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In Kurt Johnson's debut novel, Las Vegas Turnaround, readers are catapulted into the underbelly of 1980s Las Vegas. It's a world where not even the bright lights of the Strip can drive out the darkness that accompanies the whirlwind of drugs, prostitution, and violence. The latter finally gets the better of Claire, a street-smart escort who misjudges a customer once and pays for it dearly. After she's brutally raped and beaten, she wants out. She tries hard to build a calm, mainstream life, but it soon becomes clear that's an impossibility in this town. Her meathead brother-in-law, Wood, ...

The fiction novel, Rough Diamonds, follows stolen uncut diamonds from Chicago to Las Vegas as they pass through the hands of outlandish characters: The Swede – A Chicago Outfit guy with a penchant for rare porcelain figurines who steals the diamonds from the Mafia. Emmy – An Outfit guy in Las Vegas tasked with fencing the diamonds. Emmy has a family now with a strange stepdaughter and eventually wants out of The Life. He chases down the diamonds with Swede. Skinny – A homeless heroin addict and street thief who steals the diamonds from Emmy and eventually ends up in the flood channel ...

I never planned to write a book about being naked in the woods. If I’m being honest, I never planned on thinking this much about it either. But once the idea got into my head, it wouldn’t leave. Probably because it’s one of those uncomfortable questions nobody wants to ask. What happens when everything goes wrong at the worst possible time… and you have absolutely nothing on you? No gear. No phone. No knife. No clothes. No dignity. This book exists because disasters don’t wait for you to put pants on. Fires happen at night. Accidents happen in the shower. Storms hit while you’re...

Or: How I Ended Up Prepping in the Candy Aisle Next to a Singing Birthday Card I’m not too proud to admit it—I once bought a pack of glow sticks, a can of potted meat, a travel-sized sewing kit, and a plastic back scratcher all in one trip to the dollar store. The cashier didn’t even blink. Just slid it all across the scanner with that judgment-free professionalism you only find in folks who’ve seen weirder combinations on the regular. I smiled, paid $5.35 with tax, and walked out of there feeling like a dang prepper genius. See, I’m a big believer that survival doesn’t have to ...

Two young women attending college decide to have a summer adventure canoeing the rapids-strewn Thelon River that runs 450 miles through the uninhabited Barren Lands of subarctic Canada. Holly made the trip once before with a group of skilled paddlers she trained with at camp, and she wants to share that experience with her friend and lover, Lee, believing it will draw them closer. But a week in, Holly, the risk-taker, falls while taking a selfie near the edge of a cliff. She is left injured and comatose, and soon dies.

Look, I get it. You’re the one who lies awake at night wondering what happens if the grid goes down for real. Not a blip, not a “honey, the WiFi’s acting up again” moment, but a real-deal, no-power, no-911, stores-cleared-out, chaos-in-the-streets kind of shutdown. And when that moment comes—and it very well might—the weight is going to fall squarely on your shoulders. Because if you're anything like me, you know that when stuff hits the fan, you're not just protecting yourself. You're protecting your wife, your kids, your home, and every single person who’s counting on you to...

When the grid goes down, people panic about food, water, fuel, and communication. All valid concerns. But before any of that, there is a smaller, more humiliating problem no one wants to talk about. You. Specifically, your exposed, under prepared, suddenly very aware of the weather version of you. This book is about surviving from that starting point. No pockets. No tools. No layers. No illusion of control. Just you, your brain, and whatever environment you are standing in wondering how your life choices led here. Why Nudity Changes Everything Clothing hides mistakes. It protects skin. It ...

Let me guess—you’ve felt it too. That little gut-pull when the power flickers during a storm. That twitch of anxiety when the shelves at your local grocery store are weirdly empty two days in a row. Or that tiny voice in your head that goes, What would I do if this all just... stopped working? Welcome to Low-Tech Survival—where we talk about what happens when the power’s gone, the internet’s toast, and the stuff we’ve come to rely on (like food magically appearing at the store) just doesn’t show up anymore. This isn’t a “panic now” kind of book. No doomsday countdowns or...

Alright, let’s get real for a second. If you're reading this, chances are you're already concerned about the world we live in. Maybe you've heard the buzz about EMP attacks, or maybe you just have a gut feeling that disaster is coming sooner rather than later. Either way, you’re in the right place. Now, let me start by saying—don’t panic. This isn’t the end of the world. Not yet, anyway. But an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) could throw a wrench into your daily life like you wouldn’t believe. One blast from a high-altitude detonation, and suddenly, your smartphone, car, fridge, and...

Ever wake up in the woods with no clothes, no gear, no phone, and no clue? No? Well, if it does happen, this book will keep your bare butt alive. How to Survive in the Outdoors... Nude is the hilariously honest, wildly useful survival guide you never knew you needed. Written by Kurt Johnson (family man, outdoorsman, and the unfortunate veteran of more than one half-naked wilderness adventure) this book delivers real-world survival skills with wit, grit, and just the right amount of sass. Whether you're skinny-dipping gone wrong, stranded after a camping fail, or just prepping for the most ...

Let me paint the picture. The power’s out. Not just for a couple hours, but for real. No microwave hum, no fridge buzz, no soft glow of the stove clock. Just silence, save for the gentle clatter of Jackson rummaging through a bin of beef jerky he definitely didn’t ask permission to touch. Trish gives him that look. Stephanie and Alexandria have already lit candles like it’s a séance. And me? I’m grinning, because this is exactly what we prepared for. The No-Grid Kitchen isn’t about gourmet soufflés or five-course tasting menus. It’s about feeding your people when the lights ...

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not here to scare you. But if you’ve ever sat in the dark with a dead phone, a melting freezer, and zero clue what to do next—you already know a little fear can be useful. That flicker of “uh-oh” is your brain telling you it’s time to do something. Ideally before the lights go out, but hey, better late than never. Power outages aren’t rare anymore. Storms hit harder, grids fail more often, and sometimes things just fall apart. One minute you’re reheating leftovers and scrolling social media, the next you’re using a headlamp to check if ...

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve heard the term “martial law” tossed around, especially in times of crisis or political turmoil. You’ve probably wondered, “What does that really mean for me?” And you might have thought, “How can I prepare for something like that?” Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to dive into here. Martial law sounds like something straight out of a dystopian novel, but the reality is, it’s been implemented at different times in history for various reasons, from natural disasters to civil unrest. It’s something that could—...

Let’s clear something up immediately. If you ever find yourself naked in the desert, you did not make one bad decision. You made a series of perfectly reasonable decisions that ended very poorly, all at once. The desert does not announce itself with drama. It does not scream. It does not rush you. It simply waits while you make assumptions, and then it charges interest on every one of them. This book exists because the desert is uniquely unforgiving, especially when you are nude, exposed, and suddenly very aware of how thin human skin actually is. The Desert Is Not Just “Hot Woods” ...

Let me set the stage. I’m Kurt Johnson, husband to the ever-patient Trish, and dad to two fierce, brilliant daughters, Stephanie and Alexandria. I’m also the unfortunate best friend of a man named Jackson, who smells like a gym sock that lost a bet with a skunk. Jackson is a prepper too, and despite the fact that you can smell him from three zip codes away, the man knows his survival tricks. He’s like a foul-smelling Swiss Army knife—completely essential, utterly offensive. This book isn’t about building a bunker with 12 years’ worth of chili and ammo stacked to the rafters. ...

Water. It’s one of the most basic necessities for survival, yet it’s often the first thing people overlook when they think about prepping. We plan for food, shelter, security—but water? We just assume it’ll always be there. But in a disaster scenario, access to clean, safe water might be the first thing to go, and when it does, you’ll realize just how crucial it is. Imagine a world where the taps stop running, the bottled water shelves are empty, and the filtration systems are down. That’s not a situation you want to find yourself in without a plan. Having a reliable water ...

If you had told me years ago that I’d be labeling shelves in our basement for rice, beans, and backup batteries while my wife muttered “you’ve officially lost it,” I probably would’ve shrugged and said, “Yeah, but we’ll still be eating when the lights go out.” Welcome to my life. I’m Kurt Johnson. Husband to the world’s most patient woman, Trish. Dad to two smart, sarcastic, occasionally horrified daughters named Stephanie and Alexandria. And full-time prepper-slash-human tornado who believes duct tape, coffee, and a solid bug out plan can solve 98 percent of life’s ...

Or: The Time I Cooked Eggs on a Shovel and Felt Like a Genius (Sorta) I’ve always said that survival isn’t just about gear—it’s about grit. It’s about figuring things out when everything around you has gone sideways and the instructions blew away in the wind. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good emergency kit and I’ll nerd out on bug-out bags with the best of ’em, but the truth is, the real magic? It’s in the hacks. The little tricks. The weird workarounds. The stuff you figure out because you had to—or because some brilliant (and possibly slightly unhinged) friend ...

So, you’re thinking about food storage. Maybe you’re just getting started, or maybe you’ve been on this journey for a while, trying to figure out the best way to keep you and your family fed in case things go sideways. Either way, you’re in the right place. Because, let's face it—food is one of the most important things we all need to survive. But when disaster strikes, it’s not always easy to just pop into the grocery store for what you need. The shelves might be empty, the power might be out, or the roads could be blocked. And in those situations, having a stash of food you ...

We all like to think the world’s a safe place, and most of the time, it is. But every now and then, something unexpected happens—whether it’s a natural disaster, an economic collapse, or something else that shakes things up. And when that happens, the last thing you want is to be scrambling to figure out what to do or where to turn. I’m Kurt Johnson, and if you’re reading this, I bet you’re looking to avoid that panic. Maybe you’ve realized it’s time to be a little more prepared, to have a plan in place for your family—because when things get tough, the last thing you want...