A swirling, language-bending journey through philosophy, psychology, and the bottom of a bottle. Watching the two narratives of these men spiral around each other, there is a constant sense of a pending collision, likely in spectacularly sybaritic or literary fashion. Kruxhammer plays with language in unusual ways, experimenting with form and content delivery, giving this tale a subtle metaphysical feel. This twisted tale is a wild and challenging read that speaks to the growing frustrations in the modern generation.

—Self-Publishing Review

In this audacious literary debut, a shot from an uncompromising/defiantly libertine believer in what used to be called the Great American Novel Pynchonian-Spree Division the pseudonymous Kruxhammer digs deep into the minds and beds of two young American men, a pair of Johns, literally and figuratively, a continent apart from each other, who find life much more satisfying once they start paying for sex. A celebration of Vegas, a brief on the pleasures and ethics of patronizing sex workers, and a prickly, punning, philosophy-riffing, screed against a society so alienating to these Johns, Kruxhammer’s novel is a proudly take-it-or-leave it proposition.

—Publisher’s Weekly

—Booklife Reviews Editor’s Pick, lightning bolt for outstanding quality

In Heartbreak Epiphanies and Justified Lust, John Kruxhammer (a pseudonym) offers a strange, chaotic, confusing, but somehow engaging novel. After pausing for a vaguely connected discussion of cosmological terms and a dash of freshman philosophy, the narrative gets going, fueled by great quantities of beer and sexual encounters . . . Palmer repairs to Las Vegas to fulfill hedonistic fantasies assisted by a philosophy professor-turned-sexologist "researching" the practices and motives of escorts. Despite the trio’s many sordid adventures, however, the novel's real central character is Las Vegas itself, "city of dreams at the end of all journeys." The story presents many challenges: sudden shifts between time, place, mood and characters, frequent diversions, and what appear to be narrative dead ends. Those willing to persevere, however, might find themselves intrigued by the author's love of language, bizarre plot twists and flights into fantasy.

—BlueInk Review

As the men’s destinies careen toward each other—both develop a penchant for Las Vegas—the main question seems to be whether each will keep heart and soul together . . . readers will be interested to find out what, if anything, these men learn about themselves along the way. An in-depth fictional study of two characters’ struggle to fit into a daunting world.

—Kirkus Reviews

A work of literary fiction that follows two men as they constantly ruminate, occasionally pontificate, and endlessly pursue manifestations of both romantic and mental stability. Palmer’s sensitivity is compelling, and coincidentally allows for a smoother integration of intellectual ideas into the narrative . . . “I live at the dawn of struggle (…) And suffocate in the twilight of conformity.” The lyrical inundation of adjectives gives a similar impression, particularly when its musical intensity grows overpowering, “Obsession with an unreachable beautiful compassionate woman is a brutal demented disaster.” John Kruxhammer’s HEARTBREAK EPIPHANIES AND JUSTIFIED LUST fuses intellect with the body, conveying the madness that comes from trying to rationalize, and command, the urges of both flesh and spirit.

—Neil Czeszejko for IndieReader