In The Dark of Dreams, A Dirk & Steele Novel (10) by Marjorie M. Liu

Publisher:  Harper Collins/Avon
Pages:  384

(Release Date:  11/30/10)

From the Cover:

She could never forget the boy with the ice blue eyes...She was only twelve when she saw the silver boy on the beach, but Jenny has never stopped dreaming about him. Now she is grown, a marine biologist charting her own course in the family business -- a corporation that covertly crosses the boundaries of science into realms of the unknown...and the incredible.

And now he has found her again, her boy grown into a man: Perrin, powerful and masculine, and so much more than human, leaving Jenny weak with desire, and aching for his touch.

But with their reunion comes danger.  For Perrin and Jenny -- and all living creatures -- their only hope for preventing the unthinkable lies in a mysterious empire far beneath the sea...and in the power of their dreams.

Marjorie M. Liu is an attorney and New York Times bestselling author of paranormal romances and urban fantasy.  In the world of comic books, she is also the writer of NYX: No Way Home, Black Widow, X-23, and Dark Wolverine (with Daniel Way, for Marvel). She lives in the American Midwest and Beijing, China. For more information, please visit her website at www.MarjorieMLiu.com.

****WARNING:  MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS****

Jenny as a twelve year old child knows she's nothing special, exceptionally ordinary, as some of her grandparents friends have said with disdain.  She never really cared, until she found the silver haired boy by the ocean.  He was hurt and she tried to help, but a man strolled out of the ocean, dragging the boy back to it's watery depths.  For twelve years, she watched for the boy to return, but he only did so in her dreams, and then one day, he came no more.  Not for eight long years, and still she searched.

Perrin remembers the girl from the beach with the fiery red hair, remembers her song, and the softness of her touch.  He also remembers his father dragging him away, away from the very thing he was searching for.  And so, he visited the girl's dreams, touched her skin, held her hand.  Even after he's forced to host the Kra'a, he visited her dreams, used her dreams to soothe and silence the beast, until he and the Kra'a could no longer tell his dreams from hers.  When his tutor tried to forcible remove the now human woman from his dreams and his heart, he strikes back, and with this action, the Kra'a is forcible removed instead, leaving him bereaved of the Kra'a and the woman in his dreams.  For eight long years, Perrin was forced to walk upon the Earth pretending to be human, and to dream no more.

Jenny, now the woman who still searches, works to preserve extraordinary creatures with A Priori, but The Consortium wants to find Jenny and use her, why?  Because of the boy, now a man?  When Perrin stumbles upon Jenny, and truly sees her face for the first time, he can't believe his eyes.  Could this be the girl from the beach?  His dream girl?  There really is no doubt when he touches her mind, which he shouldn't be able to do.  But, there's something terribly wrong, a parasite has attached itself to Jenny's skull and slowly changing the woman she was into something more.  And it calls to her, the beast is waking, and it could mean the end for them all.

In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu is the 10th book in the Dirk & Steele Series, and I have to say this is a new author for me and a new series.  The backlist is extensive, and I'll be ordering the other 9 books as well as taking a glance at some of her other books.  Jenny and Perrin find each other as children, but with the innocence of childhood, a bond occurs, linking them together against the wishes of Perrin's clan and family (the Krackeni).  Jenny holds the secret of the boy in her heart, never sharing the memory that is only hers.  The dreams are where they can exist together, where they find the love of the innocent, where they grow together.  When Perrin is ripped from her dreams, part of Jenny is lost, so for eight years, she lives on the ocean, hoping he'll return.  Bad things happen, Jenny's family severs itself into two parts, one part seeking to help, the other to use.  Perrin is hopelessly lost without the woman in his dreams, without his home and his Kra'a, he'd do almost anything to get them back.  And then, he finds Jenny and has to confront his clan and family, who has exiled him and sworn to kill him.  But, with the Kra'a thinks differently, and embeds itself within Jenny.  Now, the beast, the mighty Kraken, needs the one thing that only Jenny and Perrin can give it, if they can escape the clutches of her vile family and the hatred of his clan and family.  Otherwise, death awaits them all.

In the Dark of Dreams is an excellent paranormal romance, the world built around a mer-society, and all the shape shifting paranormals that A Priori has found.  There is heartbreak between the hero and heroine that only with their reunion can the begin to heal.  Jenny can't trust, not even herself really, and Perrin is filled with anger, anger at what was ripped away and anger of rejection and exile.  The merpeople and other sea creatures are suspicious of him, and wouldn't pass up the opportunity to bring his death, he's an embarrassment to his family for his actions, actions that his father never took the time to understand even if he could never forgive.  As I stated earlier, this is the 10th book of the Dirk & Steele Series, but I had no trouble following the story, the world building excellent.  According to Ms. Liu website, Harper Collins has purchased the Dirk & Steele Series and will be reissued the backlist with new cover art.  Although this book contain 384 pages, it was a quick read that grabbed my attention and kept me turning pages well into the night.  If you enjoy paranormal romance, urban fantasy, or fantasy/mythology, you may want to give In the Dark of Dreams a try, it's excellent.

Backlist:

Book 9 - The Fire King
Book 8 - The Wild Road
Book 7 - The Last Twilight
Book 6 - Soul Song
Book 5 - Eye of Heaven
Book 4 - Dark Dreamers
Book 3 - The Red Heart of Jade
Book 2 - Shadow Touch
Book 1 - Tiger Eye



I received this ebook from Harper Collins/Avon and Net Galley for review.  All opinions expressed are my own.