Ryan Nixon

The Ripe Blade Ryan Nixon

Partially taking place in New Orleans and originally written during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, The Ripe Blade explores the mind of the narrator, an effeminate, passive, and nonviolent man who is obsessed with death and murder. After sixteen years apart, Adrian falls for his childhood crush, Gretchen, while starting a relationship with a new girl, Katie. The situation quickly spirals out of Adrian's control while he desperately attempts to hold it together and not violate his nonviolent morals. While the real story here is Adrian's transformation, this book explores numerous topics, nightlife in Norfolk and New Orleans, murder, serial killers, false imprisonment, drug use, love, and the government's failures following Katrina's wrath.