RELEASE BLITZ AND REVIEW: Slammer by Tabatha Vargo

Synopsis

Review

Slammer is the ultimate mindfuck read, and the journey to the truth and heart of who and what X, Christopher Jacobs, was and became is deliciously dark, erotic, and all kinds of messed up.

It’s true that prison is its own black hole; it controls, manipulates, and tortures its inhabitants, even those who are not behind bars. It’s a place where personal convictions and morals have no place and physical freedom is only part of what the darkness takes away from the convicted who dwell there. Regardless of the the type of monstrous men the criminals were on the outside, being locked up feeds the beast, unleashing its fury in a multitude of fucked up ways.

One of the things that I love about Slammer is that Tabatha Vargo provides both perspectives of prison life at Fulton Rhodes Penitentiary – those who are the convicted criminals and those who are there to protect, treat, and keep the prisoners in line.  But what she also illustrates is that sometimes those lines blur and those who are meant to protect and serve wind up only serving themselves and their own vile vices.

Vargo doesn’t sugar coat anything when it comes to the actions and words of the murderers and rapists who are contained in each cell. She provides a realistic look at the deprive souls and how much further they’ve gone into the darkness of their souls by entering prison – a place that is kill or be killed…an environment where if you don’t belong to someone, there’s an x on your back from the start…a territory that exists and functions by its own set of rules and where everyone must prove their worth in one soulless act or another.

This domain is where Christopher Jacobs became X – a beast of a man with enough anger built up inside of him that could destroy anyone in his path. He’s the man to take down in prison and he’s always up to the challenge. As much as Fulton creates X, Lyla, the new registered nurse at the prison, allows small glimpses of Christopher to still break through the monster mask, and this is where the story’s complexity builds because how can a young, innocent woman be attracted to someone who brutally murdered two people unless there were qualities about him that showed a different side of who X is?

The growing attraction between Lyla and X is clearly illustrated through their limited time in the infirmary and the risks they’re both taking to act on those feelings, but the complexity of their relationship is just not the fact that it’s occurring inside the prison walls where X has been sentenced to life in prison, but it’s also in the risks that Lyla takes to prove X is so much more than a convicted murderer. This part of the story is extremely well written; it’s fast paced, mind bending, and dangerous, and readers will not see/understand how it ends until they’re forced to face the truth of the situation and then looking back, they’ll wonder why they never thought of that conclusion.  These kinds of stories are the ones I absolutely love because I can form various theories and feel like I’m on the right track, which keeps my interest in the story steadfast, and then when it’s revealed, I’m completely blown away because I never anticipated it!

Is Slammer not for everyone? Absolutely! Readers definitely need to heed the Vargo’s warning! It’s a dark read that provides perspective on the inner workings of dangerous criminals and what they do in order to claim some kind of status in the prison. When morals don’t factor into the equation of actions then anything goes and that is exactly the case at Fulton Penitentiary.

So go into X and Lyla’s story knowing that you will be privy to sinister and disgusting acts, and they absolutely will make your skin crawl and your stomach nauseous, but Slammer will also rock your world with its well crafted and intriguing plot line and its complex characters.

It’s a definite mindfuck but in the best way possible!

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

5 poison apples

Tabatha Vargo

Tabatha is a NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, but mostly she’s a sweet tea sippin’, front porch sittin’ kind of girl from South Carolina. She loves old, historical anything, wind chimes, and all things romantic. She’s the mother of an 9 y/o rockstar/princess and the wife of her very own Prince Charming.

When she isn’t writing, she’s texting book ideas to herself. Tabatha is represented by Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

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