REVIEW - Dreams and Nightmares

Title: Dreams and Nightmares

Author: Ann Werner

Blurb:

On what feels like the worst day of her life, instead of getting an expected marriage proposal, Decker Jones is dumped by her boyfriend of three years. Her heartbreak is tempered with joy when she receives the news that after ten long years of trying to get noticed, top literary agent Lillian Cardone has agreed to represent her, moving her a giant leap forward towards the dream of becoming a bestselling author.

Albert Crawford is a career bank robber who is planning to retire to live the good life in Mexico after pulling one last job. Things go horribly wrong when a bank guard is killed. Three time loser Albert is arrested and sent to spend the rest of his life in prison. Two different people. Two different futures on a collision course. Neither can imagine what the future holds.

Review:

For most of the book, I had no idea how Albert and Decker’s lives would intersect.  That Werner managed to keep that under wraps is impressive.  The book shifts from one character’s story to another until they intersect in the last quarter of the book.  The stories are interesting in their own right, but trying to sort out how they will come together – and then watching them collide – is what makes Dreams and Nightmares so compelling.

The story is well thought-out and well written.  The characters are believable and the descriptions evocative.

I enjoyed this book a great deal and would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a novel that’s neither fluffy nor weighty but just right. 

Rating: 4 stars