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50th out of 275 books
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274 voters
Old Ghosts
by
Nik Korpon (Goodreads Author)
Paperback, 88 pages
Published
April 2011
by Brown Paper Publishing
(first published January 1st 2011)
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Lean poetic prose personified by vivid and visceral characterisation. The protagonist's underlying desire to protect his new family fuels a rage not tapped since his underworld dealings with his forgotten family. Cole's old ghosts become very real when Chance Miller and Delilah return from out of the blue seeking to acquire his services for a different kind of trafficking more dangerous than their former caper. 'Old Ghosts' doesn't leetave much to the imagination when it comes to graphic encount...more
I've been reading The History of God by Karen Armstrong for the past two weeks, and while non-fiction is intellectually stimulating, it's not near as much fun as good fiction. So it was with this desire to take a short vacation back to fiction that I picked up Nik Korpon's Old Ghosts. Within the first few pages, I realized something - it was good to be back to fiction.
Old Ghosts is about Cole, a man who is deeply in love with his girlfriend and trying to conceive a child. He works in residentia...more
Old Ghosts is about Cole, a man who is deeply in love with his girlfriend and trying to conceive a child. He works in residentia...more
Nik Korpon’s Old Ghosts is a solid, little crime fiction novella.
The last time Cole crossed Chance Miller, he got shanked in the gut. Since that time, Cole has moved far away to start a new life (and hopefully a new family) with his wife, Amy. He works a steady home construction job with friend and foreman, Paddy, but when Chance shows up in town with his off-kilter sister, Delilah, Cole knows his old, unscrupulous life has returned. Though he doesn’t know what the crime is, Cole knows he’ll be...more
The last time Cole crossed Chance Miller, he got shanked in the gut. Since that time, Cole has moved far away to start a new life (and hopefully a new family) with his wife, Amy. He works a steady home construction job with friend and foreman, Paddy, but when Chance shows up in town with his off-kilter sister, Delilah, Cole knows his old, unscrupulous life has returned. Though he doesn’t know what the crime is, Cole knows he’ll be...more
Cole is trying his best to man up and deal with the things he’s done. He used to run with the wrong crowd back in Boston, doing heavy lifting for his lifelong friend Chance Miller’s not so legit business. It was fun for awhile, especially spending ‘quality time’ with Chance’s beautiful if slightly psychotic sister, Delilah. Then Cole said the wrong thing to the wrong person and took a knife to the gut for his troubles. Not so fun anymore.
Older and trying to be wiser, Cole now lives in Baltimore...more
Older and trying to be wiser, Cole now lives in Baltimore...more
Here's the thing, you can't run with the wrong people, do the wrong things, and then just disappear and start again, all full of love and happiness and possibility. It doesn't work like that, it can't work like that, and thank God for that. And for the Korpon, who writes, sparsely, and effortlessly, doesn't get lost in fantastical flourishes, and is always telling story, always moving forward, and always pushing us to the end, where he finally offers a glimmer of hope and allows us a moment, tho...more
You have to be patient with this little book as it doesn't offer itself to you like Korpon's other novella BY THE NAILS OF THE WARPRIEST. No, this is a lot more clever and bolder. While it doesn't have the seamless flow of his previous work, this is a lot more ambitious and intellectual. OLD GHOSTS is the deconstruction of the noir trope and I gotta say this is very well done. Once again, Korpon's trademark terrific atmospheres are present and the lead character is beautifully tainted with old f...more
Superior novella from Nik Korpon. House designer/builder Cole is quite literally haunted by old running mate Chance & his crazy sister Delilah. From the off you just know this will not end well. Very well written the pages fly by & reminded me occasionally of A History of Violence, which is a good thing.
Thanks to Mr Korpon for putting this on his site as a free PDF download. Will be looking out for his other stuff from now on.
Thanks to Mr Korpon for putting this on his site as a free PDF download. Will be looking out for his other stuff from now on.
This is a really terrific book. The story is about Cole who is trying to start a family with his wife in Baltimore. Until one day his past comes back from Boston to haunt him.
I never knew where this book was going, but once it made it to it's brutal conclusion I was absolutely satisfied. This is a moody neo-noir about loyalty to family and loyalty to friends who grew up as family.
Highly Recommended.
I never knew where this book was going, but once it made it to it's brutal conclusion I was absolutely satisfied. This is a moody neo-noir about loyalty to family and loyalty to friends who grew up as family.
Highly Recommended.
The ghosts are largely metaphorical.
If you liked Korpon's novel Stay God, this quickie is set in its same universe, with that similar gut-punched, copper-tasting voice alive with vivid, bodily descriptions as a young man tries to escape the sordid characters of his past and build a family life. But the past ain't through with him.
If you liked Korpon's novel Stay God, this quickie is set in its same universe, with that similar gut-punched, copper-tasting voice alive with vivid, bodily descriptions as a young man tries to escape the sordid characters of his past and build a family life. But the past ain't through with him.
Part a re-execution of Poe's Cask of Amontillado, part Guy Ritchie movie, all Korpon.
An enthralling thriller of a novella that's the perfect quick weekend read. It's hard to develop characters and an intricate plot in 88 pages, but Nik Korpon mastered it with Old Ghosts.
Oh, hell yes.
Moving immediately to Stay God.
....
And glad I did.
Nik Korpon is a great writer. Period.
Moving immediately to Stay God.
....
And glad I did.
Nik Korpon is a great writer. Period.
Apr 15, 2013
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Oct 06, 2012 02:06am