Enmeshed Within

by Ian Bar

Sometimes, it’s better not to know
Jimmy isn’t eager to return to his hometown after his extended stay in a psychiatric ward, but thanks his self-destructive tendencies and drug addiction, he doesn’t really have a choice. Coming home not only feels empty without Carla, the girlfriend he lost in a car accident, but the sight of his father brings its own wave of painful memories. Still, what choice does he have? Where else can he go?
Before Jimmy can find any sort of new normal, he hears the Voice. It interrogates him about the events that led to Carla’s death—claiming it was more than a tragic accident. The Voice also forces Jimmy to think about Carla and his dad. What happened? Why did she sleep with him? Was it just a fling or was it more?
Jimmy tries to ignore the Voice, chalking it up to a clumsy coping mechanism. But then it pushes him to murder his father. With his grip on reality slipping each day, Jimmy struggles to figure out if the demons he faces are real or a creation of his own mind, learn the truth behind Carla’s death, and understand the true essence of good and evil.
In so doing, he uncovers a massive secret about his reality and his fate, but what toll will that secret take on Jimmy’s mind?

371 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2013

About the author

Author’s note: I write under the pen name, Ian Bar. My first book was Enmeshed Within, and I decided to make the journey and struggles of the antihero, Jimmy, into a series called: Recesses of Heart’s Trilogy. Below is my latest bio listed on the second book installment, titled, Reptilian Eyes, written in the genre of Sci-fi and Psychological Thriller:

Ian Bar has a bachelor of arts in theater from Cleveland State University, where his one-act play, Russian Roulette was performed as a student production. He received a master of library and information science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he took master’s level classes in Shakespeare and the development of Western literature at Case Western Reserve University, where his poetry and one-act play were published in a student zine. He has professional experience as a college librarian and an instructor of information literacy standards and English composition.

Bar’s work focuses on the individual and societal angst experienced in a postmodern society, where individuals are overwhelmed by the manufactured distractions and trivialities of the technocratic information age. Reptilian Eyes is the second novel in the Recesses of Heart’s Trilogy that tells how tortured souls, wittingly or unwittingly, seek liberation and transcendence, and, as an encouragement to the reader, a rediscovery of their humanity.

Reviews

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from entering a competition on here and im so glad I did.
I'll be honest I had never heard of the author before but I am very glad I got this book as iy was very enjoyable.
There are many twists and turns and definitely keeps you glued to the pages.
I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway and was really excited about it. The book had it's ups and downs. Some of the negatives for me were it was a bit wordy at times and sort of drifted, the characters like Jimmy's father and friends were not really interesting to me and I was not overly happy with the ending but it seems I feel that way about 90% of the books I read anymore. The positives in the book were really a lot of fun to read. Jimmy the main character was fun and the demons he encounters along the way are just too cool. After the chapter with a certain Roman Emperor and Jimmy going back and forth I could not wait to tell my friends about it. Other demons/hallucinations show up and it is a pretty crazy ride. I highly recommend Enmeshed Within even with its faults because it was just so much fun to read.

[Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! I got it through a giveaway in exchange of an honest review, and despite taking my time to read it and being so different from the genres I'm used to I really liked it. Very appealing psychological story, with touches of Dante's Divine Comedy, although I was more attracted to finding out what really happened to Carla, than to any of the other characters including the main, Jimmy, and it didn't disappoint, the ending was so unexpected and crazy at the same time, I couldn't guess until I had read around 3/4 of the book. I would definitely recommend this book for those who wanna read something crazy different, dark and twisted.

[pris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read anything from this author so I was unsure of his style but the premise was intriguing. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The story has twists and turns. I was engaged by the main character and wanted to see how things would play out. I was not disappointed. It was difficult to put down.

[Sheetal Dash]

seems really interesting. Wanna read it someday.

[Donna Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a little different, twistedly crazy and perversely wild.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this writing is very pretty. The imagery in plaes is vibrant. The flow is hard to follow and the author is using every word in his thesaurus

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fictional first person account of suffering psychosis.