Doubting Nikki

BELIEVING OR NOT BELIEVING DOESN'T CHANGE THE TRUTH

When Cami's grandmother entrusts him with a sacred secret, he is sure it is nothing more than the delusion of a dying woman. But when a skiing accident puts his wife Nikki in a coma, that secret becomes his only hope of saving her.

What Cami does next soon gets the young couple caught in a media firestorm stoked by a national tabloid, two controversial religious figures, an unscrupulous Hollywood producer and a string of inexplicable medical "miracles".

Lurking unseen, a radicalized ex-con and self-anointed Christian soldier vows to exact his revenge for "sins" Cami and Nikki weren't even aware they had committed, transgressions that eventually get Cami killed. Or so it would seem.

Only a questionable leap of faith or a deeper dive into delusion offers any hope of salvation for Nikki, now in doubt of everything, even life and death.

BEHIND THE BOOK

The idea for Doubting Nikki comes from family lore that says we are related to St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), a stigmata who displayed the wounds of Christ on the cross.

Replacing St. Gemma with the fictitious St. Caterina, the stigmata narrative plays an integral role in the novel.

Another inspiration was a chance encounter with Walter Hooper (1931-2020), writer, editor and personal secretary for C.S. Lewis.

While a student at the St. Ignatius Institute within the University of San Francisco, I got the chance to study abroad at Oxford. The very first night I went to visit The Eagle and Child pub, where Lewis and good friend J.R.R. Tolkien used to hang out with the Inklings literary club, I met Mr. Hooper.

In the days that followed, he introduced me to the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society and showed me around Magdalen College, Merton College and other old haunts of Lewis and Tolkien.

Already a big fan of Lewis and Tolkien when I first met Walter Hooper, the time spent with him cemented my love of the works of both men. Lewis's books like Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, Surprised by Joy and Miracles helped inspire underlying themes within Doubting Nikki.