Kimberly Gardner

On this blog I don’t often talk about the books I read. But sometimes I encounter a book that begs for discussion.

Nikolai by Angelia Sparrow is such a book.

Here’s the blurb.

“James Ligatos is a man with an unusual hobby. He turns promising young criminals into world leaders. His latest project is Nicholas Boyd, formerly Nikolai of the Revenant street gang. But the little killer-turned-file-clerk is much more than Ligatos and his staff bargained for. As Kentucky attempts to secede from the Confederated States of America and rejoin the United States, Nick’s skills and the group’s training are put to the ultimate test, and the price of failure is death.”

I did something with this book that I rarely do, I bought it because of a review. Well, more than one review actually. All the reviews for Nikolai I’ve read have one thing in common. They all say that you cannot remain unmoved by this story. And I whole-heartedly agree.

Sparrow’s depiction of a futuristic America where church attendance is mandatory, homosexuality and adultery are punishable by death and women can be imprisoned for commonplace actions like wearing makeup is frighteningly plausible especially given our current socio-political climate.

The main characters, Nick and his owner/benefactor James Ligatos, are expertly drawn and compelling. So much so that I had to put the book down several times if only to gain a respite from the wrenchingly real emotions that bleed onto nearly every page.

The story is raw, brutally violent in places and, as I said above, terrifyingly plausible. It is *not* an easy read, but one well worth engaging in nevertheless.

Even after I closed the book I could not stop thinking about this story. It literally haunted me as I lay in bed. Nick’s experiences in prison, though kept mostly off-screen, were so disturbing that I had to stop reading several times, if only for a moment. All the same, there is no way I could put down this book. Not since Tulsa Brown’s Achilles Other Heel has a book so effected me.

If you buy only one book this month, make it Nikolai. You won’t be sorry. But be warned, this story is *not* for the faint of heart.

The book is available from Circle Dark Publishing. Here’s the link.

http://www.circledarkpublishing.net/Nikolai.html