Nicked

Reviews

A Most-Anticipated Book from Los Angeles Times, Polygon, Parade, and Town & Country

"[An] uproarious saga . . . drawing on contemporary accounts, fantastical folk tales, and [Anderson's] own knack for high jinks."—New York Times Book Review

"[A] rollicking comic novel."
—NPR

"M. T. Anderson is one of our greatest and most precious voices. His books aren't just brilliantly witty and vastly entertaining, they're fixed stars of wisdom and sanity in our increasingly unhinged universe. When lost, I use them to steer by."
—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians Trilogy

"This book is terrific! A historical adventure story about a pure-hearted monk who falls in with pirates and thieves to steal the remains of St. Nicholas. Very poetic, surprisingly romantic, funny. I just really loved it."
—Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl

"If there’s one thing about M.T. Anderson, it’s that he’s going to write a book with a plot that’s as delightful and captivating as it is downright strange. His adult debut Nicked is no exception . . . . What follows is a heist that is complex and action packed enough to make even the likes of Steven Soderbergh jealous."
—Polygon

"Anderson is a once-in-a-generation perfect storm of wit, ethical zing, and sheer linguistic power."
—George Saunders, author of Liberation Day and Lincoln in the Bardo

"[Nicked] positively thrums with excitement . . . . There’s something of The Princess Bride in Anderson’s simultaneous undercutting and celebration of adventure fiction . . . a fine summer frolic that wears its themes lightly and should win Anderson many new readers."
—Boston Globe

"The 11th century queer romantic adventure you didn’t know you were looking for."
—Los Angeles Times

"Wish The Road to Eldorado was canonically gay? Read Nicked . . . . Think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, with its dry wit and profound existential themes, all centered around two characters trying to grasp something ineffable and grabbing hold of only each other."
—Bookriot

"Witty and deeply affecting, a pointed send-up of power, theology, ownership, and the divine, all executed with masterful flair."
—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt and Cuckoo

"An epic adventure on land and sea, enjoyable not just for the Byzantine strategies and sabotage, but also because of the unpredictable pairing of passive Nicephorus with the aggressive and worldly Tyun . . . . Reminiscent of Indiana Jones and The Princess Bride, Nicked delivers an entertaining and grown-up adventure rooted in religion, humanity and friendship."
—Bookpage

"Miracles, marvels, saints, sinners, love, plague, and treachery! M. T. Anderson has laid out a medieval feast of a novel, stuffed with everything I could have wished for. If I could canonize him for it, I would. But I’ll settle for shouting about how much I love this book."
—Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love

"A miracle worker, M. T. Anderson has exhumed the bones of holy legend and startled them to life. Nicked is a far-fetched caper based on the actual heist of the corpse of Saint Nicholas. At once blessedly comic and acerbic, Anderson’s confession of devotion to the unresolvable mysteries of faith and love had me laughing out loud and tearing up—nearly simultaneously."
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Elphie

"[A] rich combination of action, adventure, history and fantasy . . . [and a] precise yet irreverent approach to historical fiction."
—WBUR

"M.T. Anderson is simply one of the best writers working today in any genre."
—Parade

"A deeply entertaining work of historical fiction—and we can never resist a good heist story."
—Town & Country

"Enthralling . . . in a novel this funny, it would be all too easy to let an omniscient, present-day narrator earn laughs at the expense of its characters’ outdated beliefs, but Anderson instead approaches the medieval with curiosity and compassion . . . . An always entertaining and unexpectedly poignant adventure as rare and gleaming as a reliquary."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"[A] rollicking tale . . . Anderson stocks the exhilarating narrative with sea battles, comely spies, duels, and double crosses, and succeeds at transporting the reader back to 11th-century Italy and Byzantium. Readers will be swept up in this marvelous adventure."
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

"The cleverness of this page-turner begins with its title . . . NBA-winning author M.T. Anderson's humorous, suspenseful adult debut, inspired by an actual 11th-century heist of St. Nicholas's remains, deftly demonstrates the circularity of human history."
—Shelf Awareness

"Nicked has a revelatory quality, yet Anderson remains grounded in the physical world of the quest and its consequences in the lives of the characters . . . Perhaps we need more such quests for the holy in the ordinary that help us see the other face to face. Nicked is a gift for any time of the year. Come and feast."
—The Living Church Expand reviews