In Riverton Falls, a small New England town, globe-trotting bartender Celeste Fortune stands in her kitchen puzzling over last night’s frightening dream—a woman at a window, lilacs blowing in the breeze, someone’s hands tight around her neck. Celeste is sure the dream belongs to someone else. Perhaps she has finally broken through to the collective dreams of Dreamland cult. Hoping her therapist … therapist and cult leader will help her untangle it, she heads off into the cold November morning to her final appointment with him—or so she hopes. Her estranged fiancé has delivered an ultimatum: Leave the cult of Dreamers, or end their relationship for good.
Instead of help, however, Celeste discovers her therapist dying in a pool of blood, skull stove in by his own healing crystal. His computer, containing the intimate dreams and secrets of half the town, is gone. Suspicion immediately falls on Celeste, known to be a rebellious member of his cult. To clear her name, Celeste enlists the help of her old friend, Gloria. But when the two women discover the power of the stolen dreams, they unwittingly become the killer’s next target.
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“Ritz does a brilliant job of making us care about what happens to her characters and is a master of detail. Impossible to put down!”
There’s a mix of mysticism and crime mystery here to keep the reader engaged. Celeste is an interesting character, kinda quirky. She woke up to a horrible dream, but feels the dream belongs to someone else. Tension arises when members in her cult suspect Celeste to have murdered her therapist.
This is a weird and creepy read. Not surprising as cults are weird and creepy. Celeste has fallen under the spell of Larry, a truly twisted man who has become a cult leader and therapist. When he is found murdered, his followers go a little wonky and Celeste is threatened by them as well as police who are part of the cult. The divide between the members and non members grows as do the threats. It is only through the help of an old friend does Celeste see the potential of light at the end of the tunnel. It’s an interesting dark who done it with a lot of twists and turns along the way.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review.
It wasn’t bad, just wasn’t my thing. I finished it and it was interesting though to me there were some very vague plot holes. Just wasn’t my thing.
This is a murder mystery unlike anything I’ve ever read. A small town setting, a cast of quirky characters, and a dead dream therapist all add up to an intriguing story. Celeste Fortune, haunted be her dreams, enlists the help of Larry and his Dreamland group-a cult-like group of dreamers. When she discover Larry’s bloody body, she becomes the prime suspect, and ends up in a living nightmare. Dreams are fascinating to us all, but in this twisty story, dreams take on a life of their own.
MY REVIEW
Linda Zagon’s review May 31, 2019 · edit
really liked it
Have you ever woken up by a dream that is so scary, that you have to catch your breath, and check surroundings to check if you are in reality? What is even worse, is that you remember this particular dream, and wonder if it will recur? Susan Z. Ritz, Author of “A Dream to Die For” writes about dreams in the day and nightmares. The Genres for this novel is Mystery, Suspense and Fiction. The story takes place in a charming, yet strange small New England Town. The timeline for this story is mostly in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events. Susan Z. Ritz describes her characters as quirky, unique, dysfunctional and dramatic.
Celeste Fortune is a Bartender in this small town, and is in therapy with Larry, to improve her life by discussing her dreams. Many of the other neighbors also go to Larry to discuss their dreams as well. Larry seems to have a nice size clientele. Usually, nothing goes wrong in this small town, but Celeste finds Larry dead. Also gone is his computer, with all his client’s information on it. Who could want Larry dead? Why would anyone want Larry dead?
There suddenly is a danger and another dead body. There seem to be some questionable characters. There are a mystical feel and magical essence in this story. At times it is difficult to tell reality from fantasy. I would recommend this novel for those readers who enjoy an unusual mystery.
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