'I Might Be in Trouble' by Daniel Aleman
- Reed
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
Updated: May 8
Author: Daniel Aleman
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (C)
Vibe: Dark comedy meets writer’s block spiral—with a dead body, literary ambition, and surprising tenderness
Quick Take: Slick dialogue and a great premise, but the execution wobbles. I wanted more mystery, less body-hiding—and the emotional core, while present, could’ve used more oxygen.
*Warning—light spoilers ahead!*
David Álvarez is a washed-up novelist with one decent book under his belt and a career on the verge of collapse. After a disastrous night out, he wakes up next to a dead body—no memory of what happened, no idea what to do next. Instead of calling the police, David calls his agent. What unfolds is a madcap (and increasingly implausible) scheme to turn this horror story into a career-saving novel, all while trying to avoid jail time and keep his secrets from surfacing.
It’s a fun premise, and Aleman writes with confidence. The dialogue is smooth, the pace zips along, and the characters—especially David’s agent, Stacey, and his parents—are sharply drawn. His relationship with his parents, in fact, was the most grounded and emotionally resonant part of the book for me. There's something sweet and sad in how David tries to keep their regard even while spiraling out of control.
But the central conceit stretches believability. I kept wishing the story had taken a slightly different route: what if David had called the police and become a suspect, forced to figure out what happened before being blamed for something he’s not even sure he did? That version feels more suspenseful, more psychologically rich—and maybe more satisfying.
Instead, the bulk of the book is spent trying to hide a corpse and wrestle with literary guilt, and while that’s entertaining for a while, the tension starts to thin. The stakes feel simultaneously too high and too absurd.
Still, there’s a sharpness to the voice and a clear love for flawed, fumbling characters trying to write their way out of trouble. Aleman is doing something tonally tricky here—straddling satire, suspense, and sincerity. It doesn’t always land, but I respect the swing.
For me, this was a C: solid, interesting, but uneven. I'd read Aleman's next adult novel, especially if it leans into mystery with the same sharp dialogue and emotional nuance he shows in the family scenes. There’s real potential here. I just wanted it to dig a little deeper—and bury a little less.
