Fade to Black (Awake in the Dark #1)

Hello Luvlies!

Publisher: Smarmy Press
Author: Tim McBain & L.T. Vargus
Pages: 212
Publication date: October 19, 2014



     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 realized that what happens with the hooded man isn't just a dream. 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, and arcane puzzle sphere, an evil book, a buxom 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 the horrific deaths, Jeff Grobnagger would be having the time of his life.


    First off, shout out to L.T. Vargus! She was super awesome and sent me a free copy of Fade to Black! She said she would drink Drano to get me to read the free copy, which i'm glad she didn't! (It's also book one in a five part series.) When I first stared to read the book, I was really excited and interested in the idea of the crazy dreams and such. It started off on a really good note though as I read further Jeff really began to annoy me. This was mainly because he was making really dumb and un-safe choices. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but getting into a strangers car who stopped you on the side of the street does not seem to be the safest option. This happened more than one time, so thankfully both times he wasn't killed or worse! 

    Jeff was an interesting character to read about, according to Glenn, he seemed to really hate himself but have a comedic side to it, which made him not to bad to be around.  I did see some of this in Jeff but I think it was meant to add to his "I hate people" persona. Shifting gears a bit, his dreams were interesting to read about because it was almost like solving a mini mystery. It was creepy at the same time, too which was exactly what I was expecting. 

    I seemed to picture Glenn as the older grandfather type who was full of energy. Not to mention, he was an amazing chef! Every meal he cooked had me practically drooling! Though there was one thing that personally I was not a big fan of, which was the mystery surrounding his daughter. It was all pretty confusing to me and I found myself skimming several of those parts.

    One thing I noticed in book was after Jeff was almost killed. I would have thought the "assassins" would have followed him to Glenn's house. Which never happened, so I thought that was odd. Over all I liked some of the book but for me it lacked several key points and was, after all, not my thing.


Cupcake rating:

*All opinions are my own and do not apply to others, I am open to all opinions.*

As always, leave comments about what you thought of the book, this review, or what YOU think I should review next!
Much love!