I picked up the paperback version from the library because I like scary stories and the cover and blurb on the back seemed to promise that. (A woman and child running through what looks like a forest in the dark, and the font of the book title almost looking like it was written in blood, only black in color.) The prologue DID grab me. An event that I promise you won't see coming knocked the socks off me and I thought a great story was in store. Instead, the story didn't seem to match the cover and blurb on the back. The plot itself was pretty good, but the heroine got on my nerves. She and her child are in danger and lots of folks are risking their lives to save them and instead of appreciation, the heroine is utterly defiant through most of the book. It left me feeling as though they ought to just drop her off on the nearest street corner and leave her to fend for herself. Also, I didn't see anything on the cover or back to suggest that this was a romantic suspense story, and I don't like those at all. Granted, this wasn't at bad as the "her heaving bosom, his throbbing..." types, but as the outside of the book gave no hint of it coming, I was sad to see it in the story. The evil plot was pretty good; if this book was written without the romance or without such a hateful heroine, it would be MUCH better. ( )

Sophie is a sleep therapist, specialising in the night terrors that her 10 year old son, Michael, suffers from. Fresh out of college she invents a new drug called REM-4 to help insomniacs. Sophie's coworker, Sanborne, discovers a distinct usage of this medication. It is able to modify patient's behaviour in a way to generate an army of obedient and dutiful, zombie-like top notch killers. Sophie with the help of Matt Royd have to bring an end to Sanborne's plans.

I found this to be a predictable read. Good for sitting at the beach on a hot summers day. ( )

I found Killer Dreams a very laughable book. I don’t think Iris Johansen meant this work to be a comedy and it certainly was not funny. It was more the “You gotta be kidding me” type of laughter.

Here’s the setup in a nutshell: a brilliant biochemist, Sophie, has a son suffering from night terrors. She is working on a formula for a drug that will alleviate this problem. Her boss sees mind control possibilities and wants the formula so he can sell it to the highest bidder. She rebuffs the idea, is forced out of the company and he takes revenge. So far, if you’ve read or seen The Manchurian Candidate, you’ve got the idea, only it is drug induced blind obedience, not conditioning or brain implants.

Now the story becomes a parody. Enter not one, but two, former members of the original brain washing experiments. One is a clear “good guy” the other, a character named Royd, is described by other characters as “unstable” and “unpredictable”. I’ve got no problem, with characters like that, in fact they add to the story. What Johansen gives us is a guy who goes from being a plus ten on the good guy scale to plus ten on the dirty rotten SOB scale the space of a single period between sentences. He becomes Rambo and James Bond all at the same time and it does not work.

As expected, there is a lot of sexual tension between Royd and Sophie. He spends most of his time strutting around like a turkey at mating season while all the time telling her how good it will be in such a way that he gives late night infomercial pitch people a bad name. Why someone with Sophie’s supposed brains puts up with this is beyond me.

Supporting this is an equally bad cast of stereotypical bad guys, predictably alumnae of the same training school Royd went to, and mysterious good guy benefactors that just happen to have access to the resources needed to quell the bad guys’ plans. Yawn.

I am still trying to figure out what it was that kept me reading this to the expected end of the book. If you surgically removed all the over the top parody, this would make a decent sized novella or longer short story. I don't think the story would improve any, but at least your suffering through it would be diminished. If you are into romance thrillers, this story may do it for you. If you prefer them as separate genres, however, this is a definite buzz killer. My over all impression is under average. I even feel that is being generous as I’m adding at least one star because I did feel compelled to stay with the book until the end. ( )

This book starts in an unbelievable, shocking beginning, and from then on the action doesn't stop. Terror reigns on every page,and the book is hard to put down once started.

Love, Love, Love this book!! In my opinion one of the best from Iris so far. It starts out with a bang and then just keeps up the pace throughout the whole book. Not one dull moment in this one i promise... If your not an Iris fan , you will be after you read this one. ( )