Customer Reviews

Nightmare

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used to read every Nixon book I could get my hands on at the library a long time ago. I still read YA books from time to time (esp as I'd like to write them), and was pleased to see there were some newer ones than those I remembered. I picked this up to give it a shot. The writing is fine, as I did want to keep reading it. But it started better than it ended. There were moments in the beginning that I laughed out loud at. I would have liked her to explore Emily's relationship with her friends more though and I felt the climax was seriously rushed. I also would have liked to see Emily's family's reactions to everything that happened. It was enjoyable, but the realtionships could have been worked through better. I'm a hopeless romantic, so I wish they'd done a bit more with Maxwell, but the promising start kind of tapered off by the end. Maybe it could have just used an extra chapter. I'd recommend some of Nixon's older mysteries before this one. But this wasn't bad.

Emily Wood is the main character in Joan Lowery Nixon's latest book, NIGHTMARE. She is a sixteen-year-old who has been dubbed an "underachiever" by her teachers and parents. They believe this stems from the pressure Emily feels to live up to her two near-perfect older sisters. But her feelings go much deeper than that.

For years, Emily has suffered from a recurring nightmare of a dead body. She does not know who the victim is or where it's happening, but the nightmare is so vivid and strong that it has intruded her world while she's awake. To feel safe, Emily has begun hiding herself: growing her hair long so it covers her face, sitting quietly in the back of her classes, floating invisibly through life.

Emily's parents want to see her succeed in school and in all areas of life, so they enroll her in a summer program called Camp Excel, a radical clinic that specializes in new techniques to reach those hard-to-reach kids. Emily doesn't want to go, but her parents leave her no choice. Once there she meets Haley, her too-perky roommate who believes in the Runes and fortune telling. She also meets Taylor, a girl with spiked hair that's dyed pink. There is also Maxwell, a playwright wannabe.

During classes and therapy, Emily spies a portrait of the woman whose dead body she sees in her nightmare. This is when the trouble begins for Emily. Someone does not want her to remember that her nightmare really happened. This someone begins to hatch a plan to take care of Emily once and for all.

There are many twists and turns in this novel; readers will not be sure of Emily's fate or who the killer in her nightmare turns out to be. Readers, like Emily, will have a very difficult time trusting certain characters.

Emily is a believable heroine, and her chilling story will keep readers involved from beginning to end. Nixon has another winner on her hands with NIGHTMARE.

--- Reviewed by Melissa A. Martin (Melissaenglish72@yahoo.com)

Sixteen year old Emily is less than thrilled to be on her way to Camp Excel, a camp designed to motivate underachievers. She is even more unsettled at having one of her reoccurring nightmares happen on her ride to the camp. In her dream, Emily looks right into a dead woman's face, floating in the water, staring back at her. What is it about Camp Excel that disturbs her memory, but won't let her remember? Suspense builds as Emily has a feeling she is being stalked. An ominous symbol casually picked from a roommate's rune collection adds to her apprehensions. As Emily pieces her memories together, she starts making sense of the murder in the nightmare she experienced as a child, and all the staff members in camp become suspect. When a fellow student at camp is attacked, Emily is sure she was the intended victim. The plot thickens and the suspense intensifies as the reader encounters intermittent chapters revealing the evil thoughts of an anonymous voice that works at the camp and is plotting Emily's demise.

Joan Lowery Nixon has constructed a quick read, yet an intricate mystery, which readers should find appealing. Her characters are quirky, to fit in with the dysfunctional theme of the camp; but also trendy enough to be valid. There's Taylor, with her spiked pink hair; Maxwell, the procrastinating playwright; and Haley, Emily's roomate with a hyper personality and an obsession with fortune telling. Interjecting the anonymous voice in alternating chapters heightens apprehension and sets the reader to guessing. Emily is being stalked, but by who, and why? Nixon performs a great job of increasing the complexity of details without letting the reader be able to foretell the cullprit. Emily's initial insecurity gives way to reveal new found confidence, leaving the readers feeling she is on her way to a more successful future.

As a child, Emily witnessed a murder which left her psychologically scarred.Now, the murderer is after her, but Emily never saw the murderer's face.It could be one of many people and Emily must find out whom.
A decent mystery, but I could not stand Haley and her stupid runes.

This book is about a girl named Emily, who is nothing like her family. Her parents think she is not smart enough for school, so when they send her to and underachiever's camp in Dallas, TX, Emily is far from thrilled! Ever since she was eight years old, Emily has been haunted by a nightmare about murder. Now when she sees the camp, something seems familiar. Then she realizes, whet if the dream was not a dream? What if it is a memory that will put Emily in danger as long as she is at camp? This book is a page-turner, as anyone who reads it jumps out of his or her seat. Nightmare was a very, very good book that will stop your heart. This book was amazing! It was like a nonstop suspense movie. (If you like scary stories of course). I would definitely recommend it! READ IT! NOW!

I especially liked this book because it was suspenseful. It was extremely entertaining and I didn't want to put it down. I read most of it in one night, and I have probably never read a mystery thriller like this: it was short and sweet.

Emily Wood has nightmares about seeing a bloody body, half in, half out of the water. She has no idea what this dream is, or who the body is. When her parents send her to a six-week learning camp, she finds out who the body was and learns that the murderer is trying to kill Emily.

I won't give away the rest. Just read it. It's a really great book and a great mystery. You might want to check it out from a library first, because this book might not be interesting to some.

Oh yeah, and to the person who said they never say who the murderer is, read the last couple chapters again. You're wrong.

This is the best mystery book I've ever read.It was exciting, easy to read, and it never gave the answer to who was the killer. It was sort of like AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, because at any point in the book you couldn't tell who did the crime.

The author also gave a great mysterious setting which makes it creepy . He also made the killer write journal entries every other chapter telling what and how he was going to kill but he never gave any clue to who he was. That made it even more creepy beasue he would say stuff in his entries like," how am I going to kill her, she keeps running away. I love this book.

Review by: The Muffin Man

I loved the book Nightmare by Joan Lowery Nixon. This book is scary an has a ending that will stop you heart. Also Joan Lowery Nixon has a style that will make you wet your pants. She uses describing words that are complex! You don't even know if they are words.

Joan Lowery Nixon's details are so great! She makes you feel like your the main character in the book. This book never bored me, its nonstop suspense. If your into mysteries then this book is the perfect one for you. Don't read if you don't like the intensely scary. Also the ending will shock you to bits.

It's crazy, I don't how one person can come up with this web of freaking connecting strings. The plot is so crazy. Taking place at a overnight camp with two friends she met there. I go to camp every year and Im going to use this as a ghost story. Joan sneaks in little details that you think will have no purpose until you find the ending. Those little sneaky details make up the complex web of a book. Joan also has many other mystery books. She an author all about mystery. If you don't like mystery then this book is not for you.

In conclusion in a 1-10 rating, this book is a seven. I wasn't sure about this book at first, It starts off slow, but then Jon really throws in at you. It is almost to much suspense to take at once. This book is really great. And guys the main character is a girl, don't let that from stop you from reading this book. Joan Lowery Nixon really did a good job with this one people. Read this book, it is really great and so very suspenseful.

I bought this as a gift for my grandaughter. She really enjoyed "Nightmare", and the book was in excellant condition, as well! I would have no problem ordering more books.