A Place Between Dreams - Jess Munday

A Place Between Dreams is a dark psychological thriller that follows Tennessee Walker, a 23-year-old San Francisco bookstore employee who awakens with bloody hands and no memory of the night before. His girlfriend Lucy has vanished, leaving behind only destruction and her haunting final words: "You’re just like your father."

As Tennessee struggles with mounting blackouts and violent episodes, he retreats into LSD-fueled lucid dreams where he can rewrite his traumatic past and relive idealized memories with Lucy. But as his grip on reality deteriorates, the line between dreams and waking life blurs dangerously, forcing him to confront the devastating truth about his actions and the cycle of violence he’s inherited.

Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Richmond District, this debut novel explores themes of intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, addiction, and the dangerous allure of self-deception. A cautionary tale about untreated mental health and the critical importance of breaking cycles of abuse before it’s too late.