Existing Creatures, Living Dragons by Leyla Cardena is a suspense horror story about 2 friends: John and Jack. Underneath the earth, John Crane's bones are cracking and his flesh is burning. His memories are at present as alive as his body, a body, preparing itself for metamorphosis and freedom. In the black box of Jack Vain's mind, his belongings explode, his past life is an illusion, and ultimately, is a tower destructed by his unfulfilled desires. The recurring nightmare, the hand on Dr. Brooke Ashley's thigh, is now a warning sign against danger, an appropriation that leads her instinct into the right directions. The djinn that Hassan Maroun met, is the little and magical voice that makes him wonder if the current events can be clearly and scientifically explained.
The creature from John and Jack's dreams and fantasies, is the master of their evolution. Will the two childhood friends be able to accept their transformation in order to make the investigation advance?
The book revolves around 2 main characters Jack and John who were kidnapped and beaten up by a guy and his gang. This guy is everywhere, known as the guy in a black car. As they try to understand what happened and try to find a safe place to run, they get caught up in a similar dream where they keep on seeing a dreaded creature. As both Jack and John try to run away from this creature, trying to defeat him, they find the creature is more a manifestation of their mind rather than something real. The book is focused on the psychological battle of the human mind, where they keep forcing down their fears and problems, up until the point when they have to face them and move on. Similar was the case for John and Jack. John, beaten up and thrown off on the road, tries to find shelter at a house. After having a drink, he saw himself being transformed into something else. To be free he has to overcome his fears and past. Similarly, Jack trying to escape his kidnappers, keep seeing a creature. He knows this is a dream and yet he can't be sure. Similar to John he visits his past and tries to make peace with it.
There's also a small inclusion of Dr. Ashley's life, who's the psychiatrist for both John and Jack. After years of not having those dreadful dreams, Dr. Ashley started having them again at the age of 50. We visit her past and why those dreams started in the first place.
There's another character Hassan, who finds himself in a situation that crosses the fine line between psychology and religion when he meets a 'Djinn' or that's what people believe him to be.
All these people go through a roller coaster of events revolving around the psychoanalysis of the human mind.
Although I wouldn't say I absolutely loved the story, it was still a good read. There are a lot of elements related to the human brain, which as we all know is very complicated. Depression can not be simply described or identified at times, and it can simply manifest itself in one's personality. Even the depressed don't understand there's something wrong and even if they do, it's up to them and no one else to help themselves at times. It's a very controversial topic so I wouldn't go much deeper into that. But I would say the book had this point captured and was a great short read.
I did get a bit lost at the beginning as I didn't know where the story was going, but mid-way through it started weaving everything together.
Overall, it was a short psycho-thriller read and I enjoyed it.