Stephen Koenig

Stephen J. Koenig

JUST RELEASED ON AMAZON

DISMAL RIVER MOON

A dead friar. A missing nun. Private eyes and spies…

PAPERBACK & KINDLE UNLIMITED

E-BOOK $0.99

Wounded by life and love, investigators seek answers as they join forces to face down evil.

Struggling investigators team up in the Little Bohemia section of Omaha. They attempt to locate a missing Native American nun and an individual involved in the death of a Catholic friar in the remote Nebraska Sandhills. They save a group of girls from human traffickers and help protect a novice friar hiding from a Chinese Triad. All while dealing with their own personal injuries.

LINKS BELOW TO ALL BOOKS & FREE AUDIOBOOKS

“I WRITE MY STORIES IN A MINIMALIST STYLE, WITH SIMPLE PROSE IN CLEAR AND CONCISE CONTINUITY, LAYERED WITH BALANCED TENSION AND HUMBLE EMOTION… AT LEAST THAT IS MY GOAL.” —Steve Koenig

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” –Dr. Seuss

STEPHEN KOENIG BIO

steve.privateeye1@gmail.com

Steve Koenig worked as a private investigator for thirty-plus years, and that work informed his writing. Growing up on a farm at the edge of the Nebraska Sandhills, attending a one-room country school, being an altar boy, being married for 38 years, being a father of two daughters, and being a little dyslexic also informed his writing. He has written the following books, all of which are available on AMAZON. Articles he has written on the private investigator profession are also noted below.

Member – Nebraska Writers Guild

Member – Private Eye Writers of America

Member – Catholic Writers Guild

FACEBOOK BLOG & YOUTUBE CHANNEL

http://www.FACEBOOK.com/steve.koenig.1422

https://www.youtube.com/@steveprivateeye1689

WRITING NEWS & ACTIVITY

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EDITING PROCESS UNDERWAY

AWAY FORWARD

~ a novella ~

It is New Year’s Eve. Y2K and the snowy weather have put people on edge, but it won’t stop the residents of South Fork from celebrating the new millennium. Away Forward tells the story of a missing father, a daughter’s love, rural life, loss, forgiveness, and the hopeful feelings that come with a new year.

SHAMUS AWARDS

Stephen Koenig was one of the judges for the 2025 Shamus Awards for Best Original Hardback P.I. Novel.

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SODTOWN BOOKS

SANDHILLS SOJOURN

Paperback & eBook

FREE YouTube Audiobook

Joe Bauer spent his sixteenth summer in 1980 working at his uncle’s ranch near Flatwater, Nebraska. Joe’s sojourn included putting up hay, working cattle, riding horses, his first fistfight, airplanes, Vietnam vets, a wannabe cowboy, girls, beer parties, and a white wolfdog. Joe survived three life-threatening events during his time in the Sandhills.

FLATWATER

Paperback & eBook available on Amazon.

FREE YouTube Audiobook

UNREMARKABLE

Private Eye Story

JOE BAUER TRILOGY

Paperback & eBook available on Amazon.

FREE YouTube Audiobook

Joe Bauer finally graduated from college and started his career as a private investigator. But he is not the only investigator in the sleepy college town of Fort Kearney, Nebraska. It is the late 1980’s, and Joe is working for Herb Compton, a Nebraska sheriff turned insurance investigator. A Lakota private eye and a future exorcist are also working cases. And a Russian agent is tracking down stolen Fabergé Eggs. By the end of his first year, Joe begins to learn how to conduct covert surveillance. A skill he discovers that is part art and part luck. Joe learns that in the gray world of the private eye business, the trick is not to be tricky. The trick is not to be invisible. The trick is to be unremarkable.

BARBED WIRE RUNS THROUGH IT

JOE BAUER TRILOGY

(Paperback, eBook, Audible)

Amazon Reviews: 41 Global Ratings – 4.5 – 5.0 Stars

It was 1976, and Joe Bauer, a dyslexic, twelve-year-old boy, was having an interesting year. Joe almost died twice, witnessed his range detective father investigate satanic activity, watched a tornado ravage his family’s ranch, saw a plane crash-land near his one-room country school, and he met a Nazi. Joe, the last student at his school in Holt County, Nebraska, bore witness to the struggles his family faced as a result of these events.

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POEMS & VERY SHORT STORIES

EXTRATERRESTRIAL ALIENS

by Stephen Koenig

The Bible talks about the sun, moon, stars, animals, oceans, a man, a woman, love, illness, poverty, war, wealth, power, humility, arrogance, food, wine, temples, demons, prejudice, floods, drought, slaves, priests, kings, murder, thieves, shepherds, generosity, fish, donkeys, taxes, gold, plagues, sex, serpents, death, prayer, disciples, martyrs, sin, a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a burning bush, a Cross, Judas, Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

It is the greatest story ever told…

But it says nothing about an alien species from outer space.

Nothing.

Hence, I have determined that there are no space aliens.

THE END

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HERE I COME

Today, I’m sixty-one

I hope to make sixty-two

The doctor never calls it by its name

But I have an illness known by a bunch of you

It started one day when I died

And people saved me from my death

This malady robs your energy

And you strive to catch a breath

My best friend will be there, it will be a dream

We’ll have a birthday meal at home

Which may include a small glass of whiskey

And a big scoop of ice cream

Today, I’m sixty-one

I hope to make sixty-two

I hope this year to write a book

And listen to family and friends and good music, too

I think a lot about Jesus

And meeting him one day

I’ve confessed my sins and prepared myself

To help clear the way

It’s funny how my heart is what’s sick

As my heart has never been so true

My heart has never felt so full

For my love of all of you

I’ve had time to think about my life

Of things that happened along the way

Regrets, I do have some

But I’m thankful for so many a day

Today, I’m sixty-one

The one thing I have to do

It is to keep on going, so stand back

Here I come, sixty-two

THE END

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STRANG & ONG
A Love Story

Once upon a time, a red-haired, stout young lad named Roscoe MacGregor was surveying the plains of Nebraska. It was a lonesome job. One day while standing on the hilly grassland in what would become Fillmore County he shot his bow; and the arrow carried on the soft spring breeze out of sight. A few days later he found the same arrow many miles away. That night Roscoe became very ill. On his deathbed he told a pretty young nurse named Agata, who held his hand, that his final wish before dying was that they would name the location where he last shot his bow, STRANG. And the spot where the arrow landed, ONG. Noting that he had marked each site with a surveyor’s stob. Agata’s warm smile and spirited stories filled Roscoe’s lonely heart for three days. He handed her the special arrow before he passed on. A local land baron liked the Strang and Ong names but did not want the traveling surveyor to receive the credit, so he saw that the real story would stay hidden. The pretty young nurse, with blue eyes and blonde Polish hair braids, passed her sole love story down to her family. And a future relative, a stout young man, with pale red hair, relayed that story to me. And now, I am relaying it to you…

(This story is a work of fiction… most likely.)

THE END

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HALLOWEEN STORY 2024

A very short Halloween story I wrote today…

BOO!!!

Okay, kids… Sit on the floor; this is a Halloween spooky story… And I warn you, it will be very, very scary. It’s very short… so you better hold hands cause it’s going to be very, very scary… I’ll tell you a secret: this story does NOT have ghosts or goblins or witches or boogie woogie men… it does NOT have those things, but it is very scary. Very, very scary. So get really close and keep holding hands. Wait… what was that???? Never mind, It’s okay. Don’t be scared, even though it is dark outside, and Halloween, don’t be scared. So I’ll tell you another secret: this story has no scary Jack-o-lanterns, creaking doors, or loud screams. It does NOT have those things, so just relax… It is a very short story. So short, there are NOT even any flying bats or scarecrows that walk or full moons… It’s okay… Snuggle tight. Here we go. Here is a very short and very scary story…

Once upon a time… BOO!!!

THE END

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ISHMAEL

I gathered my fly rod and canvass creel and walked to the water’s edge. Life had left me feeling hollow, feverish.

Nearby, a young girl dug in the sand. Her parents stood watch from camp chairs near an Airstream trailer.

I caught spawning bluegills and tossed them back. They blooped and swam off, and the little girl giggled and clapped.

Dark clouds gathered, and she raced to the trailer.

I was about to haul gear when I saw a white swirl in the water. “What the hell?”

I tied on a dragonfly.

The wind met my casts, and the line died upon itself. Clouds darkened, and lightning flashed. “One last cast.” The wind inhaled, and my cast of line, leader, and fly – fell into the white swirl.

One breath later, the fly was jerked under the water. Thunder clapped, and the wind blew; the fight was on.

The hooked fish careened beneath the water’s surface as the cottonwoods danced like hula girls. My fevered mind strained for answers to impossible questions, leaving me taut and frayed. The rainless storm crested, and dry lightning streaked across a bedeviled sky. In my mind, a wire snapped as the fight from the white fish faded.

It slid to me across the sand. It was translucent with neon blue, green, and yellow lines. A huge albino bluegill. A state record.

The little girl ran to my side. Her mouth wide, she stared down at the fish. Hands on her knees, she spoke. “What is his name?”

“His name? I don’t know…I guess I will call him…Ishmael,” I said, releasing the hook and fly.

“Ishmael,” she breathed, “I like that name.” She beamed a smile of the innocent.

I recalled fishing with my daughters and regretted not doing more. I looked to the Airstream as the parents waved.

I turned back to see her, frog-walking barefoot, to the shoreline and gently release Ishmael into the water. My state record, albino bluegill, was gone.

She smiled, clapped, and said, “I gotta go.” She skipped back to her parents.

The storm passed, and my fever was gone. I went home.

THE END

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PRIVATE EYE MAGAZINE & NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

PURSUIT MAGAZINE

Steve Koenig has written several articles for Pursuit Magazine on being a private investigator. The articles can be found at PursuitMag.com – via the link. pursuitmag.com/author/steve-koenig/

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THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING DASHBOARD LIGHTS