Worst Nightmares by Shane Briant: A Book Review for Bookpleasures.com
Michelle Malsbury, BSBM, MM
October 17, 2009
Shane Briant, Author
Worst Nightmares
Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-514-8
Fiction-horror, suspense, thriller
344 pages
October 2009 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Shane Briant was referred to me from one of the other authors that I read and reviewed. Thank you Davis Aujourdhui for making that connection!
Mr. Briant, author of Worst Nightmares, has a very storied past. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where he studied law. (back jacket cover, 2009) He has been an actor before writing, starring in televisions shows and films opposite many famous actors; Paul Newman, Rosemary Harris, Jeremy Irons, John Hurt, Olivia DeHavilland, and more. Mr. Briant has won awards for short films he has written and even had one in contention for an Academy Award. (A Message From Fallujah) Currently he resides in Sydney, Australia. For more information about Shane Briant and this work please log on to his web site www.worstnightmares.com.
This novel is brilliantly conceived and eloquently written. The storyline is one of the most clever I´ve ever had the privilege to read. I believe it would translate perfectly into a movie. Thank you Shane for an amazing read!
The main character of this novel is an acclaimed writer (fictional of course) residing in California, Dermot Nolan. At the moment this story takes place he is experiencing a bit of writers block. His wife, Neela, and childhood best friend, Nick Hoyle, have been trying everything they can to stimulate his writing, but have been largely unsuccessful until a strange man resembling a homeless person drops a guttural manuscript/diary into his mailbox. This manuscript describes a series of heinous murders.
Dermot is not considering reading this manuscript in the beginning. His wife feels differently and she manages to get him to take a look at it. The manuscript is pathetically written, but so compelling that they cannot put it down.
Eventually, the man who they believe has written this manuscript calls them and asks Dermot to get it published for him. Dermot is uncertain if this manuscript is worthy of publication and wonders why him, but after speaking at length with his wife and best friend he decides to give it a whirl.
As a good citizen and serious writer Dermot is curious if this manuscript is fact or fiction so he embarks on a series of investigative journeys to places that have been described in this manuscript. He finds some very interesting things, some he shares and others he keeps to himself.
Dermot is under the gun. He has taken a million dollar advance and has promised his editor that he will have a manuscript to her within a short time frame. He ends up rewriting this heinous manuscript to suit his voice, but when his wife proofreads it she disagrees and tells him to write it verbatim. He does as she said and the novel is a huge success, but there is a dark secret that remains to be reconciled.
This story takes many twists and turns before it ends up leaving you, the reader, wondering if there will closure or if there will be a sequel. (By the way, Shane Briant tells me he is working on the sequel as I write.) I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery with a very new age and technologically timely twist. I enjoyed every page and could hardly put it down!
Worst Nightmares
Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-514-8
Fiction-horror, suspense, thriller
344 pages
October 2009 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Shane Briant was referred to me from one of the other authors that I read and reviewed. Thank you Davis Aujourdhui for making that connection!
Mr. Briant, author of Worst Nightmares, has a very storied past. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where he studied law. (back jacket cover, 2009) He has been an actor before writing, starring in televisions shows and films opposite many famous actors; Paul Newman, Rosemary Harris, Jeremy Irons, John Hurt, Olivia DeHavilland, and more. Mr. Briant has won awards for short films he has written and even had one in contention for an Academy Award. (A Message From Fallujah) Currently he resides in Sydney, Australia. For more information about Shane Briant and this work please log on to his web site www.worstnightmares.com.
This novel is brilliantly conceived and eloquently written. The storyline is one of the most clever I´ve ever had the privilege to read. I believe it would translate perfectly into a movie. Thank you Shane for an amazing read!
The main character of this novel is an acclaimed writer (fictional of course) residing in California, Dermot Nolan. At the moment this story takes place he is experiencing a bit of writers block. His wife, Neela, and childhood best friend, Nick Hoyle, have been trying everything they can to stimulate his writing, but have been largely unsuccessful until a strange man resembling a homeless person drops a guttural manuscript/diary into his mailbox. This manuscript describes a series of heinous murders.
Dermot is not considering reading this manuscript in the beginning. His wife feels differently and she manages to get him to take a look at it. The manuscript is pathetically written, but so compelling that they cannot put it down.
Eventually, the man who they believe has written this manuscript calls them and asks Dermot to get it published for him. Dermot is uncertain if this manuscript is worthy of publication and wonders why him, but after speaking at length with his wife and best friend he decides to give it a whirl.
As a good citizen and serious writer Dermot is curious if this manuscript is fact or fiction so he embarks on a series of investigative journeys to places that have been described in this manuscript. He finds some very interesting things, some he shares and others he keeps to himself.
Dermot is under the gun. He has taken a million dollar advance and has promised his editor that he will have a manuscript to her within a short time frame. He ends up rewriting this heinous manuscript to suit his voice, but when his wife proofreads it she disagrees and tells him to write it verbatim. He does as she said and the novel is a huge success, but there is a dark secret that remains to be reconciled.
This story takes many twists and turns before it ends up leaving you, the reader, wondering if there will closure or if there will be a sequel. (By the way, Shane Briant tells me he is working on the sequel as I write.) I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery with a very new age and technologically timely twist. I enjoyed every page and could hardly put it down!
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