Cold Cell - Cover Art

O Lord, save my sinful soul 
From local punishment 
From the far-away zone 
From being frisked 
From the tall fence 
From the severe prosecutor 
From the Devil or from the devil owner 
From small rations 
From dirty water 
From steel handcuffs 
From hidden obligations 
A cold cell 
And short haircuts 
Save us from the death penalty 
Amen 

Cold Cell is the third book in the Alexi Sokolsky/Hound of Eden series, named for the Coil song of the same name: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19To7nRsZ_M

The lyrics of Cold Cell are a translated convict's prayer from the Soviet-era GULAGs which are a part of Alexi's genetic and memetic history... and which he relieves in his own fashion when he ends up in the prison colloquially known as the Icebox, a 'black site' prison in Alaska for supernatural creatures and mages like himself.

The tattoos on Alexi's back and arms have a range of symbolism:

- The snake tattoo - the only professionally inked one outside of prison - is identical to Vassily's snake-and-skull tattoo, but is on the opposite arm.

- The central design is a variation on the Sigil of Baphomet, the symbol commonly associated with Satanism. Baphomet (actually a coded name for Mohammad) was the idol worshipped by the Knights Templar, who were influenced by Sufism and possibly the Yazidi worship of Melek Taus, the peacock god who is equivalent in role and nature to Lucifer and Prometheus. At the heart of the tattoo's design is the Leviathan Cross, the symbol for Sulfur or Brimstone. In alchemy, Sulfur is the element that is associated with the Will:

Sulphur, the fiery spirit that vivifies everything. The wings on his head and feet are the traditional representations of the god Mercury.
But that (the fire) which comes from the sun,
which fire maintains
every bodily thing
for as far as it is natural.
Nicholas Flamel (14th-15th century) 

The symbols on the outside are in Hebrew and Enochian, Alexi's preferred magical languages.

Interestingly, the goat has a symbolic connotation in the language of Russian prison tattoos: goats were a punishment tattoo forcibly applied to 'downcast' prisoners, typically to make them as homosexuals available for sex. Alexi has to deal with his sexuality in this novel, so it's oddly appropriate.

- The symbol on Alexi's neck is the symbol of Vitriol, one of the active processes of Alchemy and another symbol associated with elemental sulfur. It is the first tattoo he gets in prison and stands as a warning to those who would cross him: he takes the symbol after he throws acid drain cleaner on someone who attempts to humiliate and dominate him soon after his arrival.
- On the other wrist (and obscured by the sparkles), Alexi has the symbol of the Slavic god Veles, the 'dark' god of Slavic mythology and the patron of volkv', a word which means 'magus' and refers specifically to the learned, academic sorcerer capable of wielding elemental power (vs Koldun, 'warlock/sorcerer' or Starets', which refers to holy men or monks capable of performing miracles and magic).