When The Inner Voice You Fear The Most Becomes The One That Frees You

In Jared Siler’s Under the Current, ghosts don’t haunt Tristen Rhodes; his own mind haunts him. The voice inside him isn’t a villain; it’s his truth wearing a harsh tone. It mocks, questions, and warns him, echoing the unresolved lessons of his father and the weight of never feeling enough. The novel makes that internal dialogue tangible, like a second character, living and breathing within him.

When Control Turns Into A Disguise For Pain

The world sees Tristen as unshakable. But control, as Siler writes, is just another form of escape. His routines, his spotless house, strict gym schedule, and perfect posture aren’t signs of strength but signals of suppression. Each one keeps him from feeling the chaos beneath. The book lays bare how performance becomes prison, how men are often taught to organize pain instead of express it.

Why Avoiding Emotions Doesn’t Protect You, It Preserves The Hurt

Tristen believes that ignoring the voice will silence it. Instead, it grows louder. Through sleepless nights, whiskey glasses, and false conversations, the voice keeps returning, not to punish, but to reveal. It tells him what success and noise have helped him forget: that healing doesn’t come through doing more, it comes through finally stopping. Siler’s narration carries this realization with surgical honesty.

When Facing The Voice Becomes The Beginning Of Freedom

Eventually, Tristen stops running. In his quiet writing chamber, surrounded by notebooks and shadows, he finally confronts what he’s been avoiding. The moment isn’t grand, it’s still. It’s the silence after chaos, the pause before truth. That’s the strength Siler writes about, the ability to face your own reflection without flinching.

The Courage To Let Yourself Be Human Again

By the end of Under the Current, the voice that once haunted Tristen becomes a companion. It doesn’t disappear, it transforms. What was once an enemy becomes a reminder to stay awake, to live honestly. Siler’s message is simple but piercing: healing doesn’t mean erasing the voice; it means understanding why it exists. The current inside us doesn’t destroy, it carries us home, if we let it.