The Waking: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall
Starting over in a place that's haunted by death...
As the summer draws to a close, you may feel a little chill. Today, THE WAKING: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall is being re-released with a brand-new cover - and The Waking website has a new look to match. Named one of the NYPL Books for the Teen Age, this thrilling start to a spooky trilogy will have horror fans glued to the page and scared to go to sleep.
My Review
Akane Murakami died for a boy she did not love.
So begins the novel The Waking: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall. This new and imaginative thriller chronicles the move of an American family to Japan. Combining a fish-out-of-water story with elements of mystery, mythology, horror, and realism, this pageturner is sure to haunt readers from the first page to the last.
Two years after the loss of her mother, Kara Harper has become even closer to her father, Rob, with whom she has always shared a love of Japanese language and history. When Rob gets the opportunity to become a teacher of American Studies and the English language at Monju-no-Chie school, he accepts, and they move to Japan.
Little did they know what horrors awaited them there: The murders. The nightmares. The mythology. As she becomes embroiled in the mystery and learns more about the recent deaths on and off campus, Kara's worries will extend beyond just fitting in at her new school and making friends -- she's going to have to fight for her life.
I highly recommend this book, and the entire series. Christopher Golden (using Thomas Randall as a pseudonym for these three tales) never fails to offer readers intelligent thrillers and haunting stories with memorable characters. The Waking trilogy is engrossing from start to finish.
Official Book Flap Summary
Kara Foster thinks the hardest thing about moving to Japan will be fitting in as an outsider. But dark secrets are stirring at her new school. When Kara befriends Sakura, a fellow outsider whose rebellious nature sets her apart from the crowd, she learns that Sakura's sister was the victim of an unsolved murder on school grounds. And before long, terrible things begin to happen.
It starts with nightmares - strange, otherworldly dreams that wake Kara in terror every night. Then more students start turning up dead, with strange marks on their bodies. Is Sakura getting revenge on those she suspects are responsible for her sister's death? Or has her dead sister come back to take revenge for herself?
Read an exclusive excerpt of The Waking: Dreams of the Dead.
New edition published August 31st, 2010 by Bloomsbury. Buy Dreams of the Dead at your local bookstore or various online retailers, such as: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Borders - IndieBound
Next, read the second volume, The Waking: Spirits of the Noh
Kara Foster is finally starting to fit in at her boarding school in Japan -- after all, nothing bonds you with your classmates like having an ancient demon put a curse on you. Hoping life can go back to normal now that the demon has been put to rest, Kara joins her friends Sakura and Miho in putting on a play for the Noh drama club. It's the story of the Hannya, a snake demon who inhabits the body of a beautiful woman. When a few members of the Noh club go missing, Kara fears that the real Hannya has been awakened by the curse. Then Miho is abducted, and Kara must find her before the Hannya destroys her. But the demon is wily, and may be hidden in the last place any of them would think to look...
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Borders - IndieBound
Then, read the final volume in The Waking trilogy, A Winter of Ghosts.
Kara's life in Japanese prep school has been a whirlwind of terror, as a demon's curse keeps waking up ancient, evil creatures to torment her and her friends. When a student goes missing during a visit to a mountain forest, Kara and her friends are sure the curse has struck again. This time, it's a demon of winter, whose power is more chilling than anything they've encountered so far.
And then it gets worse: the demon kidnaps Kara's boyfriend, Hachiro, with whom she's just starting to fall in love. Desperate to save him, Kara ventures back into the snowy woods, where dark forces await her...
Get it now from Amazon