Book Review: Red on the Inside by L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain
by E. Branden Hart
Red on the Inside is the third book in the Awake in the Dark series, by L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain. You can read our review of the first two books here, our interview with the authors here, and if you like what you see, check out our review of the duo’s debut novel, Casting Shadows Everywhere.
When we last saw Jeff Grobnagger, he was reeling from the realization that he had been burned alive at the bottom of a well and cast into an astral plane, where he met a long-lost friend, touched a tree, and got resurrected. Oh, and he’s not the only one: Riston Farber, long thought dead, has returned to the land of the living, and he’s got his eyes on Jeff.
At the beginning of Red on the Inside, we find Jeff doing the only logical thing anyone in this situation could do: getting piss drunk. And we immediately get a taste of what Vargus and McBain have in store for us with this fantastic description from Jeff about the more philosophical aspects of boozing:
To me, alcohol is like going underwater in a way. You’re putting something dense between you and the rest of the world, some fluid that insulates you from everything else. It’s like you get so isolated from everyone, you don’t have to be scared or worry anymore, though. Nothing can touch you.
Now, Jeff has always been introspective and philosophical, but in ROTI, he really turns up the volume on his thoughts. Throughout the book, Jeff shares his opinions on subjects as varied as depression (which he describes as “the only peace I’ve found in this life”), the act of being versus the act of being an observer, and how disappointing it can be when everything turns out exactly the way you wanted it to. Here we see Jeff at his lowest so far, and yet, every passage is tinged with hope. We get the distinct feeling that Jeff is noodling things out and getting closer to the kind of self-actualization that might truly bring him happiness.
As far as how the story contributes to the arc of the entire series, bear with me for a sec—I’ve been told that it typically takes three therapy sessions to start getting to the root of a problem. The first one is just you and your therapist getting to know each other. The second one, you start to dip your toes in and talk around, but not about, your problems. By the third time, though, the bond has formed, and you’re able to speak frankly—honestly—about yourself to this person who used to be a stranger.
This analogy fits perfectly with the arc of the first three books in the series. In the first and second books, we saw this universe being established, became familiar with the laws of that universe, and most importantly, got to know our plucky protagonist. But the third book is where we finally get to see what’s truly on the inside of Jeff. I feel like I know Jeff better after this third book than I did after the first two, and that I truly understand his strengths and his weaknesses. Most importantly, I see hope at the end of Jeff’s path, and that in and of itself is enough to keep me invested in him as a character.
Fortunately, there’s loads more to keep you reading—and guessing—where the story is going to go. Vargus and McBain do a fantastic job of shaping the overall story arc through these first three books, and ROTI contains the same fast pacing as its two predecessors. I found myself skipping paragraphs in order to get to the next one, then having to go back and reread to see what I missed.
All in all, this feels like a third novel in a series. What I mean is this: much like the therapist analogy, where the third time is when you open yourself up for examination, this third novel cuts open the universe that McBain and Vargus have created. We now understand so much more, not just about Grobnagger, but about the world he inhabits.
The fourth book will be out soon, and you can count on us to do a review of that as well. In the meantime, if you need to catch up, go ahead and buy the (virtually) boxed set of the first three novels in the series on Amazon. Just be prepared to put your life on hold as you speed through them.
E. Branden Hart is Executive Editor of EmptySinkPublishing.com. He lives and works in San Antonio. His fiction has been published in Toasted Cheese Literary Magazine, Calamaties Press, Down in the Dirt Literary Magazine, and Shades and Shadows: A Paranormal Anthology, which is available on Kindle and in paperback by XChyler Publishing.