Melodrama well complemented by fantastical notions; a springboard for what could be a first-rate series.
A woman discovers that she isn’t merely dreaming of the past, but is actually traveling through time in her sleep in this debut fantasy.
Thirty-five-year-old Erin Brusca’s dream of her young father from 1968—when she was born— is almost tangible. If she believes the stranger who approaches her the next day, Erin’s a dream traveler. The woman, Anna, tells Erin of the Dream Travelers Council, which polices dream travel to prevent changes in the past from altering the present. There are also the reckless Terrents, with the ability to hijack a dream traveler and traverse time on their own. Erin’s trained by Sienna Goodman, a Garan, the rare breed of dream traveler who can summon other travelers into their dreams and even travel to the future. The council eventually gives Erin her first assignment, keeping an eye out for trespassing Terrents. But her real-world life, with husband, Dante, and teenage stepdaughter, Sandra, will soon clash with her newfound capability in an unexpected way. This brisk novel equally blends fantasy and Erin’s real-life drama. Erin, for example, learns she’s pregnant, works on the Kaso Pharmaceuticals’ clinical trial for a drug to cure pancreatic cancer, and deals with the perpetually moody Sandra. These sometimes carry over to the dream travels, like when the council decides whether or not an expectant mother should travel, fearing that the unborn child will be adversely affected. The dramatic scenes tend to be more engaging than the traveling, as Sienna’s training consists primarily of slide presentations and information about the council, which sidelines Erin for at least some of her pregnancy. Breheny does, however, introduce a number of curious elements, including the peculiar, intoxicating effect that cinnamon (either taste or smell) has on dream travelers. There’s likewise Erin’s indisputable attraction to fellow dream traveler Quinn Walsh, addressing the dilemma of her potential guilt—Quinn, after all, is only in her dreams. The story builds to a momentous climax that unfortunately happens very late in the book. But it’s a near-perfect setup for a sequel that will unquestionably leave readers restless in anticipation.
Melodrama well complemented by fantastical notions; a springboard for what could be a first-rate series.Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-36359-1
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Breheny Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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