Sherrilyn Kenyon, The Dream Hunter

The Dream Hunter

Sherrilyn Kenyon

St. Martin's, Feb 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0312938810

Zeus cursed the Oneroi to drift through the dreams of humans for eternity. Arik is one of these Dream Gods, a demon who coldly preys on those who are sleeping as this is the only time he can feel emotions. Millenniums have past, but for Arik diverging through humanity's nocturnal fantasies have become tedious with no end in sight until now. He has found a fascinating target, Dr. Megeara Kafieri.

She dreams of proving that her disgraced late father is right that Atlantis was real as she made him a deathbed promise to restore what his quest wrought the family name. Thus she is in Greece with plans to prove Plato's island is right where her dad said it is, but her quest seems doomed to failure as every possible misfortune occurs as if the Gods want to prevent her success. Megeara is shocked when she fishes out of the sea the man who has haunted her dreams seemingly forever as she assumed he was a figment of her imagination. Unbeknownst to Megeara, as she falls in love with Arik, he has cut a deal with Hades to allow him two weeks as a human in exchange for her soul. As she realizes he is a legendary Oneroi, he knows he must kill her since humans are prohibited from knowing about his "species", but his problem is that two weeks as a human is enough time to fall in love with the mortal, an even bigger taboo.

A sidebar series to the Dark-Hunter tales, the first Oneroi romantic fantasy is a fabulous tale that showcases the complex Kenyon universe. The storyline is action-packed, but owned by the forbidden relationship between the Dream God and his victim. The Dream Hunter can stand alone as a superb thriller, but also provides tantalizing clues to the larger pantheon so this delightful saga of forbidden love is must reading for fans of the Dark Hunter tales.

Harriet Klausner