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Less Than Normal

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Less Than Normal is not your customary romance novel. It’s a ‘coming-of-age’ story about Larry who was a hinderance to his parents, had few friends, and found comfort and support in the books he read about gangsters, hustlers, and grifters. They were his heroes and influenced his thinking.

Sexually innocent at 16, he was seduced by his mother’s friend Ashley who made him her toy boy. She taught him the facts of life as well as teaching him the benefits of older women over emotional teenagers.

Larry went to Los Angles during school vacation to learn how to surf. He met and moved in with a group of hippie surfers who taught him to surf, smoke dope, and where he learned to make his own decisions. Larry became involved in an intense romantic relationship which ended in devastating heartbreak.

Except for dealing weed to high end clients, high school studies and social life was boring. Larry was intelligent and street wise well beyond his years. His mind worked like the characters he read about. He decided to leave home choosing a life with an adrenaline rush by living on the edge. Whether drug dealing or money laundering Larry was a success.
Women were never far from Larry’s mind. A romance with an Australian girl and a torrid affair with her mother resulted in startling consequences. Casual sex with divorces and tourists was graphic and often.

Larry was flying high with a new home and business accomplishments until shocked by news he never saw coming.

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Published August 2, 2025

About the author

Jack Kregas

40 books34 followers
Jack Kregas was raised in Vermont in the Northeast of the United States. After three years in the US Army he was discharged in Europe where he spent thirty years skiing, owning ski shops and other businesses.

After many winters in the Alps and summers windsurfing on Maui, Jack departed Switzerland for Maui full time with his Australian wife and small daughter. Five years later he moved the family to Australia becoming an Australian citizen.

Jack now lives in Brisbane where he wrote his first book in 2015, the autobiography of his adventurous life. With that success, he has written 16 more composing of thrillers, shorts stories, and crime novels. His last novels are SHATTERED INNOCENCE and the sequel THE VISUAL DECEPTION both out now.

These novels based in Australia are on human trafficking. PLEASE watch the videos.

AVAILABLE NOW! New Novel LESS THAN NORMAL


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Author 7 books386 followers
August 1, 2025
A Pragmatic Risk Taker

From the age of seventeen, Larry Lazar takes the bull by the horn in ‘Less than Normal,’ a coming-of-age novel by Jack Kregas. Much more than a story about a young man and his exploits with women, it’s about a young man gaining confidence to become a self-made financial success honed from pragmatic risk taking. Be it the proliferation of weed, coffee farming, or money laundering, Larry has a head on his shoulders from savvy gained by reading novels about the mafia, gangsters, hustlers, and those who fought adversity alone.

‘Less than Normal’ opens the floodgate of emotions for the reader who lives through a couple of Larry’s intense romantic relationships, some of which wither on the vine due to life’s hairpin turns. An adventure capitalist who gets an adrenaline rush from living on the edge, Larry always exercises caution when treading potentially dangerous situations.

The author provides just enough character background on each of the key players to keep the story real and riveting as it traverses around the globe, following in the footsteps of a young man wise beyond his years, living by a code of ethics which suits his lifestyle despite encountering a close call.
A must-read story led by Larry’s self-gratifying approach to life, laced with fast-paced adventure.
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