Stephen Koenig

Stephen J. Koenig

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

—Stephen Koenig

On the last day of 1999, a quiet man with a fractured mind recalls his life as he embarks on a mission of love.

It is New Year’s Eve. Y2K and the snowy weather have put people on edge, but that won’t stop South Fork from celebrating the year 2000. 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.

Other book links to Amazon are below.

Along with other stories, etc.

SPYGLASS NEWSLETTER

HELLO, MY FRIENDS…

Check back periodically for newsletter updates.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

NEW BOOKS

AWAY FORWARD: On the last day of 1999, a quiet man with a fractured mind recalls his life as he embarks on a mission of love.

DISMAL RIVER MOON: Wounded by life and love, investigators seek answers as they join forces to face down evil. I self-published my (78K-word) novel, DISMAL RIVER MOON, a couple of months ago. I changed the cover and made a few additional edits. A benefit of self-publishing. You can check it out below.

STORY INFO

AWAY FORWARD is set in the fictional town of SOUTH FORK. It is based on the village of EWING, originally settled in 1870, just below the confluence of the river’s north and south forks. While the main stem of the Elkhorn River flows directly past the town, the South Fork of the Elkhorn River flows just a few miles southwest and joins the main branch immediately downstream of the community.

WHAT I AM READING

PLAINSONG – by KENT HARUF

OTHER STUFF

Feel free to check out my attempts at photography on my Facebook page. I take mostly rural photos. I often change the exposure and color settings. Or set them in Black and White.

CHEERS!!!

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LINKS BELOW TO ALL BOOKS & FREE AUDIOBOOKS

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

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

DISMAL RIVER MOON

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

PAPERBACK & KINDLE

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.

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.

UNREMARKABLE

Private Eye Story

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 1980s, 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

(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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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