Live. Die. Repeat.
Dying violent deaths over and over again totally blows. Loner Jeff Grobnagger has learned this the hard way. Every time he has a seizure, he dreams that a hooded man strangles and kills him. He runs. He fights. He hides. No matter what he does, his efforts end in a pretty bad case of death.
But when someone tries to kill him in real life, he realizes that what happens with the hooded man isn't just a dream.
"Dude, please stop trying to kill me."
Who is the hooded man? And who tried to kill Grobnagger in real life? His quest for answers leads to a missing girl, cults obsessed with astral projection, an arcane puzzle sphere, an evil book, a private detective named Louise and a mustached man named Glenn that makes 'the best martini you've ever tasted.'
Yep. If it weren't for all of the horrific deaths, Jeff Grobnagger would be having the time of his life.
Awake in the Dark Book #1
Publisher: Smarmy Press
Date Published: October 19, 2014
Pages: 212
Genres: Urban fantasy, mystery
“I'd drink bleach to get you to check out the free sample of
my book.” After getting this message on twitter, of course I had to check it
out and the blurb did catch my eye.
Jeff Grobnagger is a twenty-seven year old self-deprecating,
cynical introvert.
“I do not partake in any other forms of reality. I don’t go
to funerals. I don’t go to hospitals. I don’t go out to eat with people or feel
obligated to make (or answer) social calls of any kind. Hell, I barely event talk
to other people. I just keep to myself.”
He became tired of the superficial interactions with his
friends and families and instead preferred to be alone. For months Jeff
Grobnagger has been suffering from generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These are
seizures that you commonly see in movies and TV shows depicting someone losing
consciousness and jerking about. He has these seizures from minutes up to
hours. Every time he loses consciousness he dreams of a
hooded figure violently murdering him. He’s an interesting character innocent
in ways and yet cynical in others. We get to see the inner workings of an
introvert and Jeff’s musings frequently made me laugh out loud.
With Jeff's latest attack occurring in a grocery store he gets
aid from a peculiar stranger named Glenn and ends up telling him everything about his seizure
dreams, the hanging and the strangulation. Glenn pleads for his help to find
his missing daughter and tells him she was obsessed with the occult. He tells Jeff that his seizure dreams or astral projections may
help.
Unfortunately, Jeff denies Glenn any assistance. When the attempts
at his life are not isolated to his dreams but spills over to reality, Jeff’s
ordinary life turns upside down. Jeff doesn’t know how the cult knows of him or
why they’re trying to kill him, but he sure is going to find out.
Fade to Black is
exceptionally written in places, in others not so much. There are some brilliant
thoughts but it needs some polishing.
“I stare into my eyes and wonder how anyone can look at me
and not see it immediately – that I’m a soft thing that will fall to pieces at
the slightest touch. I’m an open wound that just wants times alone to heal.”
Pacing was slow in the middle and I felt as if the plot
veered and there wasn’t much answers given to the ever so large mound of
questions. Also, it frustratingly did end with a cliff hanger. This was a short read at
212 pages and I feel like much was left out, but it did setup for the sequel.
