Jack vowed to find the missing boys, but will he risk his daughter’s life to save them?“I picked this up and could. Not. Put. It. Down. I kept thinking about it for weeks afterward.” – Alex S.A kidnapper scribbles quotes on three abduction notes. His fourth mentions Detective Jack Daly’s six-year-old daughter, Mikala. Jack crumbles the note in the palm of his hand and slips it into a pocket.In … slips it into a pocket.
In this page-turning crime thriller, four words on Christian stationery force a father to work alone while narrowing a web of suspects and identifying a kidnapper.
Years before, Jack married into a family rumored to have a sixth sense, but he had no idea his daughter might inherit that “gift.” Now three boys are missing, Mikala is dreaming of them, and his normal, mundane world spirals into mayhem as he juggles two unfathomable tasks: saving the boys and protecting his daughter.
Who is the abductor and why did he mention Mikala? Is he someone they know?
“Think you have it figured out? You don’t.” – Janet V.”
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An Innovative Thriller. My favorite character in Dream Wide Awake is Lisa, who is married to Jack Daly, a detective working on the case of three missing local boys. Lisa was clairvoyant from a young age and shares that gift with her grandmother, her sister, and her daughter. I especially enjoyed her relationship with her grandmother, which is shown to us in flashbacks. While the first half of the book is certainly enjoyable, it is the second half that had me reading faster and faster and faster to find out what happens next. The book is full of interesting characters with just the right amount of red herrings to keep you constantly guessing. A wonderful whodunnit and a great thrill ride.
Dream Wide Awake is so enthralling, that you will be pulled in right from the very first page. There are so many twists and turns in the plot and the character’s personalities, that you will be continually second guessing your sleuth-skill tactics. So realistic, I was continually wondering if this was fiction…or not?
Are there these people among us? And would we recognize them? Does our government have a secret viewing program and we don’t have a clue? This author will clearly have you opening your mind to all kinds of possibilities!
Loved “Dream WideAwake”. Can’t wait for a sequel as so many interesting characters that I want to follow. Could not put this one down! Think you have it figured out?… you don’t!
CJ Zahner takes you into the world of ESP and insight at multiple levels in this suspense thriller. It makes the reader guessing the outcome until the last sentences.
A captivating tale with some very intriguing characters. So many twists and secrets that it will keep you guessing throughout the story. Will certainly make you wonder about somethings. The author certainly has a knack to weave a story so the reader is grab from the very beginning and will become totally immersed in the story. I felt like I was experiencing it all along with the characters. Definitely recommend this one.
Dream Wide Awake is a fascinating, suspenseful page-turner that had me completely captivated from the start. I will admit that I have always been interested in dreams and the interpretations of them so this book really caught my attention. The characters are well developed, the story is well written and this author has created an amazing world that could definitely become a book series or a tv show. If dreams have always intrigued you I highly recommend you read this book.
“Dream Wide Awake” has so many storylines that draw you in and drive you to keep turning the pages. A kidnapping mystery, family drama and psychic thriller rolled into one with plenty of material for prequels and sequels. C.J. Zahner is able to weave a web of interlocking characters and puzzles that will have you unraveling all night long! I especially enjoyed how she wove her hometown into the storyline and did not find the need to escape to a generic metropolis.
Dream Wide Awake is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
From the first chapter that grabbed my attention to the final epilogue that ended like the perfect movie, this yarn kept my attention to the end.
It’s the perfect blend of cat-and-mouse with a psychic kidnapped being tackled by another psychic. But this is not just any psychic; it’s a little girl called Mikala from a family of “witches”. It contains the backdrop of government projects too!
I enjoyed the characters, their backstories, and everything fit together well.
Highly recommended
Loved the suspense. It really held my interest and I almost hated to see it end. I liked the short chapters that made me feel like the book was flying by.
This suspenseful page-turner will keep you guessing until the very end. Great characters – love little Mikala. Found the whole Project Dream concept very interesting. I can easily see this being a series with this group of characters, and would love a prequel to see what happened to the group of “Dreamers” when they were younger. Once again, this author has given us a great read and I look forward to her next one!
Dream Wide Awake is CAPTIVATING. It quickly pulled me in with its intriguing characters and story line. The character development and engaging writing style more than held my interest throughout. I had to force myself to put it down. I was kept in suspense until the end, and still finding myself thinking about some of the characters.
I normally don’t read fiction, but was glad I took the time to read Dream Wide Awake. This well written book becomes a page turner from the first chapter. The characters are well developed, making the entire book enjoyable!
A must read! It was a page turner all the way through. Just when you think you have it figured out, your surprised by what would happen next, and then it’s nothing what you expected. An excellent unpredictable story that keeps you guessing. Can’t wait for more from this author!
What amazing psychological thriller this is! I admittedly haven’t ventured far from my preferred genre of Historical fiction, but I am so glad I decided to try something new. From the first page until the last, this book gripped me. The characters were fantastic, and I especially loved Mikala and found the entire concept chilling, captivating and unique. Extremely well done and I highly recommend!
Wow! This book is fantastic. If you like psychological thrillers this is one of the best I have read. If that genre is not your usual style this is so well written it might just change your mind. It’s action packed, very tense and full of drama. The tension builds from the first page and continues throughout. There are also lighter moments that bring a smile to your face, the interactions between Mikala and her brothers are really cute and sweet, and these mean the story never gets too intense to enjoy and appreciate. The book maintains a really good pace, that makes it enjoyable to read. I love the way that even as the narrative moves across various times in the characters’ lives it still feels present and realistic and doesn’t impact the readability of the book.
The world created in this book is intriguing and compelling. The characters made me smile, their little idiosyncrasies made them so vivid that you can almost hear them as you read. It’s really wonderful how each character is fully realised and no matter how minor their role is in the story they stand out and have something memorable about them. I love the concept of using psychic skills to help make the world better and the way that is juxtaposed against the use of a person’s skills for more shady purposes.
The twists and turns mean that the reader’s idea of who the perpetrator is changes throughout and they are kept guessing about who it is until the very end, there is of course still no guarantee that the guess will be right. It is really worth reading.
Wow okay so I never read a book by this author before but Dam this book was Hella good. I couldn’t put it down at all. Didn’t take long for me to read it. Kept me pulled into it. Highly recommend this book and I already know a few people who love this book.
Author CJ Zahner lays the foundation for a suspenseful book using a creative license of dreams. The Government’s Dream Project is over, but the long-range impact was unknown.
Character development is powerful and believable, from the six-year-old Mikala discussing her dreams with her father, Detective Jack Daly, to the Monster Man. The trust between father and daughter is framed to perfection to grab readers. The reader knows immediately that family support is a mainstay of this story.
“Doubting his daughter’s words had long escaped him. Since she first explained about the movies—dreaming wide awake, she called the phenomena—their accuracy had dissolved any disbelief. But this couldn’t be. She must be wrong this time. Marky, the boy in her dreams, relayed movies of strangers. Visions that remarkably resembled abductions in their hometown.
Years before, he merely suspected she had inherited her mother’s gift. Now, he knew. She was Lisa’s replica. The one difference? Mikala was strong willed like her aunt Rachel, grounded at age six. Lisa couldn’t handle the dreams. Mikala could more than handle them. Like a miniature newscaster, she announced each scene to him until she came too close to the scary parts, and he nudged her by them. As an investigator promoted within the police force three years ago, the fact that his own daughter had a sixth sense was anything but coincidental. After all, his occupation and this curse of a trait so alive in his in-law’s family is what had led him to Lisa in the first place. But this was different. Now the gift—curse—befell his daughter. “Danny? As in your cousin Danny?””
Using dreams and psychic powers to locate missing children is only one piece of this deliciously complex tale. The layering of the investigative process takes the reader on a thrilling chase to find the culprit. Author Zahner leads the reader to several viable yet wrong conclusions on the identity of the criminal.
The paranormal aspects of this story play perfectly to the psychological elements. It is part of why this novel is an incredible page-turner. With my fondness for mystical experiences and dreams, I found a distinctive storyline, compelling well-development characters, and realistic dialog kept me engaged from page 1 to the very end. If you enjoy outstanding paranormal storytelling, then this book is for you.
A thriller that keeps you thinking until the very end. Lots of twists and turns so you never know what direction to go in. Great read!!
The book was amazing and his daughter’s gift made it gut wrenching. The book leads you on a red herring chase and makes you think and wonder who the kidnapper is. The characters are well developed. The book is suspenseful, intriguing, and eventful. Loved the book and give it a 5.
I found this very difficult to read. Mikala has inherited a sixth sense from her mother, and now its her dreams which could hold the key to finding kidnapped children. This is a complex psychological thriller with a number of twists and turns.