MOONGAZER

Author: Marianne Mancusi ISBN: 0505527251 8/2007 ACTION/SCI-FI Publisher: SHOMI (DORCHESTER)

Imagine every night entering a nightmare world you can't escape and being told real life is a dream. Skye Brown has it all: the cool job, the hot boyfriend, the apartment on New York's Upper West Side. But lately she can't enjoy any of it. She's having dreams of a post-apocalyptic world. Of a bleak futuristic wasteland. Of a struggle against oppression. And she's been told she's a ... MOONGAZER. But what is that? And what is reality? In her dreams, she's not Skye Brown at all, but Mariah Quinn. In her dreams there's Dawn, the beautiful yet haunted soldier, and Skye is but the empty shell of a girl he once loved. And there was a betrayal, a great betrayal. Ripped between Dark Siders and club kids, the mundane and the mystic, Skye must discover who she is, what she wants and who wants her. And why. But in the glow of the moon, it's not always easy to recognize the face in the mirror.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

What if everything you know about your life isn't real? That's the dilemma facing Skye Brown. She thinks she has a normal life with a great job and loving boyfriend, but keeps having strange dreams that seem almost more real than her life. Then, she's pulled into her dream to discover an alternate post-apocalyptic world, where New York has been rebuilt underground and the popular recreational activity is "moongazing." In this alternate world, she becomes embroiled in a revolutionary war where the lines between real life and dreams are blurred.

MOONGAZER is reminiscent of such popular SF movies as Bladerunner and The Matrix. (In fact, there are several pop culture references to both.) Part of the Shomi line, it's geared for the fans of anime/manga, and will definitely appeal there. It gives you a taste of the action-adventure so often seen in the manga genre, but with an overtly romantic focus.

MOONGAZER is an amazingly innovative novel for the romance genre, and one that will have lots of allure for a broad range of readers. Even if you don't normally read SF/fantasy romance books, you will want to pick up this one. I found it a thrilling, page-turning yarn, and I highly recommend it.

Kendra Patterson