The Bunkers: A Big Huna Novel
About this audiobook
The Bunkers
Picking up where Spam Sushi left off, this outrageous crime caper follows the adventures of the Bunkers, a mischievous crew of seven, ten-year-old boys, who are back in business. Peddling dried seaweed as pot to tourists in Waikiki is their usual hustle, but when a purse-snatching escapade turns up a kilo of crystal meth instead of cash, their lives take a hilarious and dangerous turn. Selling seaweed as pot is easy, but offloading a kilo of ice? That's a whole other can of worms, especially when you're only ten years old.
Enter the Weasel, a colorful forty-year-old surfer with a shady past, who seems like the perfect solution to offload the ice. Except unfortunately, it seems the ice belongs to the ruthless North Korean Mafia. Now, the Bunkers are on the run, pursued by gangsters with serious intent. Can these pint-sized entrepreneurs outrun the mob and avoid a permanent dirt nap? Buckle up for a hilarious, action-packed ride through the neon jungle of Waikiki, where the only thing more dangerous than the streets are the ten-year-old gangsters who rule them.
This darkly funny nostalgic crime heist is the second installment in the Big Huna series. It’s a wild ride you won't soon forget!
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About the author
A Life Lived in Ink:
From the Federal Prison System to Saint Petersburg: The Unconventional Path of a Crime Novelist
When asked recently about the background behind my Dmitri Petrov Crime Novels, it made me reflect on my unusual journey. My path to becoming an author is perhaps not what you would expect.
For over three decades, I served two 14-year sentences in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for bank robberies. The federal system is a unique environment, a melting pot of individuals from every corner of the globe. In 2004, as I was beginning my last sentence, I decided it was time for a profound change. I felt a new path calling me, and I believed that as an author, my past would not and should not define my future.
In 2010 I was transferred to Butner, North Carolina. It was a smaller medical facility, and my unit of sixty inmates, and the prison's total population of around six hundred, provided an intimate, and in many ways, an unprecedented classroom. I shared that space for seven years with some truly infamous figures, including Bernie Madoff, Jonathan Pollard, Nicky Scarfo, and Carmine Persico—and that’s only a small glimpse of the experiences I had there.
During those twenty years, I dedicated myself to an intense study of Russian, Chinese, German, Japanese, and Spanish, along with my native English. I would seek out foreign inmates from those countries, intentionally "zoning in" on them to test my language skills. I believe that when you make the effort to learn someone's language, it opens doors to understanding that remain firmly shut otherwise. It was in this unique educational environment that I met a number of Russian vory, or "thieves," in the BOP.
One Thief-in-law at Butner, a man who had his own reputation, was so taken with me that he hired me to ghostwrite his life story. The money he paid me was vital—I saved every penny for my release—but the real value was the education he gave me. What I learned about the inner workings of organized crime in the Russian Federation was more valuable than any textbook could ever be. He would often tell me my Russian was terrible, but he'd add with a laugh, "when you imitate a Russian trying to speak English, you are spot on."
Since my release, that foundation has served me well. I have now published twenty-eight novels across seven different series. But the one that remains closest to my heart is my Dmitri Petrov Crime Novels, which I began in that very unit. Dmitri Petrov is an inspector for the Saint Petersburg Police in the Russian Federation. The first book, Vodka Express, introduces his world, and the second, White Nights, immerses him in the city's famous festival. Red Star is the third, and I am thrilled to announce that the fourth novel in the series, Russian Roulette, is now available.
My journey is proof that inspiration can be found in the most unlikely of places. The lessons I learned—about language, culture, and the complex human beings on all sides of the law—continue to fuel my writing. It's a reminder that every experience, no matter how unconventional, can be a tool to create something new. I am now a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the Crime Writers Association in the U.K.
