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Nico Laeser

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Skin Cage Paperback – January 17, 2015

by Nico Laeser (Author)

4.6 83 ratings

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Daniel Stockholm was fifteen years old when a parasite hijacked his brain, rendering him paralyzed and reliant on machines that run day and night to keep him alive. For nine years, Danny has been confined within a biological prison with only two small windows, through which to view the world around him; a silent witness to the selfless compassion of some and the selfish contrivance of others. When the malicious actions of care worker, Marcus Salt, threaten to push Danny farther from the ones he loves, and deeper into the dark recesses of his skin cage, he is left with only one option. He must find a way out.

Print length

180 pages
Language

English
Publication date

January 17, 2015
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.41 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1506188222
ISBN-13

978-1506188225
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (January 17, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 180 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1506188222
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1506188225
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.41 x 8.5 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.6 83 ratings

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Nico Laeser

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Nico Laeser is the author of Skin Cage (Winner of the 2015 Max Power Storyteller award) Infinity: An Anonymous Biography (Published in 2015) and Harmonic: Resonance (Winner of the 2015 Christoph Fischer Best Horror award) and Enablers Anonymous (Published in 2016)

His shorter works have been featured in various anthologies including You're Not Alone (Published in 2015 with all proceeds going to the MacMillan Cancer foundation) and Holes (Published in 2015)

He writes across a variety of genres, and although each novel is unique to itself, they maintain a signature style, instantly recognizable by his readers. Upcoming projects include: part 2 of the Harmonic series—Harmonic: Dissonance.

Aside from making strangers cry and having them thank him for it, he is also an accomplished artist and illustrator.

For short stories, music, and art by Nico Laeser, visit www.NicoLaeser.com

Follow Nico Laeser on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Nico-Laeser-1439659402974977/

Follow Nico Laeser on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nicolaeser

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

83 global ratings

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Thebookandi

WOW! I’m not sure I can say enough great things about this book! So very impressed.

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2016

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Skin Cage
By Nico Laeser
PARANORMAL

Two different people recommended this book to me. The author (whom I only “know” through a book reading club) and a good friend. I didn’t even bother to read the description because my friend and I have similar tastes and if she says it's good...it's going to be good. I ran straight to my kindle to buy it. Glad I didn’t know what to expect. The surprise was amazing! With a name like SKIN CAGE, I think I was expecting something violent or horrific (something along the serial killer ilk). It wasn’t that at all—and I’m not going to elaborate on what it really was (you need to be surprised too)—but, I wasn’t disappointed in the least!

Daniel/Danny Stockholm is an incredible character. The author does an amazing job of fleshing out his personality, his history, thought processes…he’s a well-rounded if somewhat stiff (giggle giggle) guy. But don’t let that worry you…he loosens up, gets more active and goes out and gets a whole new life that changes everything! You’ll love him.

Anna, Danny’s aunt has a great back-story and it’s unfolded a little bit at a time in such a way that I wanted to speed through the pages to see just how!

Cassie is an angel wearing nurses’ whites and she too is fascinating. I know two different real people in my life whom Cassie resembles in personality. That made her relatable and real to me. As were all the characters.

Marcus Salt, the antagonist (in the first part of the book) was a donkey’s butt! I’ve known so many people just like him—selfish, self-centered, Neanderthal’s who should be kept in cages…let’s just say you won’t like him either. The author didn’t miss a beat on this one!

Even David who lent not much more to the story than his body, was a well-developed character whom I both liked and loathed all at once. (I hate to see people give up on life!) His back story, however, gave me deep insight into who and (why he was) what he was.

This author is a masterful story teller. And I was hooked from beginning to end. I read this story in just under two hours. I couldn’t put it down.

I would recommend this book to ANYONE!

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Eric Lahti

Amazing, and I don't say that lightly

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2015

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There's a line in this book that triggered a memory of a dream I had many years ago after my dad died.

"Maybe when we are ready to let go of our memories, we are allowed to move on.'

Now I can't get the dream or the line out of my head.

That's the kind of book Skin Cage is; the haunting melody of forgotten dreams and things we should have left behind but clutch tightly to ourselves in a vain attempt to maintain some sense of self in a twisting environment. But in the final analysis, you're never who you were. Like trying to cross the same river twice, you will always become the sum of an ever-shifting array of values from your past.

I had to chew on this book overnight to come up with a review that would do it justice. It's an engaging story, especially considering for the first part of it our hero largely cannot communicate with anyone at all. He's a pure sensory input with little to no output capabilities at all, but Daniel is not without skills honed from years of being stuck in his skin cage. The first part of the book is great.

The middle and end of the book are phenomenal, but you'll just have to read it to find out why.

Skin Cage is well written, engaging, and difficult to put down. Physically it's easy to read, the text is smooth and Nico has an excellent command of language. The mental aspects of reading are more difficult. It's the kind of story you'll continue to think about long after you've finished it and that's a rare thing in a book.

It's the kind of book I wish I could write.

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2016

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Nico Laeser gave me something else to be afraid of.

In Skin Cage, we are introduced to a young man named Daniel Stockholm--an unfortunate individual who, at the age of fifteen, was reduced to a vegetative state by a tapeworm. Though it’s hard to detail the story without giving too much away (given the book’s relatively-short length,) the story follows Daniel’s musings about his past, his person, his potential futures in a world where he cannot move anything but his eyes, and, most of all, his ‘lucid dreaming.’ We meet caretakers Cassie and Anna -- who become pivotal to the story at a later point -- as well as a man named Marcus: one who, without knowing it, changes Daniel's life forever.

Though I went into this story believing that it would be horrific in nature (given its horrifying premise,) what I found instead was a humble story about the power of the human spirit.

SKIN CAGE is an absolutely brilliant read, one that I feel any fan of literary fiction would enjoy.

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016

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Imagine being trapped inside yourself, a human shell, unable to speak or move. Yet you hear what others say, experience deep emotions and horrific physical pain. How would you break free of your skin cage? Could you?

In this gripping story, Daniel Stockholm, a paralyzed man unable to communicate, finds moments of blessed freedom by traveling beyond the boundaries of his physical prison, giving the reader a look at the different energies of individual souls—the stuff that makes us who we are.

Some of these souls are gentle; others are selfish and not-so-nice. Some are sad, confused. Through the worst of times, though, Danny never loses his humanity, his moral sense of right and wrong, or the deep yearning to be able to speak, if only once, to tell his caregivers how much he loves them for their kindness.

For me, reading this story was a small gift. Being inside Danny’s head, I got to view the people in his world with my heart rather than my eyes. Once that door opened, I remembered what I’ve always instinctively known: We don’t first step down the path after we leave this place. The soul’s journey starts the day we’re born.

Skin Cage by Nico Laeser gave me a lot to ponder. The ending made me smile. Thanks to the author for an awesome read!

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Top reviews from other countries

dernhelm

Beautifully Written, Engaging Story

Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2016

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I wasn't going to read Skin Cage yet. It was supposed to get in line and wait its turn. But I couldn't resist sampling the first page, and immediately, I was hooked.

The prose haunts; the story compels. The short chapters entice you to say, "Okay, just one more" until, before you realize it, you've read huge chunks in one sitting.

Danny's story was poignantly told. I found the narrative poetic and moving and unpredicatable. I had no idea where Laeser was taking his character until I got there with him. The characters were well-rounded, the story deftly developed, and the ending bittersweet.

I read the novel in four sittings, and each time I was forced to set it down to get something done (darn reality), the story stuck in my head so that I wanted to get back to it as soon as possible.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who wants to explore ideas on life, death, and the soul. Nico Laeser has created an entertaining, moving, and thought-provoking story. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

One person found this helpful

RuddersReviews

Clever, skilfully told, and highly original...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2015

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A clever, skilfully told, and highly original story, bringing together subtle elements of science fiction, horror, and the paranormal, but in no way overly veering into any single genre. Initially the story explores what it’s like to be trapped in your own body, aware but unable to move or communicate in any way, a veritable living nightmare as it were. The story is narrated from a first person perspective, some of which is told via flashback, which considering the story is told very much from the mind and thoughts of Daniel the principal character, is to be expected and works exceptionally well for a full length novel. Daniel’s life is at times well worth living while at others it is made almost unbearable by those whose job it is to care for him … which of these particular states depends just on who is doing the caring at the time.

I won’t go into too much detail about the story itself as it would be all too easy to give too much away but what I can say is that it is both heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure, and full of surprises and unexprected turns. Some of the issues raised in Skin Cage are both emotive and thought provoking, which along with its page turning quality, compel the reader to take in every line and word as they imagine themselves in Daniel’s shoes; it's impossible not to empathise with his lack of privacy, dependancy on others, the inevitably limited outlet for his emotions, and then hope for some miracle that might change Daniel's life. In a way that miracle happens but not in any way the reader might have forseen. In retrospect it does take a leap of the imagination to accept the changes in Daniel's world and surroundings as the story progresses but at the time of reading, the story flows quite seemlessly from one scene to the next. The story that follows is one that will stay in the mind for a very long time of those fortunate enough to discover this book.

Not only did the story itself hugely impress me but also the articulation and eloquence of the writing. Quite often a very good story or idea is let down by the latter but in this case the sheer quality of the writing propels the story into something quite phenomenal; the reader isn't just a party to Daniel's thoughts and emotions courtesy of the first person perspective, but is immersed entirely in his world - his senstations, what he's hearing, feeling, seeing and even tasting. Science fiction, the paranormal, and horror are not usually themes I would equate with what might be called literary fiction but in this instance the comparison would be well deserved.

I've read across many different genres over the past year so it's hard to make comparions but this is probably my favourite book of the year, and probably the best written too. This is the first of Nico Laeser’s novels I’ve read but it certainly won’t be the last…

Avid reader

AMAZING

Reviewed in Australia on May 24, 2015

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Skin Cage is the kind of book that leaves you thinking about it, long after you've finished reading.

I was a little worried going in. The premise of the book - a man trapped inside an unresponsive body, but alive in his thoughts - I was expecting long-winded, preachy internal monologues for the majority of a book. What I read though was a heartfelt story of Daniel, someone I was rooting for, begging mercy for, and getting angry for.

The book was nothing less than amazing. It was everything you could hope for in a book. It was well-written, original, and morbidly entertaining. I smiled and I cried. I was rooting for an unrealistic happy ending that I knew wasn't coming, but I think that's the point of the book: to hope. Hope for that miracle, hope for the chance to do say the things you need to say, hope that you don't leave this earth with any regrets.

Lesley Hayes

From tenderness to inhumanity and all shades in between

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2015

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I read Nico Laeser’s Skin Cage while I was ill in bed recently. It was one of the few things that kept me tethered to the world, and seemed oddly appropriate for my own physical condition at the time. I felt great compassion for Daniel, identifying with his dilemma of being locked inside his body and prevented from explaining his suffering or asking for the simplest of his needs to be met. So many aspects of what it means to be disabled were explored here in the story, and the author’s own obvious empathy made this a particularly poignant read. For me the story also provided a rich metaphor for the many ways in which we might be trapped within our ‘skin cage’, for whatever reason unable to articulate our thoughts, feelings and needs – and how at the mercy of one another’s kindness we all are. Nico Laeser doesn’t flinch from describing the basest of human qualities as well as the highest, and everything is here in this novel, from tenderness to inhumanity and all shades in between. And then, just when I thought I understood what the story was about, it changed. Having read Nico Laeser’s other exceptional novel, ‘Infinity’, I should have been prepared for that. I read on, more deeply drawn in than ever by the author’s stunning narrative style and convincingly evocative descriptions of altered mind states. And when finally I had some new sense of where we were going, it changed again. This capacity to shift the reader’s awareness so seamlessly to another, deeper level is one of the many skills of this superbly original and imaginative writer. The book kept me totally gripped over two days, and was a wonderful antidote to my own discomfort. I found myself crying at various points throughout, for different reasons each time, profoundly moved by Daniel’s plight and by the beautiful language used to describe it. Nico Laeser’s work is among the very best I have found in a wide diversity of fiction and deserves universal acclaim. There are just a few authors whose next book I will get even before reading the synopsis. He is without question one of them.

AJs Reviews

Great book

Reviewed in Australia on March 15, 2016

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This is the most original story I have read in a long time. The main character is in an horrific situation that you just want him to get out of, somehow. The way he does is strange and wonderful, but where the story goes from there is far from obvious until you read it.
This is well worth reading, especially if you're after something a little bit different.

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