Someone Who Isn’t Me

A husband and father’s drug addiction upends the lives of his family in Geiger’s debut novel.

Atlanta IT manager Daniel Geis has an oxycodone prescription for pain; when he runs out of pills before his refill is due, he turns to a less legitimate source. Crystal, the goth woman he meets at a seedy apartment, doesn’t have oxy and gives him something stronger (“‘You’ll like this,’ she promised”). This sets off an unexpected chain of events as Crystal becomes Daniel’s dealer and blackmails him into providing her with a place to stay. It’s not easy keeping Crystal or his habit a secret, and his problems soon entangle his wife, Tracy, their two kids, and Daniel’s mother, who lives nearby. Also in the mix are the man who adamantly strives to be Crystal’s supplier and individuals tied to Crystal’s business partner, Nick, the nephew of a Russian mobster. Landing behind bars—or something much worse—is certainly a possibility for Daniel. Geiger deftly spins Daniel’s trajectory into chaos while keeping the characters and subplots in check. Brief flashbacks interspersed throughout the narrative not only add illuminating backstories but also help to maintain the story’s swift pace. Although addiction issues and family drama take precedence, a few scenes rack up suspense, including one in which Daniel dodges a thug to get back to his car. Geiger gives addicts Daniel and Crystal much-needed depth; Daniel clearly loves his family (“Tracy was wonderful, the perfect wife and mother, even daughter-in-law…She deserved better than him just in general, and he knew it”) and wants to keep them safe, while Crystal is an alluring mystery whose name might not even be hers (she constantly provides celebrity names when asked for her own). The novel’s ending will surely reverberate with readers long after the story’s conclusion.

This hard-hitting tale shines a light on all of the people that drug dependency harms.