Dream State by K.Z. Howell, Kindle Edition
K.Z. Howell’s description:
Professor August Bench is asked by the National Security Agency to research the abilities of Edgar Cayce and develop a method of duplicating the Sleeping Prophets amazing powers after 9-11.
How could he say no?
But what he finds is so much more.
His discovery of the power that lies in the Dream State is so dangerous that he and his assistant, Will Grant, must hide the truth where no one will ever find it.
The NSA is persistent. They hire a protégé of Professor Bench to keep the Dream State program alive and working towards a world without secrets.
Dr. Kendra Mills, a brilliant computer scientist finds a way to duplicate the Dream State’s power in a machine, but she needs the minds of the original Dreamers to complete the tyrannical device.
She will stop at nothing to achieve her goal.
Even if it costs the young Dreamers their lives!
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Travis Borne’s Review:
What can I say. Dreams, love ’em. That’s where it’s at! And K.Z. Howell does a fantastic job in detailing such an enthralling possibility. It’s obvious he knows what he’s talking about. Begin with four ‘lucid-dreaming’ friends involved in an attempt to recreate experiments long since terminated. Three of the four college students are found to be ‘special.’ They dive headlong into possibility while the fourth, Will, assists the professor. And the results of their experiments achieve wonders. Beyond expectations, the team manages to succeed in something potent, powerful, too powerful! So much so, it’s decided by the professor that this power should not be unleashed. If this landed in the wrong hands, any hands, the ramifications would be disastrous on a global scale. And reluctantly, Will, once excited by the possibilities, finally cedes. The professor is right, for what Will’s three friends can do while within the ‘Dream State,’ should not be sanctioned. So they scrap the program, life goes on, years pass.
And then ‘someone’ decides to resume the project. About halfway into K.Z.’s novel, after clever and colorful character development, an order is given. The four friends, having had remained in touch with one another, yet living in different parts of the country, face encroaching, ominous, you-run-your-butt-off consequences. The pace goes from a highly revved second gear, to pedal to the metal and through every other. By a seemingly sinister desire for power, ‘she’s’ back—and she must have power. THE POWER. But at what cost?
What follows is action scene after another after another. This is where Dream State excels. High octane, down-to-earth people with their extraordinary talents, meet with a clash that’ll send your jaw to the floor. I hadn’t expected what came next! Dream State is like two books in one, and while I can see things are set up well for a fiery, payback, world-altering sequel, this story has a bit of just about everything.
Daring escapes—with special insights no others have the capability to access—and murder, unexpected consequences and hiding out from the big-bad, stop-at-nothing NSA agents. Love made, loves lost, and steamy sexy hell—on mind-warping drugs. Payback unimaginable, torturous, so much so I even sided with her, the maleficent antagonist. It was bad…whoa! A roller coaster speeding up, rocket thrusters pushing it, with an ending that sends—as the author so describes it—a ball of ice straight into the gut!
Five stars because I love sci-fi action, and dreaming. I’ve studied lucid dreaming for over a decade and this story was right up my alley. An original, unexpected nightmare. This one kept me on my tiptoes half of the time, crushing my chair’s armrests for the other half.
Can they escape? Who will make it, who won’t? I won’t say—but you won’t guess! My favorite parts of K.Z. Howell’s Dream State came at about 50% in, and then after about 75% in things really kick in. Lucid-dreaming dynamo. Dream State is one unfortunate turn of events after another, a leg-chopping crash, blood-raining from the sky. An all-out dash for freedom. Will anyone survive this? I didn’t see it coming. And by the look on the new director’s face, he didn’t either!
