Enmeshed Within by Ian Bar

Overview

... Enmeshed Within is a challenging, thought-provoking, and perspective-challenging thriller, the story of one young man’s journey through the hell of madness—and existence—and his redemption through truth. Like an upside-down and backward It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy is visited, not by an angel named Clarence, but by a series of demons who torment him, provoke him, lead him through his misery and try to show him what the world would be like without his illusions.

I loved the recurrent imagery of the theater, emphasizing that humans play out their little lives upon a stage. It suggests artifice, a director pulling strings somewhere, repetition, confined spaces, scripted roles, the darkness and nonexistence of the backstage, offstage world. It also emphasizes that we perform for an audience, whoever that may be, and that brings the reader into the image. I also liked that you set the book in autumn, at the dying of the year. The papery sound of dry leaves evokes not just death and ephemera, but writing, the skritching of a pen on paper. The obscure but fascinating history you include, the ideas your demons and Jimmy explore, the violent, arresting imagery you use—all of these put Enmeshed Within above the ordinary ...   

—Francesca, CreateSpace Editor