Order STAY GOD here
(also reviewed)
Order BY THE NAILS OF THE WARPRIEST here
Order OLD GHOSTS here
Order BAR SCARS here
''How do you convince an atheist the Devil is real, and wants to steal your girlfriend?''
One thing I learned doing martial arts is that the big bad wolf never stands out. He doesn't feel the need for validation. Or rather, he doesn't feel validation by being validation, but by sinking his teeth into something. What I mean by that is that somebody's true nature is rarely given away. Nik Korpon's novel STAY GOD is an examination of that tendency to hide one's identity through a constructed casualness. It's also a warped, paranoid mystery about lying in relationships. In fact STAY GOD is several things wrapped into a seamless, cohesive narrative. Not only it's impressive for a novel, but it also was Nik Korpon's first novel. It aslo happens to be pretty good. It's a hidden gem in the contemporary fiction landscape.
Damon owns a second-hand store. He mostly sells CDs and DVDs, but aslo electronics, house appliances and drugs. His girlfriend Mary helps him run the store, but would like to see him move on, do something with his life. Damon is comfortable in this quiet, easy life of his. He has his reasons and won't tell Mary because it would implicate that he had another life and that he's been lying. But living with a negative karma account is not supposed to be quiet and easy and Damon has a big payment to make. The idea of facing his demons without jeopardizing the variables of his new life is wishful thinking, but Damon will give it a shot anyway.
STAY GOD is a novel about identity. How much of the self can you really construct? Nik Korpon though, being both talented and clever, doesn't dwell in long musings or difficult intellectual rants about the self. No, he lets his reader do that. What you can find in STAY GOD is the clash of two lives, that happen to belong to the same person. Two constructions, on collision course. So not only Korpon's novel is making a point the right way, but it also is humble. In the long run, the grand finale may be a little obvious, but Korpon built his character so meticulously, I didn't care a lot for the reasons why his life fell apart. I just cared that it did.
Damon owns a second-hand store. He mostly sells CDs and DVDs, but aslo electronics, house appliances and drugs. His girlfriend Mary helps him run the store, but would like to see him move on, do something with his life. Damon is comfortable in this quiet, easy life of his. He has his reasons and won't tell Mary because it would implicate that he had another life and that he's been lying. But living with a negative karma account is not supposed to be quiet and easy and Damon has a big payment to make. The idea of facing his demons without jeopardizing the variables of his new life is wishful thinking, but Damon will give it a shot anyway.
STAY GOD is a novel about identity. How much of the self can you really construct? Nik Korpon though, being both talented and clever, doesn't dwell in long musings or difficult intellectual rants about the self. No, he lets his reader do that. What you can find in STAY GOD is the clash of two lives, that happen to belong to the same person. Two constructions, on collision course. So not only Korpon's novel is making a point the right way, but it also is humble. In the long run, the grand finale may be a little obvious, but Korpon built his character so meticulously, I didn't care a lot for the reasons why his life fell apart. I just cared that it did.
''Look at Peter Parker and Mary Jane. They love each other and they're not married.''
She said something not English, didn't look up from the page.
''What'd you say ?'' I tried to sound defusing.
''I said. 'Then go fuck Mary Jane.' ''
The intense nature of Nik Korpon's prose had me doubting about how it would come off in a novel. His shorter work is somewhat brilliant, but can also be taxing to read. STAY GOD was a nice surprise in that regards, because Damon's new life is built around pop culture. There are several long, interesting and sometimes funny debates about superheroes, zombie movies and classic films. Not only they pace the novel between the shorter, more poetic segments, but it gives STAY GOD a contemporary lining that makes it come off as unique, yet extremely pertinent. We live in an hypermediatized culture where we are constantly fed the idea we have a menace to fight. Korpon's novel established a perspective between this romanticized vision of having enemies and a more realistic, yet paranoid vision.
I want to slip a word about an underrated aspect of STAY GOD, too. Nik Korpon has a gift to engineer mystery. STAY GOD is relying on things not said, things you don't talk about and Korpon's avoidant dialogues were a pleasure to read. He injected just enough urgency into it to keep your turning the page. I also appreciated the figure of Hobbs, the all-encompassing bad guy. He is a borderline mythic figure in Damon's mind. He sees him as a violent, soulless dealer who wants to move in on his woman. That built Hobbs into being that intangible threat, which really made the paranoia in STAY GOD come together. I'm not sure if he's aware of it, but Korpon has a knack for wrapping up a solid mystery. Not post-LOST Damon Lindelof cheap intrigue. STAY GOD, on top of being a great neo-noir is a real, bona fide mystery novel.
I don't think you can find STAY GOD in bookstores anymore. I heard through the grapevine that it is a temporary situation and that a new, tighter edition should find its way on the shelves pretty soon. Long-form Nik Korpon was an agreeable surprise. He has a genuine, original vision of crime fiction, which is something increasingly more rare in these times. STAY GOD is probably my favorite work of his. It's an atmospheric, paranoid and manic novel about choices and deception. There is something ageless aspect to his form, yet a very contemporary content. I like to think of STAY GOD as Alfred Hitchcock meets Kevin Smith, yet that would be selling it short.
