Customer Reviews

Falling Awake

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is a good (but not great) JAK novel. All of the wonderful writing that one expects from her is present, and the book is well plotted and extremely well researched. It may lack a little of the magic of her best work, but it is still a very good read and better than most of the books in this genre that you will find on the market today. I would have liked a somewhat stronger heroine, and the book does start out a little slow. These are minor considerations; the really fascinating dream research more than compensates for these small lacks.

Definitely recommended.

As other reviewers have said, this is one of JAK's finest - several story threads, woven together in an tight, unexpected way, with plenty of her signature humor and intelligent dialog. Other reviewers have ably described the plot. Although the Publisher's Weekly editorial says the story is 'based on psychology that defies reason', I suggest that JAK has pushed the bounds of believability no more than any good writer. In fact, on page 215, JAK lists several dream research authors - all of whom can be found on Amazon! If you enjoy JAK, or Jayne Castle, there's no reason not to add this to your library.

Isabel Wright analyzes dreams at the Belvedere Center for Sleep Research. Her work is very high level and no one is privy to what her work actually entails. She has the uncanny ability to not only interpret dreams but correct things that go wrong in them. She currently only has two clients, but she has been helping them since she has been at the center. The dreams that she has been working on disturb her, and she secretly has a crush on one of her clients that she only knows as Client #2. When Dr Belvedere is found dead, and his son takes over the center, he fires Isabel thinking her type of work is frivolous and against the reputation he wants to build at Belvedere.

Client #2 is Ellis Cutler. He has used Isabel's talents to solve police cases that are unsolvable, and has recently relocated to California to be near Isabel. He feels the same connection to her, as she does to him. When he finds out her employment has been terminated, he decides to get close to her in order to bring her on with his former employer. Ellis wants Isabel to help him solve a murder, and doesn't hesitate to use her to do it, but when Isabel becomes the next potential victim, he vows to protect her. When Ellis and Isabel discover that Dr. Belvedere was indeed murdered, the need to solve these mysteries becomes paramount.

I thought that the chemistry was lacking between Ellis and Isabel. It was not written to be very believable for two people to fall in love in their dreams in such a short time, and so I wasn't buying the story from the beginning.

I enjoy most books by this writer but I think this book is one of her best to date. I loved the characters and the direction Ms. Krentz took them into. Fun Story!

I totally agree with the other reviewers! I won't rehash the story (they did a fine job). Suffice it to say, it's a must read. One of her best. Enjoy!

Lucid dreaming is the ability to control one's dreams and be able to find answers to questions and problems that one can't obtain when awake. Isabel Wright, a level five dreamer, works at the Belvedere Center for Sleep Research where she analyzes the dreams of other lucid dreamers. When her boss dies and his son takes over, he fires Isabel who intends to be a free-lancer. He doesn't realize until it is too late that without her work, the company will go bankrupt in a few months. He is determined to lure her back to his company.

One of Isabel's anonymous clients is Ellis Cuttler, an operative for a black ops organization; he believes lucid dreaming can help solve murder investigations. His director orders Ellis to do whatever it takes to bring Isabel into the operation. Ellis and Isabel have dreamed about each other for months before they even met and an instant attraction flares to life as soon as they do meet. The road to happiness is bumpy because someone is gunning for Ellis and doesn't care how many innocent victims get killed in the crossfire.

Jayne Ann Krentz has written another fantastic romantic suspense novel that will satiate her myriad of fans who eagerly looking forward to the next tale as the author always scores a five on a five star rating system; FALLING AWAKE is no exception. The support cast is as quirky as ever and the protagonists are thoroughly likeable and effortlessly to care about. The action is fast paced with plenty of action scenes but characterizations are not neglected. Each key person in the FALLING AWAKE is a three dimensional individual whose motivations are easy to understand.

Harriet Klausner

Romantic suspense with a touch of the paranormal is the basis for the newest Krentz novel. Isobel Wright has finally obtained a job that taps into her ability to "read" dreams. One mysterious client of Belvedere Center for Dream Research is becoming an integral part of Isobel's dreams. When Dr. Belvedere dies, Isobel is fired, and must scramble to get herself from the brink of financial ruin. Enter Ellis Cutler, sent by a super secret government agency to bring Isobel into their realm. The two combine forces to find the rogue agent who attempted to kill Ellis and who wants to take over the agency.

Usually I'm captured at the very beginning of a Krentz novel, this one didn't get me from the start but gradually it won me over. If you haven't read a Krentz novel before, try one of her others, unless you're into the paranormal.

A lot of people are a little tired of JAK's style of writing. I happen to still enjoy it. No zany characters or stupid pets involved. She adds a strange paranormal twist but I still am interested in the book. I wish there had been a little bit more in the romance department. I was really surprised at who the villian was. Keep up the good work!

It was bound to happen. A romance novel in which the heroine's man of her dreams is literally the man of her dreams. For Isabel Wright, meeting Ellis Cutler is a dream come true. She is a dream analyst working for the Belvedere Center for Sleep Research. She knows him as Client Number Two, an intriguing man who is able to dream on a level that allows him to actually solve crimes in his sleep. In FALLING AWAKE Jayne Ann Krentz probes into the paranormal to explore the fascinating realm of dream research.

Isabel Wright is not only a dream analyst, she is herself a Level Five dreamer --- one who is able to solve problems, gain deep insights, and actually preview future events while in a dream state. But her dream job is suddenly disrupted when she finds Dr. Martin Belvedere, her mentor and employer, dead in his office. One of the first things that Randolph --- his son and heir --- does is fire Isabel, not realizing that it is her work for a top-secret government agency that is keeping the Belvedere Center afloat.

Jack Lawson, who heads Frey-Salte --- a cover operation for the agency --- sees an opportunity to hire Isabel and dispatches Ellis to convince her to work for him directly. Ellis is happy to comply since he has come to think of his dream analyst as "Tango Dancer" and has been trying to devise a way to meet her in person. However, he has been working ceaselessly to prove that another Level Five, Vincent Scargill, did not die in a recent operation but has turned rogue and is killing people who may be on to his scheme. Finding Scargill, meeting his dream girl, and solving several mysterious deaths provide enough excitement to make FALLING AWAKE a real page-turner.

With her exceptional flair for pulling a multitude of elements together while mixing in some surprises and sizzling romance, FALLING AWAKE will satisfy fans who eagerly await each new novel from this prolific author.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding

Jayne Ann Krentz is back dancing on the high wire in the center ring! This is typical JAK at her very best, but at the same time just a wee bit different from her usual range, pushing over more into her Jayne Castle territory. With Paranormal Romance hitting big numbers this one should do well for her.

It's a very clever story, a bit more intricate than some JAK's of late. Isabel Wright works at the Belvedere Center for Sleep Research at in "iffy" job of dream analyzer. She is a Level Five dreams, and has a preternatural talent of being able to tell everyone what their dreams mean. She is happy with her steady job and finally has money to splurge on things to change her life. She sees herself as a woman with so much inside, but fears the rest of the world dismisses her as humdrum. She wants a man to notice her, think she is a vivacious woman with a lot of risk and daring to her character. She has a new wardrobe, and a haircut Mr. Nicholas her hairdresser assures her makes her sexy. But with an ex-boyfriend still calling her Izzy and says her haircut is "cute", she fears her dreams - real dreams may never come true. Worse, her cushy job is on the line. Her boss the elder Dr. Belvedere has just died, and the Dr. Belvedere the younger is determined to take the sleep clinic into commercial application. Isabel sees this as a violation of the decades of solid research done by his father. When she resists his plans, he fires her, little understanding that Isabel is the key to the whole company and it's survival. Isabel sees this is a chance to go freelance, but Belvedere, once he realizes his stupidity, is determined to lure her back to the firm before it goes belly up.

Ellis Cuttler is a freelance operative for a Black Ops firm called Frey-Salter - a highly classified government agency - that works in the shadows. One of their workers Katherine Ralston has been murdered and Ellis blames himself. Though working on his own, he still accepts work for Frey-Salter and blames himself for Katherine's death. He felt he should've seen it coming, because he is not your usual operative. He uses his dreams to "manhunt". He goes to a scene of a crime, stores all the images and facts and later uses his Level Five dreaming to analyze the information - actually walking through the murders as if he were there.

Ellis is a patient of Isabel's and she is concerned about the dreams of violence she analyzes for him, fearing they are real memories. She knows him as patient #2. He's met him in his dreams and calls her "tango dancer" in his mind. Finally, a man who sees the "real" Isabel, the exciting, daring Isabel waiting to be set free! Isabel and Ellis, unknowing about the other, have actually been sharing dreams for months, so when he brings Isabel into his operation to find Katherine's murderer, to help analyze his dreams, their attraction is hot and instantaneous. However, by using Isabel to catch a killer, he's now made her a target, too.

This is JAK at her top form. The characters are quirky, warm, sexy and will steal your heart. One of the best under the JAK name this decade. Absolutely divine!

2004 Reviewers International Organization Finalist in Best Paranormal Romance Catagory