Book Review - Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen
Category Book Reviews
This was another one of the "what do I read on the airplane" books... Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen. It's my first time reading any of her work, but if this is any indication, it won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book...
Sophie Dunston has a son who suffers from night terrors. They were an aftermath of a brutal killing they both witnessed first-hand, when her father tried to kill her. Somehow this is all tied back to the head of a major corporation, Robert Sanborne, and Dunston wants him dead because of it. But Dunston's not the only one with death wishes for Sanborne. A former "subject" of Sanborne, Matt Royd, wants him to die a slow and painful death as retribution for what was done to him, and he thinks that Dunston is the key to getting to Sanborne. But Royd's also convinced that Dunston played a role in the whole matter, and killing her will be a pleasant secondary outcome of his quest. A fellow sufferer of Sanborne's experiments and colleague of Royd, Jock Gavin, knows the truth about Dunston and has to convince Royd that she's actually on their side. Royd has to sort out his conflicting feelings of hate towards Sanborne with his confusion and growing attraction towards Dunston. Dunston's not having an easy time of it either, as Royd is a crude killing machine who is willing to do anything to accomplish his goal, up to and including using her as bait. She'll kill to protect her son, and she's not about to start taking orders from someone who she doesn't know and doesn't trust. But she's in the same boat as Royd. She can't deny that she's developing feelings towards him, but she doesn't want that to detract from the goal of eliminating Sanborne...
The style of the story telling threw me off a bit at first. Within the first few short chapters, Dunston's basically trying to assassinate Sanborne, and I didn't have a clue as to why. Then when Royd and Gavin came into the story, I still didn't know why Royd thought that Dunston was to blame for what he went through. But Johansen reveals the background as the story moves along, and you get just enough detail to supplement the current action and explain particular motivations. The plotline was a little predictable, but it didn't bother me much. Generally this was a story where the action was fast, the characters were likable, and I cared how it all turned out. I'm sure I'll be back for more Johansen once I get caught up with some other reading.
This was another one of the "what do I read on the airplane" books... Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen. It's my first time reading any of her work, but if this is any indication, it won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book...
Sophie Dunston has a son who suffers from night terrors. They were an aftermath of a brutal killing they both witnessed first-hand, when her father tried to kill her. Somehow this is all tied back to the head of a major corporation, Robert Sanborne, and Dunston wants him dead because of it. But Dunston's not the only one with death wishes for Sanborne. A former "subject" of Sanborne, Matt Royd, wants him to die a slow and painful death as retribution for what was done to him, and he thinks that Dunston is the key to getting to Sanborne. But Royd's also convinced that Dunston played a role in the whole matter, and killing her will be a pleasant secondary outcome of his quest. A fellow sufferer of Sanborne's experiments and colleague of Royd, Jock Gavin, knows the truth about Dunston and has to convince Royd that she's actually on their side. Royd has to sort out his conflicting feelings of hate towards Sanborne with his confusion and growing attraction towards Dunston. Dunston's not having an easy time of it either, as Royd is a crude killing machine who is willing to do anything to accomplish his goal, up to and including using her as bait. She'll kill to protect her son, and she's not about to start taking orders from someone who she doesn't know and doesn't trust. But she's in the same boat as Royd. She can't deny that she's developing feelings towards him, but she doesn't want that to detract from the goal of eliminating Sanborne...
The style of the story telling threw me off a bit at first. Within the first few short chapters, Dunston's basically trying to assassinate Sanborne, and I didn't have a clue as to why. Then when Royd and Gavin came into the story, I still didn't know why Royd thought that Dunston was to blame for what he went through. But Johansen reveals the background as the story moves along, and you get just enough detail to supplement the current action and explain particular motivations. The plotline was a little predictable, but it didn't bother me much. Generally this was a story where the action was fast, the characters were likable, and I cared how it all turned out. I'm sure I'll be back for more Johansen once I get caught up with some other reading.
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Posted by null At 20:17:58 On 11/11/2008 | - Website - |