Published: 10th April 2014
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 220
Format: ebook
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Maeve Tidewell has a gift, of sorts. She sees glimpses of the future in her dreams.
Unfortunately for her, Joseph Binyon wants that gift for his own.
When Maeve wakes to find she is being held captive by the disturbed man from her past, she realizes she stands to lose much more than her vision. She stands to lose her life.
As Maeve plans her daring escape, a stranger enters her dreams. She reaches out to him for help before Joseph has time to complete his bizarre ceremony.
Ben Drake hopes to strengthen his relationship with his teenage son during a road trip that takes him from California to the picture perfect mountains of Colorado.
But strange dreams begin to fill Ben’s nights and, when he discovers Maeve Tidewell is missing, is compelled to search for her in the vast woodlands high above the valley floor they call home.
Ben doesn’t question the connection he experiences with Maeve as he sleeps. He only knows that if she is going to survive, he’ll have to risk everything.
Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review
With her suspense novel Barnes brings together the thriller and the mystery with a touch of the unknown. The story is intriguing and enjoyable and works as a good introduction to the series by sparking your interest with suspense and good characters.
Barnes uses her characters well and through their actions and behaviour you are able to get a detailed sense of who they are and which side they are on. Maeve is strong willed and clever, and a fierce protector of her family. She learns to use Binyon’s delusions to her advantage to keep herself and other safe, and bides time until help can arrive. When she sees the mysterious man in her dreams she reaches out to him for help, but she also does not rely on him to save her.
Ben on the other hand has integrity and strong sense of doing what is right, no matter what. These traits are also seen in his son, Jason. While starting off bored and uninterested, as their road trip continues Jason learns more about his dad, and grows a bit himself, and becomes stronger in the end. Ben’s unexplained connection with Maeve confuses him but he does not let it stop him from trying to help, and what I liked was that he uses proper channels such as going to the police before jumping straight into danger and a rescue mission.
The “villains” of the story are shown to be harsh and cruel, giving a startling contrast to the good nature of the other characters. Binyon and his son Carl add an element of the unexpected and you’re never sure of what they will do which brings a wonderful suspense to the story. With Carl you can see there are the makings of a psychopath and serial killer, but his father comes across more as a misguided and delusional person, but still showing signs of being a little psychotic.
Barnes does not make Binyon completely heartless, with good if not misguided reasons for his actions. This adds a nice complexity to the story as it is not just Maeve and her family that need saving, there is Binyon’s intentions as well which part of you wants to see solved.
There is a gripping, fast-paced conclusion where it seems anything can happen, and does. Barnes brings all the pieces of the puzzle together with a few unexpected surprises along the way but still leaves an air of mystery and the unresolved as well, which will no doubt be uncovered and developed as the series goes on.
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