“Prof. Mule” is a scintillating new novel both literary and fantastic, a hybrid of crime and college fiction, by award-winning writer Darren Johnson.
Learn more at ProfMule.com. The e-book is free anytime for Kindle Unlimited members; it’s $2.99 otherwise. You can read it on any device or computer.
The novel takes on the “plight of the adjunct” – low-paid hourly workers increasingly used to teach college classes, serving without basic benefits. But our adjunct protagonist, Craig Fortran, 32, needs benefits after his wife, Laura, loses her job, sinking deep into drug-addiction and mental illness. He loves her and will do anything to help.
The three colleges he teaches for – two in Upstate New York and one in New York City – won’t consider him for a full-time position. They are riddled with ridiculous and oftentimes hilarious politics. But a former college roommate he reunites with offers a new possibility for Craig: Mule a new smart drug to Manhattan elites for some added cash.
An adjunct instructor in a sensible Volkswagen Passat who has parking stickers for both Upstate and City colleges? Who would suspect him?
“Having been an adjunct, I realized how invisible they are,” Johnson said. “They have access to the campuses, but serve during odd hours, and the full-time faculty ignore them. They breeze in and out. Some recent real-life news stories have featured adjuncts with illicit side hustles – and our Prof. Mule has the greatest hustle yet.”
Craig has to meet up with the drug’s “runner,” Rebecca DiCarlo, 36, an alluring Manhattanite with all the right connections. Laura can’t know about any of this; especially when Craig unwittingly crosses into a cartel’s turf, and they become angry … really angry.
Author Darren Johnson is a former New York Press Association “Writer of the Year.” He has published extensively, but this is his first novel in 25 years. He has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Southampton College. Also, like his protagonist, he has adjunct-taught for many years at several New York colleges, Upstate and Downstate. He is owner of Campus News, a newspaper that serves 37 community colleges in the region, and, in that capacity knows the commute featured in “Prof. Mule” well.
“I know this life because I live this life,” Johnson said, “sans the illicit aspect, of course.”
“Prof. Mule” is literary fiction of the highest caliber, filled with both thrills and even some humor. It’s a revolutionary work with an amazing ending that, like Craig’s smart drug, is sure to hook readers into wanting more. And that’s no problem for the author, as a sequel is in the works. Johnson expects “Prof. Mule” to be a trilogy, at least.
“I had this idea in my head for five years; of an adjunct instructor, broke and pushed to the breaking point,” Johnson said, “and the story had to get out.
“Ultimately, it’s a love story, and what someone desperate will do for love, and the money needed to keep the love alive. But with that comes compromise, and transformation, and, soon the protagonist wonders who he is, and what he has become.”
Readers are encouraged to learn more at ProfMule.com.
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