Worst Nightmares

by Shane Briant

Book Overview

Literary darling Dermot Nolan is out of ideas and has reached crisis point. Then an unsigned manuscript falls into his hands, titled 'My Worst Nightmares - My Delicious Memoirs.' It tells of a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159315514X
• ISBN13: 9781593155148
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Vanguard Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

From Judith at J. Kaye's Book Blog

Award winning author, Dermot Nolan is under pressure. His half-million dollar advance is spent and he can't seem to produce results. An unsolicited manuscript ends up in his mailbox. It's written by Albert K. Arnold and appears to be a memoir of a serial killer. Nolan and his wife investigate the murders to see if these were based on real people. What he discovers is chilling. When Arnold apparently jumps off a roof and dies, Nolan takes the man's work and publishes it as his own. Months later, when the book is a success and there is talk of a movie deal, Nolan gets a phone call. Seems like Albert Arnold wasn't the jumper on that roof and Nolan's worst nightmare begins to take form. The ending of the book was left to the reader's imagination. Normally, I'd throw a fit when this happens. With this story, it worked. When I finished the last page, I was done. I felt I knew what happened next and I didn't want anyone to tell me different. Hard to believe this phenomenal thriller is a debut. I can't wait to see what Shane Briant will come up with next!

A fascinating mystery thriller, sure to grip readers until the very end

One crime could lead to the solving of another. "Worst Nightmares" is the story of writer's block battling successful author Dermot Nolan. Crippled by his famine of creativity and unable to think, he starts to consider stealing an unknown author's manuscript, only to find this unknown author may have not been writing strictly fiction. "Worst Nightmares" is a fascinating mystery thriller, sure to grip readers until the very end.

An Author to Watch!

Dermot Nolan is a New York Times bestselling author who is suffering from a bit of writers block. He's already spent the million dollar advance he received from his publisher His bestselling book is being made into a movie. All of this success should be inspiring, but his creative juices are tapped out. Then one day, Nolan notices an old man depositing something into his mailbox. It's a manuscript detailing a series of horrific murders. Each murder is described in such vivid detail Nolan begins to wonder if they are real. The killer refers to himself as the The Dream Healer, and his Web site promises individuals relief from their nightmares. Unknowing victims log on to this site and reveal their nightmares, in real time, to The Dream Healer. Those suffering from nightmares due receive a release from their nightmares, but not the way they intended. The Dream Healer hunts them down and kill them by reinacting their nightmares. Nolan's wife, Neela, and his long-time friend Nick encourage Nolan to use the manuscript as a basis for his new novel. Nolan begins to research this crimes and discovers evidence the crimes were real. He allows the book to be published and it's an instant bestseller. However, The Dream Healer hasn't stopped killing. When a number of crimes detailed in Nolan's novel take place, he becomes a person of interest. His life and the lives of those he loves are put in danger. What will it take to stop The Dream Healer? I read Worst Nightmares while on vacation. It's not a short book, 352 pages, but I literally read it in one sitting. Briant's writing is chilling, his descriptions are so vivid and detailed that I literally had to stop and catch my breath. Not for the weak at heart, but a must for someone who craves excitement and a thrill. Be sure to lock your doors first though! Shane Briant is definitely an author to watch. I hear a sequel is in the making and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! And like Nolan's bestseller, I hope this one hits the movie screen!

Heart Pounding Ride To The Very End

Worst Nightmares opens with Dermot Nolan a novelist, suffering from writer's block. Just two short years ago he had written an award winning NY Times bestseller, there was even a movie deal in the works. But now working on his second book and with the deadline in sight he still has nothing to give his literary agent, Esther Bloom. Worse yet the million dollar advance for the promise of a new book has been spent. Salvation is hand delivered one day in the form of a manuscript by a old man with a fringe of orange graying hair, cloaked in an old low-rider's coat which he stuffs into Dermot's mailbox. The manuscript reads more like a journal, a personal diary of a series of horrific murders. The reader soon discovers that this fictional serial killer goes by the name of The Dream Healer who has his own website, www.worstnightmares.net and promises his viewers relief if they tell him their nightmare. Neela, Dermot's ever encouraging wife and Nick Hoyle their long time friend persuade him to use the old man's manuscript to help jump start his novel, a decision that when made leaves Dermot no way of turning back. Worst Nightmares will leave you double checking your door locks for weeks to come; just the thing for those long hot summer nights when you can't sleep anyway. It's a heart pounding ride to the very end.

Mindful of A Murder of Crows

In downtown Los Angeles homeless bum Albert K. Arnold accosts bestselling author Dermot Nolan at the latter's warehouse home. Dermot's first reaction is the visitor is crazy. Still, he accepts a manuscript from the derange person mostly to get him out of his face. Nolan puts aside My Worst Nightmares, a journal of an abusive serial killer who catches his victims over his net site Dream Healer before committing atrocities based on the prey's biggest fear. When Arnold dies, Nolan takes a closer look at the manuscript. Suffering from writer's block since his last book was sold to Hollywood last year, Nolan and his wife adapt Arnold's book and publish it as his. However, there is one problem that surfaces with the plagiarism of the manuscript; evidence mounts that My Worst Nightmares records real homicides that make the writer a person of interest to LAPD, the FBI and a serial killer working the Internet to ensnare his targets. Mindful of A Murder of Crows starring Cuba Gooding Jr., WORST NIGHTMARES is a terrific thriller as Nolan crumbling under writing pressure to produce his next novel takes a seeming shortcut that leaves him in a greater pressure cooker. Readers will know who his antagonist is, but not care as the fun in the tale is to see whether the novelist can extract himself and his wife out of peril from a lethal serial killer and with the law that believes he is the lethal serial killer. Harriet Klausner