Continuing a character he introduced in his novel "Book Of Dreams", Davis Bunn has created a new thriller dealing with the aspects of the financial crisis around the globe.
In "Book of Dreams" we met Elena Burroughs a psychiatrist who specialized in dream interpretation. She is a confident, professional, a prayerful believer. She is approached by the wife of a government official about a recurring dream. It comes to light that several other people are having the same dream. The group works and prays together to solve the callings of God through these dreams. Through no real fault of her own, Elena’s interpretation and actions cause her house to be burned down, her office ransacked and the loss of her job. This is the point where we meet Elena in the sequel “Hidden in Dreams”. Elena has moved from Oxford, England to Florida and accepted a teaching position at a small Christian University. Because of her published book on dream interpretation, an executive of a pharmaceutical company contacts her to ask about a recurring dream that one of their test trial patients is having. The executive is hoping that the dream has nothing to do with a new drug for ADD they are developing and testing with the hope of bringing it to the market soon. Elena agrees to help, but begins to experience the same dream and finds that several people around the world are experiencing the dream as well. In this fast paced thriller we see Elena resort to prayer with trusted friends and other methods of investigation to find the clues behind these dreams. But these dreams are somehow different and she feels her prayers are unanswered.
Even though “Hidden in Dreams” is a sequel the two books can be read alone, the main character is the only carry over. I thoroughly enjoyed “Book of Dreams” finding it interesting, spiritual and exciting. I believed in the characters and while the dreams and the Christian interpretation of dreams was a new subject to me, I thoroughly believed that the group was able to work through the problems they faced through prayer and working together. In “Hidden in Dreams” the story seems rushed, with lots of loose ends that are never tied up such as the hurricane that seems a threat but never seems to get there or the budding love story between Elena and the college president that seems too quick. The book becomes more of a rushed thriller, with the characters rushing on planes from here to there and never really accomplishing anything. It rushes to a thriller typ ending that leaves the reader wanting more. The whole story feels more like a good outline for a good book.
If anything "Hidden in Dreams" debuncts all the good spiritual build up from the first book. It is almost as if Mr. Bunn is refuting everything he got you to believe in in the first book of the series. As thrillers go, “Hidden in Dreams” is a good, if short thriller as a read alone. I ,however, was really disappointed with the outcomes of this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255. ( )

Just when the world's foremost expert on dream analysis, Dr. Elena Burroughs, thinks she is getting her life back under control after losing her position at Oxford University and the man she hoped to fall in love with, she is approached by Rachel Lamprey, the product manager of an innovative new ADHD treatment about to hit the market.

Rachel asks for Elena's help with a clinical trial participant who has had a disturbing dream foretelling a cataclysmic global financial collapse. But even more alarming is the fact that fifteen people scattered across the globe - including Elena herself - begin to experience the same repetitive, devastating dreams of economic ruin just as one bank crisis follows another, suggesting that these aren't merely dreams.

As Elena searches for answers in her professional networks, she is forced to form an unlikely alliance with one of her most vehement critics and is drawn back into the spotlight as the public face of the so-called dreamers. Elena and her collaborators must race against the clock to find the connection between the dreams and the very real events threatening a financial meltdown. It's no longer about just dreams, it's about survival.

In the latest science fiction suspense thriller, Davis Bunn takes his readers on an action-packed, tightly twisted tale of the dream world and how simultaneously people all over the world are having the very same dream with prophetic results and dire consequences in the novel, Hidden in Dreams. Having read Davis Bunn's fictional novels in the past, I was immediately drawn to this one based in part by his amazing ability to engage the reader on one path and before you know it, you wind up somewhere completely unexpected with no knowledge of how you got there. Along the journey you encounter heart-stopping, page turning action and suspense that will make you finish this book in one sitting.

I received Hidden in Dreams by Davis Bunn compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster for my honest review and can't wait to pick up another of his books in the future. If you are the type of person who loves, suspense, action, along with a little mystery along the way coupled with a great Christian story line, then this is the perfect novel for you. I have to warn you, once you pick up Davis' book, you'll be a fan and want more. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars and now the wait begins for his next book, due out soon I hope. ( )