Unquiet Dreams

Unquiet Dreams (2008) Mark del Franco

Unquiet Dreams is Mark del Franco’s second book about Connor Grey, consulting detective and damaged druid. When Detective Murdock asks Connor to help him investigate the death of a teen in the Weird, they are both drawn into a mystery that stretches as low as bridge dwelling trolls and as high as the directors of the Guild.

The feel of this story is a cross between Jim Butcher’s Dreseden series and Simon Green’s Nightside. The center of the story is a murder mystery that Murdock and Connor need to resolve. But the story is more complex than that, as we continue to learn about the damage done to Connor’s druidic abilities, and he relationships with the members of the Guild who will still speak to him now he has lost his powers.

Although this book has a self-contained story arc, we continue to learn more about the person Connor was before he lost his abilities, and what may have happened to him in the attack that caused the loss of his abilities. We also learned more about the Fey, and the two groups that ranged against each other.

The strongest part of this book, however, is Connor. He’s a likable character who is trying to recover from his past–a past where he wasn’t necessarily such a likable guy. It’s interesting to read his insights into his own characters, and how he became the jerk he did, and he repercussions of his previous actions once he lost his power. You begin to see that he regrets who he was before, and that if he regains his power, he will keep the lessons he has learned in mind.

Not to say that the secondary characters aren’t good–I quite like Murdock and Meryl and their attitudes. Though I do have to wonder how Murdock affords his clothes. I didn’t think police detectives made enough money to dress like dandies.

There is one thing that bothered me about this book, however, and that’s the cover. There is something very subtly wrong with the cover picture that bugs the crap out of me. I think the problem is that the light on the grass totally and completely does not match the sky and what light might be coming from the sky. The grass is obviously lit by the sun coming from the left side of the cover, but the sky is night, and has lightening that would, I believe, be casting light in the opposite direction.

I know it’s a little thing, but hey, I’m a geek. What do you expect?

All in all, this looks like it is shaping up to be a very good series, and if the quality remains this good, I’ll keep reading. If you have not read Unshapely Things you should be able to read Unquiet Dreams without much difficulty, but as usual, I recommend starting at the beginning and working your way forward.
Rating: 7.5/10

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