In , Nik Korpon explores the catastrophic consequences of trying to start anew and reinvent yourself. A clandestine surgeon goes to extreme lengths when she's torn between family loyalties. A con man tries to help his girlfriend escape her pimp, despite what the tarot cards tell her. A drifter hunts down the man who hung her out to dry with a cartel boss. A sicario has a crisis of faith when an old legend stalks him. From the streets of Baltimore to the comunas of Medellín, the Mexican Sierras to Texas border towns, shows that no matter how deep you cut, you'll never truly leave your home behind. Praise for the Stories by Nik Korpon: "Nik Korpon's stories read like Sonny Chiba and Don Winslow somehow made a literary baby, in that they will kick your ass, then kick you in the head, and then to the heart." --Todd Robinson, author of and "There's an electric charge to Nik Korpon's stories. They crackle and pop and leave a mark. This is an entire book full of them. Why haven't you bought it yet?" --Rob Hart, author of "Nik Korpon writes the kind of stories that'll take your heart out with a post hole digger and stitch it back in with barbed wire. Read them all." --Benjamin Whitmer, author of "In his stellar new collection, Nik Korpon effortlessly hacks up chunks of this dark world and serves them up still sizzling, writing with a directness and authenticity that marks him as the real thing." --Jordan Harper, Edgar Award-winning author of