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Dream Riders
Corey and Marci Padesky start a daring business. They use lights, sounds, and smells to facilitate dreams of immense clarity and recall. Well, that's what they tell people. Corey and Marci actually enter dreams metaphysically. In the process, they expose the unknown world many of us visit nightly. Dream Riding can give their daughter a better life. Unfortunately, on their second dip into a stranger's mind, they discover a malevolent Being. Their quest to process and understand this new world are thwarted by a wealthy client's growing obsession with controlling their talent. Facing dangers from this world and beyond, Corey and Marci are led into a storm of dark peril. Only blind trust in one another can save them, but everyone has their limits.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 27, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 21, 2020
I read another book a month or so ago that recommended this book as a good one. It took me a bit to get to it, had to weed my way through my overblown to read pile before I could get to it. But I was determined to get to it because I had been blown away by the author that recommended it.
And rightfully so.
This was an outstanding read. Rarely do I meet a character in a book and dislike them intensely, only to have them actually redeem themselves in the end. Many try, few succeed. This book succeeds. The writing is excellent, the flow is smooth, the transitions are not noticed. The plot is fresh and unique.
An excellent read, well worth the read.
And rightfully so.
This was an outstanding read. Rarely do I meet a character in a book and dislike them intensely, only to have them actually redeem themselves in the end. Many try, few succeed. This book succeeds. The writing is excellent, the flow is smooth, the transitions are not noticed. The plot is fresh and unique.
An excellent read, well worth the read.
May 5, 2020
Dream riders.
Imagine being able to enter a persons mind while they dream? Then not just watching their dream but activley being able to manipulate and control what a person dreams?
That is the awesome power that Corey and Marci have and it attracts some unwanted attention. Not just from encentric unstable millionaires but from the very demons that haunt our worse nightmares.
I love the concept of this book and story and it has a lot of potential to be expanded into a multi book series. The dreamworld is a place where reality ceases to exist and our minds can delve into the impossible and non sensical. The possiblities are limitless and I think Taylor Kole has tapped into a very intriguing idea here.
One thing however that I think could have made the story better is spending more time establishing the Dream Riding business as our main characters Corey and Marci seem to get into their trouble after essentially 1 client. This seemed to be a bit too quick for me and establishing dream riding and how it works a bit more, at least for me, would have made the story better. But then I like getting into in depth details of how things work within a story. Thats just my personal preference and by no means a reflection on the writers style.
Now for the characters.
Corey tends to see things in a more spiritual supernatural view point believing the demons to be reality and apart from the minds of the dreamers. This makes him fearful and I think irrational in his desire to avoid dream riding with those who seem to have these demons.
This seems to stem from his background in philosphy dealing with the intangible ideas
Marci by contrast is the more scientfically minded and views these demons as nothing more than essentailly figments of the dreamers mind. She is more focused on the money and success that can come from dream riding which blinds her to the danger they are facing till its too late.
Walter. A maniacle rich lunatic. He discovers the power of dreamriding and wants to control it for himself. He is a man with a massive ego and takes rejection as a personal assault. His self interest motivated desire over rules his reason leading to his eventual demise.
Overall the characterization was Ok. They were not terrible but they also werent in depth, this in no way makes them bad or poorly written characters neccessarily. The behaved exactly as I would expect them to.
When their daughter was kidnapped they were naturally worried and angry but aside from the reading being told thats how they felt their was not alot within to book showing thats how they felt. Perhaps some emotional tear filled scenes between marci and corey, sleepless nights or a few scenes of their own nightmares about their daughter. Maybe with the demon from walts dreams present.
A few scenes from their daughters perspective and what she was going through, crying for her parents etc... would for me certainly enhance the story. Or maybe a scene where Corey and Marci get into their daughters dream from distance using the parental bond as some kind of bridge without physical cotnact etc..
I think this sort of thing would have gone a long way to improving the story and help the reader more effectively empathize with the characters and what they were going through.
But in the end I don't think the story needed extensive characterization and in depth backgrounds neccessarily. I feel like this book sets the stage for further dream riding stories and with that further character development. This is a good starting point. And I feel like there is a lot of potential behind this concept and this book as a launching point for a series.
If more Dreamriding books are written I look forward to seeing Marci and Corey develop as characters and how dream riding influences that developement.
Overall 3 stars. Great story. Excellent concept. Lots of potential.
Imagine being able to enter a persons mind while they dream? Then not just watching their dream but activley being able to manipulate and control what a person dreams?
That is the awesome power that Corey and Marci have and it attracts some unwanted attention. Not just from encentric unstable millionaires but from the very demons that haunt our worse nightmares.
I love the concept of this book and story and it has a lot of potential to be expanded into a multi book series. The dreamworld is a place where reality ceases to exist and our minds can delve into the impossible and non sensical. The possiblities are limitless and I think Taylor Kole has tapped into a very intriguing idea here.
One thing however that I think could have made the story better is spending more time establishing the Dream Riding business as our main characters Corey and Marci seem to get into their trouble after essentially 1 client. This seemed to be a bit too quick for me and establishing dream riding and how it works a bit more, at least for me, would have made the story better. But then I like getting into in depth details of how things work within a story. Thats just my personal preference and by no means a reflection on the writers style.
Now for the characters.
Corey tends to see things in a more spiritual supernatural view point believing the demons to be reality and apart from the minds of the dreamers. This makes him fearful and I think irrational in his desire to avoid dream riding with those who seem to have these demons.
This seems to stem from his background in philosphy dealing with the intangible ideas
Marci by contrast is the more scientfically minded and views these demons as nothing more than essentailly figments of the dreamers mind. She is more focused on the money and success that can come from dream riding which blinds her to the danger they are facing till its too late.
Walter. A maniacle rich lunatic. He discovers the power of dreamriding and wants to control it for himself. He is a man with a massive ego and takes rejection as a personal assault. His self interest motivated desire over rules his reason leading to his eventual demise.
Overall the characterization was Ok. They were not terrible but they also werent in depth, this in no way makes them bad or poorly written characters neccessarily. The behaved exactly as I would expect them to.
When their daughter was kidnapped they were naturally worried and angry but aside from the reading being told thats how they felt their was not alot within to book showing thats how they felt. Perhaps some emotional tear filled scenes between marci and corey, sleepless nights or a few scenes of their own nightmares about their daughter. Maybe with the demon from walts dreams present.
A few scenes from their daughters perspective and what she was going through, crying for her parents etc... would for me certainly enhance the story. Or maybe a scene where Corey and Marci get into their daughters dream from distance using the parental bond as some kind of bridge without physical cotnact etc..
I think this sort of thing would have gone a long way to improving the story and help the reader more effectively empathize with the characters and what they were going through.
But in the end I don't think the story needed extensive characterization and in depth backgrounds neccessarily. I feel like this book sets the stage for further dream riding stories and with that further character development. This is a good starting point. And I feel like there is a lot of potential behind this concept and this book as a launching point for a series.
If more Dreamriding books are written I look forward to seeing Marci and Corey develop as characters and how dream riding influences that developement.
Overall 3 stars. Great story. Excellent concept. Lots of potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2020
Corey (30) & Marci manipulate dreams & start Dreamriders Inc. business for their clients.
Dr./Asst. Professor Corey Padesky (30, husband/father, MS; PhD; philosophy) & Marci Padesky (wife/mother) asked Mr. Labarge (30) if he had decided on what his Dream Ride would be about.
Mr. Labarge wanted to see your father again.
This was Corey & Marci’s 1st time, so they gave him the pros/cons.
Dreamcatchers were to protect dreamers from evil spirits.
Las Vegas, NV. Bellagio. Walton “Walt” Zimbardo, Ms. Kendra Houghton (companion), & Cooper (bodyguard) greeted Dr./Asst. Professor Padesky & Marci when they arrived.
Walton has frequent night terrors.
Denmark building. Dr./Asst. Professor Padesky & Marci offered Mr. Lattimore (47) a deal.
Corey & Justin were discussing the crime.
What about Marci?
Lisa Flicker thought someone broken into the house, the best weapon they had was a jagged silver cross Mr. Luhn gave Janey Padesky (5, daughter).
Janey Marie Padesky was later kidnapped.
What did Justin Collins go see Pastor “K” Konzeniewski (30+, son) about?
What was FBI SA Wentz was interrogating Walt (47, shapeshifter) about?
Will Janey be found safe/unharmed?
I do not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing free books from publishers & authors. Therefore, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.
An awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very professionally written paranormal (religious oriented) book. It was quite easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a huge description list of unique characters, settings, facts etc. to keep track of. This could also make another great paranormal movie, an animated cartoon, or better yet a mini TV series. It wasn’t as exciting as I hope so I will only rate it at 3/5 stars.
Thank you for the free author (s); Goodreads; MakingConnections; Making Connections discussion group talk; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
Dr./Asst. Professor Corey Padesky (30, husband/father, MS; PhD; philosophy) & Marci Padesky (wife/mother) asked Mr. Labarge (30) if he had decided on what his Dream Ride would be about.
Mr. Labarge wanted to see your father again.
This was Corey & Marci’s 1st time, so they gave him the pros/cons.
Dreamcatchers were to protect dreamers from evil spirits.
Las Vegas, NV. Bellagio. Walton “Walt” Zimbardo, Ms. Kendra Houghton (companion), & Cooper (bodyguard) greeted Dr./Asst. Professor Padesky & Marci when they arrived.
Walton has frequent night terrors.
Denmark building. Dr./Asst. Professor Padesky & Marci offered Mr. Lattimore (47) a deal.
Corey & Justin were discussing the crime.
What about Marci?
Lisa Flicker thought someone broken into the house, the best weapon they had was a jagged silver cross Mr. Luhn gave Janey Padesky (5, daughter).
Janey Marie Padesky was later kidnapped.
What did Justin Collins go see Pastor “K” Konzeniewski (30+, son) about?
What was FBI SA Wentz was interrogating Walt (47, shapeshifter) about?
Will Janey be found safe/unharmed?
I do not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing free books from publishers & authors. Therefore, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.
An awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very professionally written paranormal (religious oriented) book. It was quite easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a huge description list of unique characters, settings, facts etc. to keep track of. This could also make another great paranormal movie, an animated cartoon, or better yet a mini TV series. It wasn’t as exciting as I hope so I will only rate it at 3/5 stars.
Thank you for the free author (s); Goodreads; MakingConnections; Making Connections discussion group talk; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
May 21, 2020
The concept of entering others' dreams and controlling them is a fascinating premise, and a good backdrop for this story.
The characters have a lot of realism. I don't particularly like Corey, but that's OK. I don't have to like him to enjoy his story. I like Marci; I think we have a lot in common. I'd like to see more of her thoughts expressed in the next book.
I could have done without the Christian bits. They're unnecessary, and don't do much to advance the story. We can explore alternate planes of consciousness without the man made constructs of religions. I think the exploration of dreams, their environments and inhabitants, is large enough to not require validation from religious mythology.
That being said, this book is engaging, raw at times, and kept me reading "just one more chapter". I like the foundation that's been laid for the continuation of this story.
The characters have a lot of realism. I don't particularly like Corey, but that's OK. I don't have to like him to enjoy his story. I like Marci; I think we have a lot in common. I'd like to see more of her thoughts expressed in the next book.
I could have done without the Christian bits. They're unnecessary, and don't do much to advance the story. We can explore alternate planes of consciousness without the man made constructs of religions. I think the exploration of dreams, their environments and inhabitants, is large enough to not require validation from religious mythology.
That being said, this book is engaging, raw at times, and kept me reading "just one more chapter". I like the foundation that's been laid for the continuation of this story.
March 17, 2021
Taylor Kole thrusts us into a waking nightmare with Dream Riders! Couple Corey and Marci have the unique ability to dive into other people’s dreams and enhance them, something they quickly try to capitalize on. But when they dive into a stranger’s dream, they encounter a malevolent Being, one that doesn’t enjoy having its natural hunting grounds disturbed. This book was creepy, pleasantly reminding me of Stir of Echoes with a splash of Inception! Kole does a great job of building the tension and making this strange concept believable, and really grows Corey, Marci, and even the Being as great characters. If you’re looking for something suspenseful to keep you up tonight, come burn some midnight oil with Dream Riders!
May 4, 2020
Corey and Marci can enter people's dreams. They start a business providing intense and memorable dreams. They one get to client number before everything goes south, and your mind gets blown. Super original concept, fantastic writing. I couldn't wait to get to each new dream scene. I was eager to read Dream Riders and it didn't disappoint. Highly recommend. Can't wait to devour the second book.
A bonus side effect was I had very intense dreams the whole time I was reading this.
A bonus side effect was I had very intense dreams the whole time I was reading this.
January 9, 2021
I totally enjoyed this book.
Because I truly enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book to anyone. There is nothing I don't like about the book.
Because I truly enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book to anyone. There is nothing I don't like about the book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews