Till Kingdom Come

Balkan Noir

by Andrej Nikolaidis, Will Firth (translator)

One man's search for his true identity through an investigation of his parent's past which leads him to discover truths about the former Yugoslav secret services. Through his own unique and now recognizable style, Nikolaidis takes us into a world of criminal intrigue and a dissection of our humble human existence. Powerful, rich in philosophy.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2014

About the author

Andrej Nikolaidis was born in 1974 in Sarajevo, to a mixed Montenegrin-Greek family. Until the age of six, he lived in the city of Ulcinj, where he returned in 1992 after the war in Bosnia erupted. Since 1994, he has written for regional independent and liberal media, as well as for cultural magazines. He is considered by many to be one of the most influential intellectuals of the younger generation in the region, known for his anti-war activism and for his promotion of the rights of minorities.

Nikolaidis also publicly defended the victims of police torture, which resulted in his receiving many threats, including a death threat during a live radio appearance. He has often stated that he considers freedom of speech to be the basis of freedom.

He has worked as a columnist in the weekly magazine Monitor and for publications including Vijesti (Montenegro), Dnevnik (Slovenia), Slobodna Bosna (Bosnia-Herzegovina), E-novine (Serbia), and Koha Ditore (Kosovo). Since 2010, he has been employed as an advisor for culture and free society in the parliament of Montenegro.

Reviews

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third volume of the Olcinium Trilogy, the narrator David Hafner is a reporter whose writing specialty is a hybrid of 'investigative journalism, cultural criticism and conspiracy theories'. Similarly to the other narrators in this trilogy Hafner lives in Ulcinj, Montenegro; drinks a lot of whisky; and is prone to digressive rants about Balkan politics and government, humanity, and the state of the world in general. In contrast to the other two books, this one has more of a fully formed mystery, although it is slow to reveal itself and, as is Nikolaidis's wont, never fully arrives at a resolution. Its intricacy lies entwined with Hafner's sudden shifts in time and place and his subsequent efforts to decode these shifts in parallel with an investigation into his own family background. Vague implications made later in the book reflect back on these temporospatial shifts, offering a possible explanation for them. The themes darken in unexpected ways as the plot deepens into an examination of serial killers and violent occult rituals. As in the two earlier books, Nikolaidis creates a metafictional container for his story, this time including photos, emails, and samples of Hafner's reporting, as well as the inclusion of a visit to the offices of the book's London publisher. More complex in its themes and plot than The Son, and perhaps even a bit more so than The Coming, Till Kingdom Come closes out the trilogy on a strong note, showing Nikolaidis's growth as a writer and leaving this reader interested in where he will go next.

[Rainbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moj prvi susret s ovim autorom. Vracat cu mu se svakako!

Ovo je odlican roman, centralna radnja je krimi prica s elementima misticnog.
No mene najvise fasciniraju likovi i autorova promisljanja o vremenu u kojem zivimo, politici :), "covjeku"...
Bas sam maloprije rekla, zao mi je da si neke recenice nisam prepisala :)

Svaka preporuka za ovaj roman.

[Anamarija · Rating 4 out of 5]

nedavno sam za jedan krimic napisala da je 200 stranica predug.
e pa ova je knjiga mi se cini bar sto stranica kraca nego sto bi trebala biti.
Nikolaidis kreira odlicne likove, cinicne taman toliko koliko stvarni svijet zasluzuje!

[Joseph Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

More complex and darker than The Coming and The Son. Link to review:
https://roughghosts.com/2015/08/24/ti...

[Tonymess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening a new Andrej Nikolaidis is always a journey, if you’ve read any of his earlier works you have no doubt as to the onslaught of political thought, the rejection of mainstream thinking, the rants inserted into the plot and then an enjoyable addendum (of some sort).

“Till Kingdom Come” is being talked of as the final work in a loose trilogy (referred to as “The Dark Generation” in Nikolaidis’ home country of Montenegro), the first two works “The Son” and “The Coming” both translated by Will Firth, both previously reviewed here and both available through Istros Books.

In a recent interview, translator Will Firth said the work was “fun to translate – I don’t get to say that very often – and should be stimulating for readers who enjoy black wit coupled with keen insights.” Our first two works contained “soundtracks” at the conclusion with suggested songs to listen to for each chapter, and I must admit I was looking forward to another “soundtrack” where the “Sex Pistols” are aligned with some obscure youth uprising or something similar, however I was to be disappointed, our latest one does not have suggested tunes, however it does contain photos for our author’s mobile phone!!!

As per our first two instalments, our novel is set in Ulcinj in Montenegro, this time it has been raining for six months and the fortifications, and ancient escape tunnels, as well as every house and inhabitant have been inundated with water. A nice adjunct to the dry humour:

Radovan came from some God-forsaken place in the Krajina borderlands. He claimed he was a close relative of a well-known Bosnian Serb folk-singer. Having a nationalist bard like that in the family opened many doors for him here. That’s the kind of time it was. Montenegrin etho-fascism was comparable with the German variety in terms of its intensity. Its relative lack of coherence and effectiveness at killing can be put down to Montenegrins’ legendary laziness and incompetence in organization.

Our plot here is a little off kilter; we have a first person narrator, a journalist who has left the media to become a speech writer for the head of the police department. Finding out suddenly from a stray relative (his Great Uncle Tripko, his grandmother’s brother), that his actual grandmother is not at all related and having been brought up by this woman (he’d been told his mother and father had died) he goes on a journey to search for his real mother his real identity.

For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/20...

[Chelsea Mcgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange things are happening to our narrator, a local newspaper reporter living in the seaside town of Ulcinj, Montenegro – an ancient seaport notorious for being the pirate capital of the Adriatic Sea for centuries. First, after a long drinking session with his friends (including his love interest Maria), he wakes up as a teenage boy in Sarajevo, where he as never been before, walking drunk through the city in the middle of the night; this “episode” continues until the following morning, when he suddenly realizes that he is standing on the balcony of his house in Ulcinj.

Then, when his life is already falling apart because of these “episodes” (which take him into a different place or person every time), he is summoned to the capital by a high-ranking government official, who wants him to quit his job writing conspiracy theories for the newspaper and work for him.

Then, a man appears in his house claiming to be his great-uncle – but, at the same time, stating that the narrator’s grandmother, who raised him, wasn’t actually a blood relative. After the demise of this claimed relative, the narrator begins to search for the truth of his own origins. Or would, if the “episodes” and his own innate apathy didn’t get in the way.

Read the rest of my review here: http://shinynewbooks.co.uk/fiction-is...

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that accompanied my trip to Montenegro. I didn't go to Podgorica, but I did stay in Ulcinj (where part of the book is set) and the book's descriptions rang so true!
Now what we called the Central Canal is an interesting thing: it had not actually been dug for the passage of water. The people of Ulcinj originally made that tunnel because of a different enemy - one of flesh and blood. It led from the old fortress by the shore to half a kilometre inland, all the way from today's promenade, where you find one boutique after another with second-rate Italian wares and jewellers peddling trinkets from Turkey.
And:
I decided to go for a walk through the Ulcinj olive groves where Goran and I used to go and hide from the unbearable crowds that gathered in the town in the summertime, in the tourist season.
The perception of Montenegro and Montenegrins is not so complimentary, but it's very funny. I felt that the misadventures of this journalist turned speechwriter would have made a fine tale, but unfortunately the book descends into a weird conspiracy theory/international mystery tour/dream diary and loses all coherence. However I did love the uniquely Montenegrin parts of the book and it was very witty.

[Jai Lau · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer goes to lengths to create an interesting main character and what was at least, an interesting plot. A biting, political journalist with a tendency of blacking out, finds himself brought to the attention of Montenegro's ministry of the interior. Suddenly, he has gone from criticising the establishment to being mouthpiece. So far, so good. Throw in an eccentric brand of suicidal, heavily-intoxicated drifters as his friends and we are turning pages, looking forward to seeing where this is all going. Then, stop. Ridiculous plot development involving false parentage, cover-ups and international assassination kills the book dead. There is some good writing here but Nikolaidis is probably not going to be put in charge of Montenegro's tourism endeavours. The city of Podgorica does not come across well...

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

U posljednje vrijeme nisam imala prilike pročitati roman koji je u meni izazvao tako oprečna mišljenja poput Devet. Usuđujem se reći da imam pozitivniji dojam o samom autoru nego o romanu.

Nikolaidis je očigledno erudit, čovjek koji zna pisati i koji može kreirati intrigantne likove. No Devet, nažalost, pati od nedostatka identiteta. Riječ je o većim dijelom suvremenom romanu koji prikazuje nadrealnu zbilju s naših prostora s krimi/okultnim (pod)zapletom. I upravo mi je taj (pod)zaplet naslabija točka ovog romana. Da je bio prominentnije zastupljen, bio bi uvjerljiviji, te bi propelirao Devet u domenu punokrvnog kriminalističkog romana. Ovako imam impresiju da je "istraga" dodana samo da bi se opravdala oznaka "Balkan Noir".

Bilo kako bilo, tri zvjezdice su više zbog Nikolaidisova stila i vještine, nego zbog samog romana.

[Rasmiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the plot of the novel very confusing, with many ends left loose, and not necessarily on purpose. I really liked the beginning, but started loosing the interest in the story towards the end, when it seemed to me that too many things were thrown into it with insufficient effort to make the sense of all of them as pieces belonging to the same puzzle.

Having said that, I absolutely loved the style of narration of the author, who philosophises using smart sarcasm, and does not shy away to do so with sensitive topics. The quality of writing also reveals a very intelligent and a well-read individual. This style of narration is just my cup of tea! And for this reason I would be interested to read another novel by this author.

[Mandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t get on with this one at all. Delighted as I was to discover a book by a Montenegrin author and read a novel from that troubled (and often confusing) part of the world, quite simply I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. I read what it is meant to be about but I still couldn't follow it, and after a while I gave up trying. I don’t mind investing time or effort in a book if the pay-off is worth it, but on this occasion I didn’t think it was. Too clever for its own good, in my opinion, and I prefer to actually enjoy what I’m reading.

[Marcie Wegner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the entire book, but it took me forever to finish it. The writing was ok, but I felt that story never went anywhere. I could never find the purpose for the story, and I didn't find it entertaining.

[Croatian Book Girl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Evo samo edna zvjezdica, čisto jer je počelo biti zanimljivo na zadnjih 5stranica knjige.
Tokom cijele knjige, glavni lik (a vjerovatno je glavni lik alter ego ovog autora) filozofira pod utjecajem alkohola. A svi znamo kakve su filozofije pod utjecajem aklohola. Nikakve. Neshvatljive za ostale, a shvatljive jedino za osobu koja je svakodnevno alkoholizirana i kao takva traži životni smisao. Od svih riječi koje sam pročitala u ovoj knjizi, riječ "alkohol" u raznoraznim izvedenim oblicima kao "pijan, supijan" te imena nekih pića, se spominju najviše.
Nikad nisam mislila da ću ovako nešto izreći za jednu knjigu ali : BAŠ MI JE DRAGO DA SAM JE KONAČNO ZAVRŠILA,JER SAM JE TEŠKOM MUKOM ČITALA. Netko labilniji bi poslije ove knjige vjerovatno uzeo tone i tone alkohola i raznoraznih opijata i sam. Ovo je knjiga bez smisla. Iako je bez smisla, ja nijednu knjigu nisam ostavila na pola, pročitala sam je, a ne dao mi Bog više ovakvih knjiga.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein Reporter findet durch Zufall heraus, dass sein Leben eine einzige Lüge war: die Bilder im Familienalbum sind gefälscht und die Frau, die er als seine Großmutter kannte, ist nicht mit ihm verwandt. Der junge Mann macht sich auf die Suche nach seiner wahren Vergangenheit und geht bei diesen Recherchen so gründlich wie nie zuvor vor.

Wie soll man sich verhalten, wenn alles, an das man geglaubt hat, eine Lüge war? Unser Protagonist durchläuft die verschiedensten Gefühle: Ungläubigkeit, Wut, Neugier und viel Resignation. Auf der Suche nach seiner Vergangenheit benimmt er sich oft wie der berühmte Elefant im Porzellanladen und prescht auf sein Ziel los. Dabei habe ich den Eindruck, als ob er sich aber nicht nähert, sondern immer weiter von der Wahrheit entfernt.

Der Roman hat alles, was gutes Buch ausmacht: einen vielversprechenden Plot, interessante Charaktere und einen stimmungsvoll beschriebenen Handlungsort. Trotzdem hat etwas gefehlt, damit mir das Buch wirklich gefallen hat.

[Johan D'Haenen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laatste deel van de Olcinium trilogie die zich afspeelt in Montenegro. Tijdens het lezen moest ik ineens denken aan de knotsgekke film "Black cat, white cat".
Andrej Nikolaidis windt er geen doekjes om dat de Baltische staten een apart "zootje ongeregeld" is.
Het hoofdpersonage van de trilogie gaat hier op zoek naar zijn verleden waarvan blijkt dat het helemaal niet is wat hij zich ervan voorstelde.
Net zoals in de vorige delen van de trilogie is er ook nu weer een flinke dosis wijsheid en filosofie die het verhaal opsmukken en inhoud geven.

[Tamara Vojnovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Što kada saznaš da si dijete tajne službe, kada ti cijeli tvoj život bude laž. To se dogodilo Davidu, i onda je tražio, putovao, sanjao, doživljavao deja vu i u isto vrijeme se suočavao sa zamaskiranim kriminalom. Onaj tko me zna, zna zašto loša ocjena. Ipak preko nekih stvari ne mogu preći.

[Vesko Jovović]

3.5/5

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really tied together the trilogy and made me appreciate the first two more. The unexpected dry dark humor and play on memory and reality made the read easy to enjoy.