Day 279 - Once Upon a Nightmare

Once Upon a Nightmare

Lee Moylan

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: October 2008

Publisher: Crystal Dreams Publishing

Pages: 280

Author Site: http://www.leemoylan.com/

My Rating: 3.75/5

Synopsis [from amazon.com]:

On the night of October thirteenth, the Hunter's Moon descended upon the quiet town of White Chapel. As Sara Bishop drifted off to sleep under its soft illumination, the full moon seemed to have brought with it something far more sinister than a warm glow. At once, the nightmare started. But this wasn't any ordinary nightmare… This one seemed real ─ as if she could smell it, feel it, taste it. It was one of those dreams ─ one that awakened her witch-like sense ─ a harbinger of heartbreak and now, horror.

Together with Rebecca Parker, the only other person who understood her gift, someone who had experienced her own strange senses, Sara hoped to come to terms with this ominous nightmare. But her closest friend and next door neighbor was no where to be found ─ not since the night of October thirteenth. And so it begins. With little help from her skeptical husband or local police, Sara finds herself virtually alone as her grisly dreams crawl from the darkness to become a sick and twisted reality ─ a reality where she has become the ultimate desire of a sadistic serial killer.

As images of death, phantoms and shadows surround Sara in this Halloween season, she needs to listen to the whispers in her mind, use her gift, to unmask those around her, for one of them is the man from her nightmare. And he sees her when she's sleeping… He knows when she's awake. When the next full moon descends upon White Chapel, he will reveal himself to her. And under its silvery glow, a new nightmare will be born. Will Sara Bishop have to experience death itself to stop this killer? Or will her nightmare never end?

Review:

Sara Bishop has a terrifying nightmare one night in October; the night of the Hunter’s Moon. This isn’t your typical nightmare either. This one seems far too real to Sara. It doesn’t just frighten her; it seems to wake up her “other” sense. A sense she’s had for as long as she can remember, it has always told her when things were a little off.

The next morning Sara hopes to talk to her best friend and neighbor, Rebecca Parker. Rebecca shares Sara’s gift and is the only one that truly understands what she’s going through. Maybe Rebecca had a similar experience… Maybe Sara’s gift is warning her of something. But Rebecca isn’t answering her door or her phone.

The entire weekend Sara worries about Rebecca and where she can be. Her senses tell her something is terribly wrong. But her husband tells her it’s nothing and Rebecca is surely safe. When Sara can’t take it anymore she marches over to the house. The scene that awaits Sara is bloody and horrific and marks the beginning of a serial killer’s rampage. Little does Sara know that this serial killer now has his eye on her.

I was warned that the book may be graphic and intense by Lee Moylan herself. With that in mind I found scenes that could be highly uncomfortable for some readers, but I thought they were brutally honest and set the tone very well for the book. I was definitely pulled in by the atmosphere of Lee’s writing and the characters she fleshed out. ONCE UPON A NIGHTMARE is a bloody mystery/thriller that I really enjoyed. I was guessing who the killer was the entire time and was still surprised at the end!

It’s easy to see Lee Moylan’s love for forensic science and passion for it in her writing. I think if you’re in search of an intense thriller, you should definitely pick this up. It’ll make you keep flipping through the pages until you find out who the killer is. Be wary if you don’t like gory scenes, otherwise go out and get a copy!

P.S. Stay tuned for a giveaway and interview tomorrow =)