Майк Таннер проведет автограф-сессию для исторического романа «Николай возвращается» в Томасвилле

Tanner to hold book signing on Saturday afternoon Published 3:02 pm Tuesday, August 25, 2026 THOMASVILLE — Local author Mike Tanner will be the featured guest at The Bookshelf on Saturday, Aug. 29, where he will host a book signing for his 2012 historical novel, NIKOLAI RETURNS. Based on Tanner’s mission experiences in Russia from 1995 to 2005, the novel opens in 1920 at a glittering Russian Orthodox monastery that is dynamited by the Bolsheviks and reduced to rubble. Years later, Nikolai Razkazov, known as Kolya, grows up in the shadow of the ruins. A veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the deadly Russian arms trade, Kolya learns he shares a special connection with the old monastery — and that his life has a purpose, though a dangerous one. Tanner began his mission work in Russia in 1995 with East West Missions, based in Dallas. His mission trips varied in length from one to three weeks, during which he and his team helped establish fledgling Russian churches and conducted humanitarian work. “We would go to orphanages and things like that, but sometimes we would just evangelize whole apartment blocks and hand out literature,” Tanner said. “In the course of that, I met a number of people.” Many of the people Tanner met were veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. “I listened to their stories and some of their stories were pretty wild, and so this story is based on what somebody experienced,” Tanner said. “He (Nikolai) is a composite character.” During his mission trips, Tanner visited all of the locations Nikolai travels in NIKOLAI RETURNS, with the exceptions of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. “It was fascinating,” Tanner said. “At the time, Russia was a very optimistic place, we all thought it was going to turn into a liberal democracy.” During Tanner’s early visits, current Russian President Vladimir Putin had not yet emerged as a major political force. “He was around, but he wasn’t a power,” Tanner said. Putin became president of Russia on Dec. 31, 1999. “The last few years I was there were the Putin years, but he still had not exercised the totalitarian control that it is now,” Tanner said. “We felt very comfortable and very safe being over there.” Tanner said mission workers had considerable freedom while working in Russia, even during Putin’s early years, and in some instances were granted access that they would not have in the United States. “They would let us go in the public schools and deliver Bibles,” he said. As Tanner reflected on his time evangelizing to veterans, women and children, he realized he had the makings of a story, which ultimately became NIKOLAI RETURNS. While reviewing his notes in preparation for Saturday’s book signing, Tanner recently found letters and correspondence from some of the veterans he once evangelized to in Russia. He said he often wonders where they are today. Tanner continues to pray for the veterans and their families, hoping they are safe and still remember the moments he has come to reflect upon fondly. “Maybe one day I’ll get back over there and see,” Tanner said. Tanner hopes readers will pick up NIKOLAI RETURNS for a glimpse into the world that inspired the novel. He will be at The Bookshelf for the book signing from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.