Doubting Nikki

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

Doubting Nikki is inspired by family lore that claims we are related  to the stigmata St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903). In the novel, the fictional character St. Caterina replaces the historical St. Gemma. 

The book was also shaped by the author’s time spent at Oxford with Walter Hooper, C.S. Lewis's former secretary. Hooper personally showed the author around the old haunts of Lewis and his good friend J.R.R. Tolkien, deepening the novelist’s appreciation for the works of both men,  heavily influencing the underlying themes of Doubting Nikki.