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Nicholas Boyd #1
Nikolai
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
170 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 29, 2012
A Bucketful of Blah
Reader advisory: Contains very vividly described m/F sex. Also a tiny spoonful of puppy play if that squicks you out.
I didn't enjoy the book because a) it was too wishy-washy and b) I was thinking all the way through about how much it would annoy Isa K.
The premise itself is very interesting and scarily believable: in a not-so-distant future the US has split up into four separate countries. Nick lives in the Confederacy, which interprets the Christian bible literally (the Song of Songs is of course expurgated from the version given to single girls). It is illegal for women to go to school and homosexuality is punishable by death.
Nick is a small-time hoodlum, and, like the blub says, James Ligatos decides to turn him into a deadly weapon. This involves endenturing Nick and having his assistants (3 x m, 1 x f) train him in languages, maths, literature, cooking, martial arts, weaponry, and sex (these last two are the same thing). So far, so good.
My problem is that none of the promise of the setup is carried through. When Nick first arrives at James's apartment he sees the bed is set up for bondage. James says "I only chain those to my bed who wish to be there.” So, duh, Checkov's pistol, I thought maybe later we'd get Nick chained to the bed, but this never happens. Nick does get . Nick is in fact lusting after James the first night he's moved in, and begging to suck him off the second (he means it too, its not dissembling). James is a switch and tender and sexually considerate with Nick a lot of the time, so if you're into the whole uber-Dom sexual servitude then this will be very disappointing.
The blurb says "the little killer-turned-file-clerk is much more than Ligatos and his staff bargained for" but this is clearly not true: James knows every step of the way what Nick is going to do, anticipates him and plans for it.
Nick is being trained to use sex as a weapon, but this means there is no possibility of developing a real emotional relationship between the MCs. There's no intensity. It ends up like a nifty story. Nick loves everyone and loves having sex with everyone. And it is pretty much everyone. The pairings go;
M1 + m1
m1 + m2
M1 + m2
m1 + m2 + M1
m1 + F1
M1 + M2 + F1
m1 + F1
m2 + M2
M3 + m1
M2 + F1
plus assorted random secondary characters.
It would have been better if Nick, who falls in love with James, felt revulsion at having to sexually service every other person he encounters, but he feels only happiness and lust. Or have Nick hate and resent James, fall in love with Val, and then be heartbroken when he realises Val is just using a willing and available hole.
Another big problem is that Sparrow tends to gloss over important episodes. James gives Nick to a Domme to spend a week as a puppy and learn to enjoy sexual pain. We get one long cunnilingus scene, and the statement:
"[James] watched [on the security tapes] her bring [Nick] to tears with nothing but her hands and their sharp nails. He especially enjoyed watching the three days when Nick’s face was clear of tears only during his lessons with David and Val".
That's just not good enough. You can't just say that and then have the Domme bring Nick back to James, loop his lead over a hook and say "There, he's all done."
Similarly, at one point James sends Nick to prison for punishment. He visits Nick, who is in a bloodstained uniform, and asks:
"how many have had you, boy?"
“I lost count, sir. More than thirty the first night. More since.”
And that's the end of that.
I mean, if you're gonna make it dark, make it dark! If you're gonna make it psychological, make it psychological! If you're gonna make it Machiavellian, then make it Machiavellian! Have Nick not realise he is nothing but a tool until the very end. Have him think his Sir wants him for his very own, and then feel betrayed when that's not true, but do what James wants because that will please him. Or not! Have him disobey.
At the same time, if you wanted a nice little tender mild slavery story where everyone is a happy little slave, you will probably be horrified by the end of the book, when sex-weapon Nick is unleashed upon an unsuspecting victim. I thought this was the one redeeming feature of the book, but if you like sweet you will truly HATE this.
This story can't decide which way to go. I think it's trying to be all shocking with its rimming and menages and feeding from the hand, but it just isn't. It's blah.
Reader advisory: Contains very vividly described m/F sex. Also a tiny spoonful of puppy play if that squicks you out.
I didn't enjoy the book because a) it was too wishy-washy and b) I was thinking all the way through about how much it would annoy Isa K.
The premise itself is very interesting and scarily believable: in a not-so-distant future the US has split up into four separate countries. Nick lives in the Confederacy, which interprets the Christian bible literally (the Song of Songs is of course expurgated from the version given to single girls). It is illegal for women to go to school and homosexuality is punishable by death.
Nick is a small-time hoodlum, and, like the blub says, James Ligatos decides to turn him into a deadly weapon. This involves endenturing Nick and having his assistants (3 x m, 1 x f) train him in languages, maths, literature, cooking, martial arts, weaponry, and sex (these last two are the same thing). So far, so good.
My problem is that none of the promise of the setup is carried through. When Nick first arrives at James's apartment he sees the bed is set up for bondage. James says "I only chain those to my bed who wish to be there.” So, duh, Checkov's pistol, I thought maybe later we'd get Nick chained to the bed, but this never happens. Nick does get . Nick is in fact lusting after James the first night he's moved in, and begging to suck him off the second (he means it too, its not dissembling). James is a switch and tender and sexually considerate with Nick a lot of the time, so if you're into the whole uber-Dom sexual servitude then this will be very disappointing.
The blurb says "the little killer-turned-file-clerk is much more than Ligatos and his staff bargained for" but this is clearly not true: James knows every step of the way what Nick is going to do, anticipates him and plans for it.
Nick is being trained to use sex as a weapon, but this means there is no possibility of developing a real emotional relationship between the MCs. There's no intensity. It ends up like a nifty story. Nick loves everyone and loves having sex with everyone. And it is pretty much everyone. The pairings go;
M1 + m1
m1 + m2
M1 + m2
m1 + m2 + M1
m1 + F1
M1 + M2 + F1
m1 + F1
m2 + M2
M3 + m1
M2 + F1
plus assorted random secondary characters.
It would have been better if Nick, who falls in love with James, felt revulsion at having to sexually service every other person he encounters, but he feels only happiness and lust. Or have Nick hate and resent James, fall in love with Val, and then be heartbroken when he realises Val is just using a willing and available hole.
Another big problem is that Sparrow tends to gloss over important episodes. James gives Nick to a Domme to spend a week as a puppy and learn to enjoy sexual pain. We get one long cunnilingus scene, and the statement:
"[James] watched [on the security tapes] her bring [Nick] to tears with nothing but her hands and their sharp nails. He especially enjoyed watching the three days when Nick’s face was clear of tears only during his lessons with David and Val".
That's just not good enough. You can't just say that and then have the Domme bring Nick back to James, loop his lead over a hook and say "There, he's all done."
Similarly, at one point James sends Nick to prison for punishment. He visits Nick, who is in a bloodstained uniform, and asks:
"how many have had you, boy?"
“I lost count, sir. More than thirty the first night. More since.”
And that's the end of that.
I mean, if you're gonna make it dark, make it dark! If you're gonna make it psychological, make it psychological! If you're gonna make it Machiavellian, then make it Machiavellian! Have Nick not realise he is nothing but a tool until the very end. Have him think his Sir wants him for his very own, and then feel betrayed when that's not true, but do what James wants because that will please him. Or not! Have him disobey.
At the same time, if you wanted a nice little tender mild slavery story where everyone is a happy little slave, you will probably be horrified by the end of the book, when sex-weapon Nick is unleashed upon an unsuspecting victim. I thought this was the one redeeming feature of the book, but if you like sweet you will truly HATE this.
This story can't decide which way to go. I think it's trying to be all shocking with its rimming and menages and feeding from the hand, but it just isn't. It's blah.
November 26, 2011
What to expect from NIKOLAI :
Chronology-- set in the FUTURE
Romance pairing (s) MM, MF secondary
Supernatural content-- NO
Kink levels -- Very high. The future Confederate States of America condones debt slavery, and in the secret circles of the planetary ruling councils, BDSM relationships go hand in hand with leadership skills. the shattered map of North America contains many realms with vastly different ethics and morals.
Suspense levels -- High. In the shifting maps of power, life is cheap and the gap between rich and poor can mean actual starvation or profligate extravagance. Angelia Sparrow's hero is an amoral gang leader who catches the eye of one of CSA's most powerful men. Can he be tamed or trained to his greatest potential by love?
Chronology-- set in the FUTURE
Romance pairing (s) MM, MF secondary
Supernatural content-- NO
Kink levels -- Very high. The future Confederate States of America condones debt slavery, and in the secret circles of the planetary ruling councils, BDSM relationships go hand in hand with leadership skills. the shattered map of North America contains many realms with vastly different ethics and morals.
Suspense levels -- High. In the shifting maps of power, life is cheap and the gap between rich and poor can mean actual starvation or profligate extravagance. Angelia Sparrow's hero is an amoral gang leader who catches the eye of one of CSA's most powerful men. Can he be tamed or trained to his greatest potential by love?
September 30, 2018
A plethora of good tension and better sex.
This author kicks names and takes ass with style!
I generally do not seek out or enjoy books with m/f scenes in them, but in this book, she just kinda snuck it in, and I didn't mind one bit.
This story is told mostly from the pov of Nicholas and set in a dystopic United States where all the rednecks have done what they've been threatening to do for centuries and gtfo and started their own countries.
I do wish it went into more world building. It possibly does, in the sequel, but I might never know b/c I can't find the darn thing. Even to buy. So frustrating.
But this book is available on KU, and I highly recommend it of you like your kink with a side of political espionage sprinkled with random Italian language lessons.
This author kicks names and takes ass with style!
I generally do not seek out or enjoy books with m/f scenes in them, but in this book, she just kinda snuck it in, and I didn't mind one bit.
This story is told mostly from the pov of Nicholas and set in a dystopic United States where all the rednecks have done what they've been threatening to do for centuries and gtfo and started their own countries.
I do wish it went into more world building. It possibly does, in the sequel, but I might never know b/c I can't find the darn thing. Even to buy. So frustrating.
But this book is available on KU, and I highly recommend it of you like your kink with a side of political espionage sprinkled with random Italian language lessons.
October 5, 2018
This author kicks names and takes ass with style!
I generally do not seek out nor enjoy books with m/f scenes in them, but in this book, she just kinda snuck it in, and I didn't mind one bit.
This story is told mostly from the pov of Nicholas and set in a dystopic United States where all the rednecks have done what they've been threatening to do for centuries and gtfo and started their own countries.
I do wish it went into more world building. It possibly does, in the sequel, but I might never know b/c I can't find the darn thing. Even to buy. So frustrating.
But this book is available on KU, and I highly recommend it of you like your kink with a side of political espionage, sprinkled with random Italian language lessons.
I generally do not seek out nor enjoy books with m/f scenes in them, but in this book, she just kinda snuck it in, and I didn't mind one bit.
This story is told mostly from the pov of Nicholas and set in a dystopic United States where all the rednecks have done what they've been threatening to do for centuries and gtfo and started their own countries.
I do wish it went into more world building. It possibly does, in the sequel, but I might never know b/c I can't find the darn thing. Even to buy. So frustrating.
But this book is available on KU, and I highly recommend it of you like your kink with a side of political espionage, sprinkled with random Italian language lessons.
Read
April 14, 2009In a post apocaliptic world, the United States of America don't exist no more and turmoils and revolutions are common between the secessionists states. A wealthy man, James Ligatos, leads a group of men who move among the laws and whose methods not always are legal. He traines these men picking them among the most skilled young delinquents. His last "victim" is Nicholas, also known as Nikolai, a thief.
To Nikolai is proposed a contract: he will submit to Ligatos for everything, even for sex, and in exchange, he will have a tuition and a chance to be a man of power in seven years. All seems perfect: Nicholas has plenty of food, new clothes, lessons of math and english and italian (how I like that the foreign language he learns is Italian) and also pleasent sex. But with all of this arrives also a form of discipline he hates, and he plans revenge against Ligatos. Not a good choice.
Nikolai is a very strong and crude tale, for sure not for tender hearts. It's not a love story, even if Nicholas arrives to depend in body and soul to his Sir. It's more a need to have someone to rely, to finally have a home and a family, as strange it can be. James can have a soft spot for Nicholas, but as I have read him, faces to the choice to sacrifice the boy for the "mission", I think he will kill him, or order to someone else to do it. Both Nicholas than James are not cruel men, they know they are doing horrible things, but still they will do it again and again, they are trained to do that, and the training is so deep that neither their consciosness could break it.
Part of the training is also the sex. But the sex you will read in this novel is not the arousing genre. It is a way to learn something, a way to pet a puppy for doing a right thing, a way to gain something, a way to stress out. Sex in this novel is like a safe blanket, like a teddy bear for a child: it is a way to give comfort and to believe you are still alive.
Nikolai is not a simple book. Even now, when I write about it, I still have to think a lot to find a way to describe the feelings it left in me. Probably, I should have to hate James. But also Nikolai is not a saint, and he made things, before, during and after his training, that decipt him like a very difficult character to love. Still I feel not hate nor for James or for Nicholas. It seems like all what they are doing has a meaning, and all their actions are righ. Angelia Sparrow decipts them in a way that makes you feel for them, but still my consciousness say "how can you do that? it is not right, you know that what they are doing is not right".
Nikolai is not a novel for people who search for good feelings and romance. It is not a novel for those who sees the world in black and white. But if you are able to see the shades of life between, that there is not always stark right and wrong, but half-truths between them, you should read Nikolai, and give me your own opinion.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/22...
To Nikolai is proposed a contract: he will submit to Ligatos for everything, even for sex, and in exchange, he will have a tuition and a chance to be a man of power in seven years. All seems perfect: Nicholas has plenty of food, new clothes, lessons of math and english and italian (how I like that the foreign language he learns is Italian) and also pleasent sex. But with all of this arrives also a form of discipline he hates, and he plans revenge against Ligatos. Not a good choice.
Nikolai is a very strong and crude tale, for sure not for tender hearts. It's not a love story, even if Nicholas arrives to depend in body and soul to his Sir. It's more a need to have someone to rely, to finally have a home and a family, as strange it can be. James can have a soft spot for Nicholas, but as I have read him, faces to the choice to sacrifice the boy for the "mission", I think he will kill him, or order to someone else to do it. Both Nicholas than James are not cruel men, they know they are doing horrible things, but still they will do it again and again, they are trained to do that, and the training is so deep that neither their consciosness could break it.
Part of the training is also the sex. But the sex you will read in this novel is not the arousing genre. It is a way to learn something, a way to pet a puppy for doing a right thing, a way to gain something, a way to stress out. Sex in this novel is like a safe blanket, like a teddy bear for a child: it is a way to give comfort and to believe you are still alive.
Nikolai is not a simple book. Even now, when I write about it, I still have to think a lot to find a way to describe the feelings it left in me. Probably, I should have to hate James. But also Nikolai is not a saint, and he made things, before, during and after his training, that decipt him like a very difficult character to love. Still I feel not hate nor for James or for Nicholas. It seems like all what they are doing has a meaning, and all their actions are righ. Angelia Sparrow decipts them in a way that makes you feel for them, but still my consciousness say "how can you do that? it is not right, you know that what they are doing is not right".
Nikolai is not a novel for people who search for good feelings and romance. It is not a novel for those who sees the world in black and white. But if you are able to see the shades of life between, that there is not always stark right and wrong, but half-truths between them, you should read Nikolai, and give me your own opinion.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/22...
October 25, 2012
I'm not really sure how to rate or review this book. At certain points it is definitely brutal and harsh but never really to an uncomfortable extreme. At other points it has an almost sweet undertone and you can see beautiful relationships developing. The characters are not nice people - they are brutal and vicious and show no morals nor remorse - but somehow I couldn't help warming to them. Above all, I enjoyed the story and kept wanting to turn the pages so this is what I rated the book on. I am so intrigued I am moving straight on to the second book which is something I rarely do.
As a side note for my mm loving friends, this book does have mf and mmf sex scenes but they are incredibly short and infrequent.
As a side note for my mm loving friends, this book does have mf and mmf sex scenes but they are incredibly short and infrequent.
February 22, 2015
This was really an incredible ride. Harsh and brutal but with affection (I think) as well. I'd really like to read book 2 if I could only find it! :)
October 2, 2013
I downloaded this novel thinking I was going to get a M/M fantasy (must have been the name of the series, "The Eight Thrones Cycle") but what landed in my Kindle was something entirely different.
Set in a not too far future, where Earth has fallen victim of all the problems it currently sports -wars, economic breakdowns, religious fanaticism, corruption, etc.- it is the story of how James Ligatos, a mysterious, powerful figure, rescues a young petty criminal from the street to make him his pupil.
Beware though, there is nothing comforting in this story.
In what I believe to be the first episode of a series, circumstances are not entirely clear, but Ligatos, handsome and charming as he is, is ruthless. He does not take Nick from the street out of goodness but to make him a trained member of his shadowy organization after having framed him. His intent is to break the boy to make a tool out of him and we are not allowed to think he does that for a superiour good.
An orgy of punishments and sexual abuses, described in both psychological and physical detail, is unleashed on the unsuspecting reader, woven in the plot.
On the other hand we are not allowed to root for Nick as he is far from spotless: he is actually a thief and a cold-blooded killer and he was that before meeting Ligatos.
This is possibly the worst: there is no good guy in this novel, all characters are tainted if not outright evil. Manipulation is rampant and despicable. It is not possible to identify with any of them. This, together with the explicit BDSM and graphic sex makes this read unfit for any sensitive reader.
What kept me reading is the sheer quality of the book. I usually do not care for BDSM and I need to identify with at least one character but plot was tight and consistent, writing very good (strangely enough there are a couple of exceptions, as if the editor had missed some paragraphs), characterization sharp as a blade. My only doubt is about Nick being said to be 21 when his maturity is more that of a teenager.
On a side note, as an Italian man who loves his own language, I was amused to see that the author chose my language as part of Nick's instruction as if in her fictional world it were useful for diplomats to speak it.
This is a heart-chilling read for a mature audience.
Set in a not too far future, where Earth has fallen victim of all the problems it currently sports -wars, economic breakdowns, religious fanaticism, corruption, etc.- it is the story of how James Ligatos, a mysterious, powerful figure, rescues a young petty criminal from the street to make him his pupil.
Beware though, there is nothing comforting in this story.
In what I believe to be the first episode of a series, circumstances are not entirely clear, but Ligatos, handsome and charming as he is, is ruthless. He does not take Nick from the street out of goodness but to make him a trained member of his shadowy organization after having framed him. His intent is to break the boy to make a tool out of him and we are not allowed to think he does that for a superiour good.
An orgy of punishments and sexual abuses, described in both psychological and physical detail, is unleashed on the unsuspecting reader, woven in the plot.
On the other hand we are not allowed to root for Nick as he is far from spotless: he is actually a thief and a cold-blooded killer and he was that before meeting Ligatos.
This is possibly the worst: there is no good guy in this novel, all characters are tainted if not outright evil. Manipulation is rampant and despicable. It is not possible to identify with any of them. This, together with the explicit BDSM and graphic sex makes this read unfit for any sensitive reader.
What kept me reading is the sheer quality of the book. I usually do not care for BDSM and I need to identify with at least one character but plot was tight and consistent, writing very good (strangely enough there are a couple of exceptions, as if the editor had missed some paragraphs), characterization sharp as a blade. My only doubt is about Nick being said to be 21 when his maturity is more that of a teenager.
On a side note, as an Italian man who loves his own language, I was amused to see that the author chose my language as part of Nick's instruction as if in her fictional world it were useful for diplomats to speak it.
This is a heart-chilling read for a mature audience.
October 24, 2016
I liked it enough that I looked into the next book. This seems to be a series which isn't going anywhere I want to be. For that reason, I'm done.
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