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Nicholas
Nicholas: A Novel
“A tender and intelligent novel about found family, fragile systems, and the stubborn grace of repair.” — Literary Titan “Eerily dystopian, compelling and compassionate…” — BlueInk Review
For anyone who has ever felt pushed aside, left behind, or passed over, this story is for you.
Nicholas Leonardo is a former government engineer who once worked on legacy systems others have since replaced. Now he lives quietly on a small Maryland farm, tending a greenhouse built from salvaged parts and caring for PHIL—an experimental analog AI shaped as much by memory and patience as by code.
When PHIL intercepts a faint long-wave distress signal from a remote village in Alaska, Nicholas is drawn back into a world he thought had moved on without him. What begins as a simple attempt to help becomes a journey north through winter—across scrapyards, tribal lands, and communities that survive through cooperation, memory, and a quiet refusal to disappear.
As an Arctic storm isolates the village and automated safeguards refuse to restart, Nicholas must rely on the very qualities the modern world has deemed obsolete: repair over replacement, listening over control, and the stubborn belief that staying present matters.
But when a national security system misclassifies the signal and locks onto its source, the mission to restore power becomes something far larger than Nicholas ever intended.
Nicholas is a character-driven techno-thriller about found family, quiet resilience, and the courage to remain when the world suggests you are no longer necessary.
Perfect for readers of Station Eleven, this novel blends high-stakes technology with warmth, memory, and the enduring power of belonging.
“A tender and intelligent novel about found family, fragile systems, and the stubborn grace of repair.” — Literary Titan “Eerily dystopian, compelling and compassionate…” — BlueInk Review
For anyone who has ever felt pushed aside, left behind, or passed over, this story is for you.
Nicholas Leonardo is a former government engineer who once worked on legacy systems others have since replaced. Now he lives quietly on a small Maryland farm, tending a greenhouse built from salvaged parts and caring for PHIL—an experimental analog AI shaped as much by memory and patience as by code.
When PHIL intercepts a faint long-wave distress signal from a remote village in Alaska, Nicholas is drawn back into a world he thought had moved on without him. What begins as a simple attempt to help becomes a journey north through winter—across scrapyards, tribal lands, and communities that survive through cooperation, memory, and a quiet refusal to disappear.
As an Arctic storm isolates the village and automated safeguards refuse to restart, Nicholas must rely on the very qualities the modern world has deemed obsolete: repair over replacement, listening over control, and the stubborn belief that staying present matters.
But when a national security system misclassifies the signal and locks onto its source, the mission to restore power becomes something far larger than Nicholas ever intended.
Nicholas is a character-driven techno-thriller about found family, quiet resilience, and the courage to remain when the world suggests you are no longer necessary.
Perfect for readers of Station Eleven, this novel blends high-stakes technology with warmth, memory, and the enduring power of belonging.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 24, 2025
About the author
Michael Patrick Shaffrey
3 books1 followerMike Shaffrey is an actor and writer living in Hollywood, California. Fight on!
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 17, 2026
A quiet, luminous techno thriller that hums with humanity. Nicholas is not about explosions or spectacle it’s about endurance, memory, and the sacred act of repair. Shaffrey crafts a world that feels eerily close to our own, where obsolete systems and overlooked people still hold the keys to survival.
Nicholas Leonardo is the kind of protagonist rarely celebrated: patient, weathered, and quietly brilliant. His relationship with PHIL an analog AI shaped by care rather than dominance is one of the most tender portrayals of human machine connection I’ve encountered. As the story moves northward into Arctic isolation, the tension rises not just from technological failure, but from the fragility of belonging in a world that prizes replacement over restoration.
Perfect for readers who loved the emotional intelligence of Station Eleven, this novel blends dystopian unease with warmth and moral clarity. It’s a reminder that sometimes the bravest act is simply to remain and to repair what others discard.
Nicholas Leonardo is the kind of protagonist rarely celebrated: patient, weathered, and quietly brilliant. His relationship with PHIL an analog AI shaped by care rather than dominance is one of the most tender portrayals of human machine connection I’ve encountered. As the story moves northward into Arctic isolation, the tension rises not just from technological failure, but from the fragility of belonging in a world that prizes replacement over restoration.
Perfect for readers who loved the emotional intelligence of Station Eleven, this novel blends dystopian unease with warmth and moral clarity. It’s a reminder that sometimes the bravest act is simply to remain and to repair what others discard.
Displaying 1 of 1 review