The Nix

Samuel Anderson-Andreson hadn't seen his mother in decades. Then, there she is, on the internet, in a viral video throwing rocks at a conservative politician. A stalled writer who peaked early in his career, Samuel now spends his days half-heartedly teaching literature at a local college and his nights immersed in an online multiplayer video game. But for Sam, his biggest disappointment is the absence of two women in his life: one is the girl he fell in love with while in school, who left for New York City; and, of course, his mother, Faye, who packed up and left when was a child. With the news portraying Faye as a radical with a sordid past - hippies, protests, prostitution. Sam is confused by this information. One thing is clear, however - the target of Faye's attack is suddenly a presidential frontrunner (and she is in a heap of trouble). Also: Sam wants nothing to do with her. That is until his publisher comes calling for Sam to deliver on his book contract. With nothing to offer, Sam agrees to write the story of his mother's life, a tell-all biography that will capitalize on her fame, and give him the satisfaction of portraying her publically in the worst possible way. First, of course, he has to locate her, and second, be able to talk to her without, well, bursting into tears. As Samuel excavates his family's history, we travel through the rural Midwest of the late '60s, the Chicago suburbs of the '80s, and New York City during the Great Recession and the "occupation" of Wall Street, the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and finally to Hammerfest, Norway, home of the Nix, a Nordic spirit who steals children. It is among these places that Samuel finds the answers that force him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew about his mother, his family, and himself.