Siphon

By: A. A. Medina

Narrated by: Ted Brooks

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

There is an urge inside you....

Dr. Gary Phillips, the resident hematopathologist at Claybrook Medical Center, is a lonely man struggling with the duress of an all-work and no-play lifestyle.

Burdened with an unhealthy infatuation with his co-worker, a burning disdain for his boss, and an abusive relationship with his grandfather, Gary just can't catch a break.

That is, until a workplace accident ushers in a bizarre but empowering experience that evokes a new sense of self, forcing repressed memories to surface while encouraging him to pursue his fantasies with unconventional methods.

©2017/2018 A. A. Medina/Hindered Souls Press (P)2018 A. A. Medina/Hindered Souls Press

Baskerville Book Reviews

This book has been on my wish list for 6+ months. I first listened to the summary and the narration, as well as the excerpt, left an impression on me. All these months later, it lived up to the hype. While the excerpt is a minor, random section of the story, it did its job and got me interested.

Siphon feels like the good version of A Change of Seasons, or I might say A Change of Seasons is the bad version of Siphon. Both could be summarized as a “slow descent into madness.” Dr. Gary’s life feels like it’s destined to fall apart the moment he stands up for himself. It’s a sad story, full of loss, wasted life, wasted opportunities, obsession, misery, and pain.

This is one of those stories I find difficult to talk about without spoilers. Much like the story Tempting Fate, which I recommend all of the time, I just don’t know what to tell people. It’s great, but if I tell you why, it steals a bit of the thunder, like explaining a joke. I went in expecting nothing and came out feeling hollow. It did leave me with unanswered questions. I guess we’ll have to fill in the blanks ourselves

Siphon left me stumped. Not only for words, but for what was and wasn’t real. I’ve always felt the best kind of horror is psychological. When you’re not sure what’s real any more than the protagonist, to me, that’s a truly terrifying thought.

My final opinion on Siphon should be clear. Read it. Or listen. Overall, the narrator is excellent. he did constantly say “farmiliar” over and over. if you’ve read any of my reviews about audiobooks, you’ll know how much I loathe narrators making up or mispronouncing ng basic words. I did lose context on some scenes because I was so pissed off about hearing him mispronounce a basic word over and over. It’s right there on the page, there’s only 1 goddamn R! Aside from that bit of insufferable narration, the rest was great. I will say, the narration sample is a large part of what originally sold me on the story, so credit where it’s due.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.