The snow came down like a bad alibi, thick and merciless, smothering the Alaskan night while old Merlin paced his cabin atop a hoard of gold, counting it and cursing the world. The fire cracked. His voice did too. “The Lord sees you,” he snarled, scripture dripping from his tongue. “He sees the men staring at you with lust in their hearts.”
Nancy—too alive for a dead place like this—smoothed the short white slip she wore and met his glare without blinking. “Who do you blame for that, Dad?” she said. “You dragged me into this frozen nowhere where the ratio’s five hundred men to one woman. If you ever looked up from praying, you’d see every guy within ten miles already thinking it.”
Merlin answered the way cowards do. He shoved her out into the storm, slammed the door, and let the lock speak for him. Snow soaked silk. Cold gnawed bone. Then, through the howling white, came the clean ring of sleigh bells—and out of the blur emerged a dog sled pulled by the one creature mean enough to laugh at a night like this. Boris of the Yukon was coming fast.
Hack wrote this novel after María Corina Machado gave Donald Trump the medallion and certificate she received for being named the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner in a transparent attempt to make her his puppet president of Venezuela. And while Hack clearly doesn’t comprehend the insignificance of someone winning a trophy and then giving it to another person who didn’t, it’s even more fucking obvious that Trump doesn’t either.
Jonny’s grin stayed plastered on his face as they crossed the threshold of Scotland Yard, but it had the stiffness of cheap glue. The murder of Robert Vestal still rang in his ears like a cracked bell—shot clean through the heart on some manicured English estate, a heart Jonny had always assumed Vestal rented rather than owned. The chief inspector, all tweed and clipped vowels, laid it out with the solemnity of a man announcing the weather: they’d be sharing the case with a local bloodhound named Drummond, who’d been tracking it from the English side of the pond. Jonny knew the name. Ex–army, thrill-seeker, a legend in rain-soaked pubs and police files. The constable leaned in and lowered his voice. “Good chap, Drummond. Made quite a name for himself in the canine corps.” Jonny blinked. “Did you just say CANINE corps?” The word hung in the air like gun smoke.
The answer padded in before the question could cool. Drummond entered without a sound, Limey incarnate, every inch the Empire right down to the jowls. He was a bulldog—no metaphor, no exaggeration, just a solid, breathing slab of British beef with a detective’s stare. His eyes locked on Boris and lit up. “Smashing to finally meet you, old boy. After years of chasing villains with homo sapiens, I thought it time we dogs showed them how it’s properly done. Care to see the murder scene?” He turned, already moving, a paw clamped around Boris’s arm. “Your assistant can take notes.” Jonny bristled as the pug was hustled away, the thrill draining out of the room. Scotland Yard suddenly felt colder, and Jonny had the sinking feeling this case wasn’t going to let him enjoy a single damn thing.
We end Hack Werker’s 2025 with this record-setting 333rd entry of the year, a birthday tribute to The Third Man director Sir Carol Reed. We invite you to join us on Facebook tomorrow to vote on the 10 nominees for the Hack Werker Novel of the Year.
Jonny and Boris pushed through the warped oak door of the Portly Pug, boots and paws dragging half the road in with them, the stink of travel still hanging off their coats like bad decisions. Sir Henry was nowhere to be seen, which told Jonny everything he needed to know about the night ahead. He went straight to the bar, elbows down, eyes up. “Room for the evening,” he said, voice flat as a dead river. “For me and my pug. Indoor plumbing if you’ve got the luxury.” The barkeep looked Boris up and down like he was appraising spoiled meat and snorted. “You’re welcome enough, sir,” he said, polishing a glass that would never be clean, “but that animal’ll have to sleep in the next county—assuming he makes it that far.” It was usually Jonny who got turned away on sight, but Boris didn’t blink. He calmly laid down more cash than the place had seen since the last war. “And what does that buy us?” the pug asked. The barkeep barely glanced at it. “Two pints,” he said. “Before you move on.”
They took their ales to the darkest corner, where the light went to die and the locals watched them like a slow fuse burning. Boris slid on his brass knuckles under the table, smooth and quiet, preparing for the kind of hospitality that left bruises. That’s when a voice cut through the tension like a razor through fog. “Don’t mind them,” it said. “They’re just superstitious.” They turned to see Lisa the barmaid, the only soft thing in the room, looking at Jonny like he was the answer to a question she’d been asking all her life. “They grew up on stories,” she said. “Tales of a monster. So when your little friend walked in, they thought the devil had finally clocked in for a pint.” Jonny frowned. Boris cocked an ear. “What monster?” the pug asked. Lisa blinked, genuinely surprised. “Why,” she said, lowering her voice, “the legendary pug of the Baskervilles.”
This is Hack’s second attempt at ripping off Stephen King’s The Shining. King’s corporation briefly considered suing him for plagiarism but determined that Hack’s book was so badly written that it would be nearly impossible to track it back to King’s novel.
This novel was based on a true story when Hack was sleeping on Jonny and Boris’ couch, only to be awakened from a resounding crash that came from their bedroom. He went to check it out to find them arguing about whether Boris had fallen to the floor after he jumped out of Jonny’s hands when he was trying to help him down so he could pee, or whether Jonny has pushed him. The incident was forgotten the next day, save for this manuscript that Hack had cranked out after the pair went back to sleep.
The night was black as spilled ink, and the only sound in the room was the lazy rattle of the ceiling fan until Boris the pug started up his usual whimper. Jonny M., the eternal wreck of a man, stirred under his threadbare blanket, cursing softly at the ceiling. “You again?” he muttered, voice thick as the whiskey fumes clinging to his pillow. The little mutt needed to pee — he always did around this cursed hour. With a sigh that could have curdled milk, Jonny reached down, his hands trembling like a man holding dynamite with a short fuse. He scooped Boris up, the way he’d done a thousand nights before, trying not to think about how the dog had more control over his life than any dame ever did.
But this time was different. The pug squirmed, slick and stubborn, twisting out of Jonny’s grasp like a greased eel. Before Jonny could catch him, Boris slipped, hit the floor with a sound that made Jonny’s stomach twist. Thud. The kind of sound you don’t forget. “For crying out loud, Boris!” Jonny barked, flipping on the lamp. The light stabbed through the shadows, catching the little dog lying there like he’d been clipped by a freight train. Jonny knelt down, heart pounding, and snarled, “That’s what you get for jumping, you dumb mutt.” But the pug’s glazed eyes blinked once, twice — and then narrowed in accusation.
“You pushed me,” Boris said, voice rough as gravel dragged across the truth. Jonny froze, his blood turning to cold soup. A talking pug was trouble enough, but a talking pug calling you a killer — that was another kind of nightmare. “Don’t play innocent, Jonny boy,” Boris growled, struggling to his stubby feet. “You been looking for an easy out ever since Linda started asking questions.” Jonny’s head snapped toward the bed — Linda, her black curls like a halo of deceit, was still there, breathing steadily. Asleep. Or maybe pretending. The city was full of lies, and the biggest one might’ve been lying right next to him.
