Today I have a Sci-Fi and psychological thriller for you : Life and Other Dreams by Richard Dee.
Rick lives here on Earth now, with Cath. His life is boring,
writing adverts for cat food and exotic holidays. When he’s asleep, he dreams
vividly.
In his dreams, he lives as Dan, spending his time with his
wife Vanessa. They live six-hundred years in the future, half a galaxy away.
They’re explorers, searching for valuable minerals on Ecias, an alien paradise.
Dan has no dreams about Rick’s life, he lives on Ecias,
loves his life and Vanessa.
When the two worlds overlap, Rick starts to question what is
real. Events in his waking and sleeping lives are mirrored, similar people
inhabit both and coincidences mount up. Then disaster strikes in each world at
the same time. In his dreams, Dan is accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
Meanwhile, after one coincidence too many, Cath thinks that Rick’s dreams are
hiding an affair and leaves him.
Is Rick going crazy, or can he be living in two places, in
two times, at once? If not, then which one of them is the reality? Will one
life carry on when the other is on hold?
Richard Dee's fast-paced, edgy science fiction -cum-
psychological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last
page!
My Thoughts
This is a novel with two story threads which interweave, leaving you unsure which is real, if either. To Rick, and Dan, both existences feel authentic and as Dan, he knows details about another world which Rick has no idea of back on Earth. The two women, Cath and Vanessa are so different- a fact which confuses Rick. Cath's reactions may seem a little over the top but the impression I get of her is that she likes to control everything and that includes, Rick's dreams!
The descriptions of life on Ecias teem with detail and you feel you can see, hear and smell the environment there. As the dreams of life on Ecias spill over into Rick's life on Earth, you feel the suspense begin to rachet up. The best part has to be the final twist which nicely sets up a sequel.
In short: two worlds collide in the dreams of one man.
About the Author
Richard Dee is a native of Brixham in Devon. He left Devon
when he was in his teens and settled in Kent. Leaving school at 16 he briefly
worked in a supermarket, then went to sea and travelled the world in the
Merchant Navy, qualifying as a Master Mariner in 1986.
Coming ashore to be with his growing family, he used his
sea-going knowledge in several jobs, working as a Marine Insurance Surveyor and
as Dockmaster at Tilbury, before becoming a Port Control Officer in Sheerness
and then at the Thames Barrier in Woolwich.
In 1994 he was head-hunted and offered a job as a Thames
Estuary Pilot. In 1999 he transferred to the Thames River Pilots, where he
regularly took vessels of all sizes through the Thames Barrier and upriver as
far as HMS Belfast and through Tower Bridge. In all, he piloted over 3,500
vessels in a 22-year career with the Port of London Authority.
Richard is married with three adult children and three
grandchildren.
His first science-fiction novel Freefall was published in
2013, followed by Ribbonworld in 2015. September 2016 saw the publication of
his Steampunk adventure The Rocks of Aserol and of Flash Fiction, a collection
of Short Stories. Myra, the prequel to Freefall was published in 2017, along
with Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café, a murder mystery set in space and
the start of a series featuring Andorra Pett, an amateur detective. Sequels to
Ribbonworld and The Rocks of Aserol have been published, together with a second
Andorra Pett story, Andorra Pett on Mars. He also contributed a story to the
1066 Turned Upside Down collection. Richard is currently working on prequels, sequels,
and new projects.
You can find out more about Richard on his website at
richarddeescifi.co.uk/. Head over there to see what he gets up to, click the FREE STUFF tab or the PORTFOLIO tab to get all the details about his work and pick up
a free novel or short story.
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Thanks for hosting, I'm glad you liked the story. Richard D.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
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