Book Review: Drowning in the Drink by Radar DeBoard
Title: Drowning in the Drink
Author: Radar DeBoard
Release date: July 23rd, 2024
*Huge thanks to Radar for sending me a digital copy of this one!*
Over the last few years, I’ve connected with Radar, initially because he was a ravenous reader and reviewer. Recently, he’s started to release his own work and when I saw him put out a call asking for reviewers to try and get more eyes on his most recent release, I reached out.
I wasn’t sure at all what I was getting into, but I knew three things. The first was that it was dealing with alcoholism. The second was that it was about dealing with grief and continuing on. And the third was that it was a short read, print length listed at 78 pages.
Outside of Mark Matthew’s fantastic work detailing addiction issues, I’ve not read much work specifically focused on alcoholism (though, I myself did tackle it in my novella, ‘Wagon Buddy’) so I was keen to dive in and see what Radar offered.
What I liked: The story opens with a mother, struggling to make ends meet and support herself and her son, when a black gunk unknowingly infects her. Soon, the voices begin and the only way to drown them out is to drink. And then drink some more. And then more and then more, until the only thing she can do is drink.
Radar sets this up well, showing her rapid deterioration as the voices increase and her drinking follows. It estranges her from her son, who believes she’s just a useless drunk. But Radar also makes us readers question whether those voices are actually there. Is this a case of the character being so drunk they hear voices? Or is it that the character hears these voices, making them drink? It’s a tactic akin to what Gran did in her claustrophobic ‘Come Closer,’ but instead of us wondering if there’s a haunting like in that novel, in this case we question the reasoning behind the addiction.
Soon, the story switches to the son, who is now dealing with grief, and his own infection. He soon finds that the only way to drown out the voices is to drink, and a new understanding of what his mom was going through dawns on him. This is noted even more when he connects with Angelica, another infected person. At first they simply talk, before it moves into a relationship and they try to support each other. It was another unique look at how those deep into the addiction life, often connect with another addict, but neither knows how to dig themselves out. It was heartbreaking to watch them both continue to deteriorate, but Radar handles it with nothing but professionalism throughout.
The ending worked well to show how the power of positive thinking and hope can sometimes be all someone needs to make a change and rid themselves of negativity. It also spoke to recovery and the struggles those who don’t want to be around the thing they were addicted to face.
What I didn’t like: It’s very minor, but I wasn’t totally sold on the reaction of a parent at a funeral. I want to remain vague, to prevent spoilers, but there’d been no indication previously they were even aware of the deceased significant other and they reacted almost comically. Saying that – sometimes those harboring deep guilt need to find someone to push that blame onto, taking some of it from themselves – and I think this was maybe what DeBoard was doing.
Why you should buy this: This one is dark, sad and though seemingly a never-ending cavalcade of bleakness, also cathartic. There’s a light that leads the reader along, this potential of hope and you desperately turn the pages begging Radar to turn that light on and bring some joy into the world he’s created. Though only 78 pages, we get a story that spans several years and ultimately one that asks a lot of questions – both within the book, but also moral questions – and let’s the reader decide what the answers are. This was a fantastic read and one that I’ll admit really surprised me with the depth displayed here.
5/5
