Author has comic take on PTSD with Caddyshack Meets Apocalypse Now mashup
in new novel about Vietnam vet  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
Caddyshack meets Apocalypse Now
dark comedy novel about PTSD
DENVER, CO – November 12, 2020: A singing supernatural gopher who can recite the liner notes to every ZZ Top album, wears Bob Marley tee shirts and combat boots and wouldn't be caught dead without his AK-47 rifle — it's all in day's work for the quirky and heroic lead character in The Gopher King, a new novel by Colorado author Gojan Nikolich.
But the book, a dark comedy that also tackles the weighty subject of PTSD and the lingering effects of war, isn't all laughs.
The Gopher King is also the tale of a suicidal former platoon sergeant, sole survivor of a Vietnam War jungle ambush, who is haunted by what he perceives as his cowardly past. Debilitated by guilt and mourning the death of his wife, small town newspaper publisher Stan Przewalski lives in a mentally addled world where it's impossible to distinguish reality from fantasy.
Returning from an ill-advised Vietnam sightseeing tour, his suppressed memories resurface with a vengeance as he deals with a murder and a raging mountain wildfire that threatens to destroy his hometown of Bull River Falls, Colorado. That's when the overly medicated veteran meets a magical and improbable creature who commands a subterranean army that believes Stan is the answer to their fight against unscrupulous real estate developers.
While they sabotage cell phone towers and government buildings, these supernatural friends provide an unlikely and outrageous path to Stan’s redemption.
What could possibly go wrong?
The author, the former publisher and co-owner of The Eagle Valley Enterprise newspaper, also previously worked as a journalist in Japan and Korea, a Chicago newspaper reporter and editor and as an executive with a global public relations agency, where he dreamed up publicity stunts for clients like Motorola, Quaker Oats, the Chicago Bulls and the makers of Scrabble.
He once sparked the anger of the Chicago Police Department when he arranged for a fake shark to swim under the city's Michigan Avenue bridge as part of a PR campaign for Universal Studios' JAWS movie exhibit.
Nikolich's novel, released by Texas publisher Black Rose Writing, has already attracted glowing pre-publication reviews as well as consistent five-star ratings on Goodreads.com.
"They say we read non-fiction for facts but for truth we read novels, a thought that came to me often as I enjoyed this book," said British writer and war correspondent Tim Butcher, best-selling author of The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War.
Alastair Luft, Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and author of, The Battle Within and Jihadi Bride, himself a veteran of combat in Afghanistan, called The Gopher King "…a dark, hallucinatory tour-de-force."
"Nikolich’s story shimmers with intersecting layers of identity and fantastical complexities,” according to Author Reading Reviews.
"The Gopher King is exactly what it?s advertised to be," said Steve Quaid of Indies Today. "The humor is indeed dark, ranging from obscure to overt…a quirky story enhanced by acerbic wit and unexpected creativity.”
And this from Prairies Review Magazine: “The fantastic sense of place, memorable characters, and stylish prose makes this a page-turner."
Kirkus Reviews said this about The Gopher King: “…the author is a gifted writer…his prose is entrancing.”
The Gopher King: A Dark Comedy will be available November 12 in paperback and as a digital ebook on-line at most major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Target and at The Tattered Cover in Denver.
Gojan Nikolich graduated with B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Literature from DePaul University and served as a U.S. Army sergeant with both the 2nd and 4th Infantry divisions. He was also a reporter for Pacific Stars & Stripes newspaper and is a former member of the Colorado Press Association. He and his wife live in Denver.
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THE GOPHER KING: A DARK COMEDY
Publishing date: November 12, 2020
Trade paperback edition / Kindle ebook
Publisher: Black Rose Writing / Texas
ISBN-10: 1684335736
ISBN-13: 978-1684335732
Page count: 326
MORE EDITORIAL REVIEW EXCERPTS:
“A deep dive into the simultaneously tragic, heroic and insane mind of a Vietnam vet – Nikolich mixes fantasy and reality in a way that’s weirdly reminiscent of both Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato and the 1980s film Caddyshack.”
— Joe Barrett, best selling author of Managed Care and Unplugged
“Humor develops into absurd hilarity. Chuckles and giggles (also grief) are found on every page. Laugh aloud word pictures keep the reader enthralled to the last page...
Nikolich’s story shimmers with intersecting layers of identity and fantastical complexities.”
— Authors Reading Reviews
“This impressive debut novel is a skillfully-written and original page-turner that will take you on unforgettable adventures.”
--Sublime Reviews
“…this profoundly literate work is best described using pithy, deeply meaningful, single adjectives. Hallucinogenic. Meditative. Depressing. Intelligent. Poetic. Layered. And, most certainly, literate… Just know, the writing alone will leave you breathless.”
— Joel R. Dennstedt, Readers’ Favorite Reviews
“Gojan Nikolich has crafted a work of surreal fantasy and magical realism…and delivers an ultimately brilliant work of introspective psychological fiction.”
— K.C. Finn, Readers’ Favorite Reviews
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Contact: Gojan Nikolich / lesnik75 comcast.net / 970-274-8091
Christopher Miller / Prblackrosewriting
www.blackrosewriting.com | 
