A Labyrinth for Loons: Independently published

A dead man. A false identity. A labyrinth. A minotaur. And one very confused American writer.

Writer Leonard Smith wants to go home, but he's stuck in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur during Covid lockdown, and the airlines seem haphazardly selective about who flies and who doesn't, based on the type of travel visa one holds.

While waiting for the opportunity to get out, Leonard agrees to look after the belongings of another tourist-the Kiwi-who's committed suicide. The dead man, also a writer, has written a bizarre manuscript concerning real-life accounts of a brutal minotaur housed within a labyrinth. Before he realizes it, Leonard finds himself in custody of the embalmed corpse, storing the dead man until he can be transferred for burial in another city.

Through a bureaucratic screw-up, Malaysian authorities confuse Leonard with that of the deceased Kiwi-who possesses just the right kind of visa. Is Leonard capable of assuming the false identity of the dead man for a chance to go home?

Getting desperate while holed-up with a wily cat, a 13-year-old house guest who could possibly be homicidal, and a dead man in the closet-that at times doesn't seem all that dead-Leonard slips into profound questions of his own identity.

The only way to find answers is in the labyrinth-where the minotaur waits.

Writer Leonard Smith wants to go home, but he's stuck in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur during Covid lockdown, and the airlines seem haphazardly selective about who flies and who doesn't, based on the type of travel visa one holds.

While waiting for the opportunity to get out, Leonard agrees to look after the belongings of another tourist-the Kiwi-who's committed suicide. The dead man, also a writer, has written a bizarre manuscript concerning real-life accounts of a brutal minotaur housed within a labyrinth. Before he realizes it, Leonard finds himself in custody of the embalmed corpse, storing the dead man until he can be transferred for burial in another city.

Through a bureaucratic screw-up, Malaysian authorities confuse Leonard with that of the deceased Kiwi-who possesses just the right kind of visa. Is Leonard capable of assuming the false identity of the dead man for a chance to go home?

Getting desperate while holed-up with a wily cat, a 13-year-old house guest who could possibly be homicidal, and a dead man in the closet-that at times doesn't seem all that dead-Leonard slips into profound questions of his own identity.

The only way to find answers is in the labyrinth-where the minotaur waits.

" (this story) will serve as an important literary marker for society, most notably for its remark on the human mind in a state of psychological stress." Indie Reader