Falling Awake [Mass Market Paperback]

Client Number Two's real name is Ellis Cutler. He works for a highly classified government agency with an interest in the potential value of lucid dreaming. His boss (Jack Lawson, one of the other two clients) informed Ellis that Dr. Belvedere has died and wants him to make contact with Isabel Wright. (Belvedere's son has taken over the business. Firing Isabel and getting rid of the dream department is one of his first decisions.) Jack wants Isabel on his payroll. Ellis has always been amazed at how well Isabel interprets his dreams. She has helped the agency on many cases and never knew it. Ellis has mentally dubbed her as "tango dancer".

Ellis pushes his fantasies of Isabel out of his mind and tries to maintain a professional relationship with her. When they meet, everything just seems to CLICK. It is like a dream come true; however, the nightmare is only beginning. A suspicious hit-and-run leads them into a perilous web of passion, betrayal, mysteries, and murders.

** First off, let me say that I LOVE this author! I own every single hard back that Jayne Ann Krentz has ever released and in large print when able. Her title "FAMILY MAN" is my all time favorite book of the genre. Yet for the first time ever, I am sorely disappointed.... The author has kept the psychic subplot running that I, and many of her fans, love so much. However, the relationship between the hero and heroine has slowly changed over time. It no longer shows a strong heroine wanting to stand on her own two feet, but first must either (1) get the hero to take up his family duty so she no longer has to or (2) ask the hero for some temporary help. No matter which of the two are used, the hero already has his eye on her (or at least admires/desires her) and plans to do as she asks but keep her close by his side. Now an outside influence is pushing the main characters together.

In addition, the lucid dream theory seems too weak for this type of story. The whole thing came across to me as fake. On the other hand, the plot is pretty sound, I could tell the author did her research on the subject matter, and the entire book is extremely well written. If you are a die hard fan of this author, by all means purchase the hard back. (I did.) Otherwise, consider waiting until the paperback is released or haunt a used book store. **

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews. Read more ›

Client Number Two's real name is Ellis Cutler. He works for a highly classified government agency with an interest in the potential value of lucid dreaming. His boss (Jack Lawson, one of the other two clients) informed Ellis that Dr. Belvedere has died and wants him to make contact with Isabel Wright. (Belvedere's son has taken over the business. Firing Isabel and getting rid of the dream department is one of his first decisions.) Jack wants Isabel on his payroll. Ellis has always been amazed at how well Isabel interprets his dreams. She has helped the agency on many cases and never knew it. Ellis has mentally dubbed her as "tango dancer".

Ellis pushes his fantasies of Isabel out of his mind and tries to maintain a professional relationship with her. When they meet, everything just seems to CLICK. It is like a dream come true; however, the nightmare is only beginning. A suspicious hit-and-run leads them into a perilous web of passion, betrayal, mysteries, and murders.

** First off, let me say that I LOVE this author! I own every single hard back that Jayne Ann Krentz has ever released and in large print when able. Her title "FAMILY MAN" is my all time favorite book of the genre. Yet for the first time ever, I am sorely disappointed.... The author has kept the psychic subplot running that I, and many of her fans, love so much. However, the relationship between the hero and heroine has slowly changed over time. It no longer shows a strong heroine wanting to stand on her own two feet, but first must either (1) get the hero to take up his family duty so she no longer has to or (2) ask the hero for some temporary help. No matter which of the two are used, the hero already has his eye on her (or at least admires/desires her) and plans to do as she asks but keep her close by his side. Now an outside influence is pushing the main characters together.

In addition, the lucid dream theory seems too weak for this type of story. The whole thing came across to me as fake. On the other hand, the plot is pretty sound, I could tell the author did her research on the subject matter, and the entire book is extremely well written. If you are a die hard fan of this author, by all means purchase the hard back. (I did.) Otherwise, consider waiting until the paperback is released or haunt a used book store. **

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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! Read more ›