Nic Nelson And The Diamonds Of Denmark

Nic Nelson and The Diamonds of Denmark is the story of a ten-year old boy whose tranquil world is suddenly shattered with the apparent accidental death of his father. Months later, Nic and his Mom find themselves in a new town with new challenges for Nic to face. At first, Nic is ignored by his classmates and hounded by the school bully when, by chance, he is befriended by a well meaning but goofy kid named Kevin Becker whose middle name is trouble. Through Kevin, Nic is accepted into a group of kids at school: Herbert Howell III, Cindy Lin, Dante Brown, and Philip Browning. The action heats up when Nic and his new found two mysterious strangers upon the completion of raking a neighbor’s yard confront friends. The men ask them strange questions concerning a suitcase and then abruptly disappear. Upon further facts, which come to light, the kids realize they have stumbled upon a twenty-year old diamond theft mystery. Their curiosity now inflamed, the kids decide to investigate further about what, why and where the Diamonds of Denmark are located and to the identity of the mysterious men.

Nic Nelson and The Diamonds of Denmark is the story of a ten-year old boy whose tranquil world is suddenly shattered with the apparent accidental death of his father. Months later, Nic and his Mom find themselves in a new town with new challenges for Nic to face. At first, Nic is ignored by his classmates and hounded by the school bully when, by chance, he is befriended by a well meaning but goofy kid named Kevin Becker whose middle name is trouble. Through Kevin, Nic is accepted into a group of kids at school: Herbert Howell III, Cindy Lin, Dante Brown, and Philip Browning. The action heats up when Nic and his new found two mysterious strangers upon the completion of raking a neighbor’s yard confront friends. The men ask them strange questions concerning a suitcase and then abruptly disappear. Upon further facts, which come to light, the kids realize they have stumbled upon a twenty-year old diamond theft mystery. Their curiosity now inflamed, the kids decide to investigate further about what, why and where the Diamonds of Denmark are located and to the identity of the mysterious men.

Derrik Richard was born and raised in Edwardsville, IL , a town just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. After majoring in Biology at SIU-E, he went on to obtain a D.M.D. degree at SIU Dental School. When he’s not volunteering time in his church’s youth programs, he is participating in various sports, playing paintball and reading books about history. Derrik states, “For the past 20 years I’ve contributed countless hours of volunteer work to young people and youth groups. Through these experiences, I observed a growing interest among kids for good, wholesome, adventure/mystery books about characters and environments familiar to themselves. I feel my novel, “Nic Nelson and The Diamonds of Denmark,” adequately meets this need. My book would be the first in a series of stories covering Nic Nelson’s adventures from boyhood to early adolescence. Young readers would grow with Nic and see how he deals with the loss of his father and overcomes life’s obstacles through the love of his mother, a neighborly father figure and the loyalty of his friends. Readers will also be able to learn and share in some of Nic’s favorite pastimes such as paintball. These stories are also intended to stimulate young readers’ interest in history as each Nic Nelson adventure will have some aspect of history tied into the mystery. Another aspect of the book is how it reflects the diverse makeup of America with the main characters being White, African-American and Asian. Lastly, my book touches on a few of the issues of being a fatherless child. Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing problem but Nic Nelson could give other fatherless kids hope by being someone they could relate and look up to.”