Review: Dream Team (Dream Seeker's #2) by Lisa Ard

Title: Deam Team

Author: Lisa Ard

Format: E-book (Kindle)

Read: Dec 30, 2012

Rating: 4/5

Recommend: 3rd grade and up.

Summary: For Patrick, being twelve years old can be challenging. Add to that the unusual ability to experience dreams as reality and you begin to understand, why Patrick never knows what will happen when he falls asleep. When Patrick's voice begins to change, he declares disaster! But one magnificent dream will introduce Patrick to some real-life heroes, who faced far greater adversity. Patrick discovers that his troubles are minor league in comparison. Will Patrick find the courage to face his fears?

Review: I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This book set my book OCD off, but it was alright. I just have to get the first one in the series – because it gnaws on me when I read books in the wrong order. Drives me absolutely batty really.

This is a cute middle grade read, and it is great to read with your child. It has a lot of adventure that is sure to hold interest, and the pacing is fantastic. It is not too complex for them to comprehend as a beginning, and it is a good read for advanced readers.

I give kudos to Ms. Ard for her devleopment of the sibling relationships in this series. This is about a family of “Dream Seekers” whose dreams are experienced in reality. In this book, Patrick is being coached by his teenaged sister Grace, and she helps him improve his confidence and dream-seeking skills. The conflict between them is realistic, and is something that I can expect to hear between my roommate's children or me and my sister when we were their age.

Review: Dark Passage by Griffin Hayes

This is the second work I've read by Griffin Hayes and I fall in love with the twisted thrillers all the more.  This story, about a man named Tyson Barrett, who is tortured by nightmares of his traumatic childhood, receives a miracle cure for his insomnia.  However, as we've learned, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.  That is the case with this so called "miracle cure" that Tyson hopes will not only solve his medical problems but his personal ones as well (considering he has become estranged from his wife and young son) and his business is on the verge of collapse.

However, this miracle cure is not without its dark side.  Tyson still dreams, however, when he wakes, something returns with him.  Something spawned from the deepest, darkest depths of his psyche, however there is something bigger, something more evil than what has already come through.  However, this evil isn't after Tyson - it wants his son.

This book is a fantastic lesson that not all dreams were meant to come true.  This book had me on the edge of my seat most of the time, and more often than not I would only read it during day light hours because I've read Stephen King before bed, and Griffin Hayes has managed to have a Stephen King like effect on me with his thrillers.  My dreams are not a safe place when I read his thrillers, so I highly recommend not reading this before a nap, before bed...broad daylight, outside, where you stand no chance of falling asleep is definitely good!

Vividly descriptive characters weave a web of horror and mystery that will keep you intrigued until the very end.  It will keep you on the edge of your seat and ultimately is one that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of horror or if you occasionally like to indulge in the "darker" type of stories...read this one!  The pace is perfect and the story won't feel rushed at all.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.  Thank you Griffin Hayes for the opportunity to read yet another one of your fantastic thrillers.