Dreamlike States

This collection by Brian James Freeman features dark stories that are alittle different from his other works. Some focus on unusual characters; some are simply told in unusual ways. The last two are closely linkedpieces, although the connection is hidden under the surface.

* Kathy has a great deal on her mind as "Tomorrow Could Be EvenBetter" opens, but mostly she's thinking about how quickly life canchange when you're least expecting it... and today a brief encounter with a stranger will send her life changing very quickly and spiraling towardmadness.

* When it comes to "The Temperament of an Artist," sometimes youjust have to let the paint fly onto the canvas and see what the resultsare... even if that paint looks a little too much like blood.

* "The Gorman Gig" is definitely not going like the others, and Mike and Jimmy have no idea how badly this job's going to end for everyoneinvolved...

* As "One Way Flight" takes off, the man in seat 36-B awakens tofind everyone else on his plane is dead, including the pilot. Now theclock is ticking and he doesn't have much time to figure out who he is,what has happened, and most importantly, how to get off the plane alive...

* Assuming Michael manages to escape the punishment room bysurviving for "One More Day," he isn't sure he'll be able to live withthe knowledge of what he did, but then again, that's a dilemma hewouldn't mind confronting, given the finality of the alternative.

* In "The Silent Attic," Amy is haunted by the memory of hermother's last days, but will one last trip to the room where hernightmares were born set her free?

* And finally, "Danny Dreams" introduces readers to Danny Walker,who knows all too well that the life of the dead is often placed in thememory of the living...

These thought-provoking stories show why David Morrell calledFreeman's writing "elegant and haunting" and why Michael Koryta saidFreeman writes "a taut, memorable tale."