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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...
Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.
After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45071-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
