors to Wall Street. The only problem is…someone is trying to kill the good doctor.