Insynnium is the name of a mysterious sleeping pill derived from a tiny seed that only three people know how to germinate. For its users, though, Insynnium stimulates vivid dreams with an emotionally uplifting effect that leaves them with the most restorative rest imaginable. For a population hungry for sleep and a little magic inside their slumbering minds, it is the fix everyone is in search of.
But Insynnium is also a drug with dimensions that seem to know no bounds; a substance that creates its own vortex and pulls the main characters, Duncan, Max, and Rachel apart as they struggle to reassemble what their lives once were and have since become in this dark comedy about the power of secrets and the mutable nature of identity.
Through a twisted chain of events, fate leads Duncan Wisegerber to the heart of Insynnium; a beating core that holds a deep secret guarded by a curse. By outward appearances, Duncan is a magnetic and charismatic drifter who connects easily with others, but inside lurks something dark and mercurial that only he can answer for.
When Max McVista, during a low period in his life, reconnects with old college friend, Duncan Wisegerber, his life takes an unexpected turn. While recovering from alcoholism, Max is tempted to try Insynnium, and falls into an unexplainable coma where he becomes convinced that he has time travelled back in his life for a year. His existence soon becomes a succession of comas and time travel and learning experiences that reach beyond anything he could ever have imagined.
When the beautiful and enchanting, Rachel Redcalf, finds her husband, Max McVista, back on her doorstep after missing for more than a year, she is astonished by his subtle yet incredible transformation. Her love for Max is rekindled, and she begins aligning her psychic abilities with her husband’s puzzling new skills and talents to avert a significant number of accidents and tragedies in and around the city where they live.
A novel that explores the unknown landscapes that exist between people, and how the combination of memories, dreams, and music can lead to unexpected truths; nothing is as it seems in this journey to the center of Insynnium.
From the majestic Canadian prairies and the towering California redwoods to the deserts of Israel and the beaches of Cuba, this shifting third person narrative reveals a tale of three friends connected by love and divided by fear as they piece together their past and present and contemplate their futures under the pervasive tunes of Insynnium.
Tim Cole is a writer who lives in Seattle with his wife, Heather. He was born and raised in rural Canada. He likes the liquid sunshine of the Pacific Northwest and Alberta Springs whisky. This is his debut novel.
