Review: DreamKiller by Heather Hildenbrand

Series: The Specials 1 and 2
Format: Digital
Excerpt
Release Date: August 19, 2011
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Most people's dreams are hazy and long forgotten by the time their eyes blink open. Most people's dreams don't literally come true either. Marlena's do...

In Book 1:

Little Hearts Orphanage has always been a safe haven for 'special' individuals. Azura, the headmistress, has gone to great lengths to ensure the resident's true abilities remain secret from those who would exploit them. Her mantra: The secret must be protected at all costs.

That's where Marlena comes in. Raised in the orphanage, under Azura's wing, she has committed herself and her 'gifts' to Azura's service - and to wiping out those who seek to expose Marlena and the others for what they truly are.

Book 2:

In the last thirty-six hours, Marlena’s entire world has shifted. She trusted her gut, and the word of a stranger, defied the only parental figure she’s ever known, and went up against the most powerful tracker the ‘Specials’ had ever seen.

Now Korian is dead and Azura has named Marlena the number one suspect. She has no choice but to hide. In a seedy apartment in the slums of downtown, Lukas tells her the truth about how she became an orphan. 

It’s time to decide where Marlena will place her loyalty and whether the truth warrants a fight or flight.

This is a short story series about a group of people with special powers. The plot and premise is reminiscent of that 2008 movie Wanted starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. A group of teen assassins set to rid the world of its evil seeds... or so they think.

The main protagonist and prodigy is Marlena, an orphan who can dreamwalk and weed out man's ugliest desires. Together with Azura, Little Heart's Orphanage mistress and mentor, Marlena have killed several men with evil intents in their hearts. That is until she was assigned to take out Lukas and discovers Azura's nefarious designs and decided to go against everything she was raised to believe. 

This is really a SHORT story, too short if you ask me. It's like chapters of a really good book given in installments that will leave you begging for more. I managed to finish 1 & 2 in a matter of minutes, and if there's anything negative about this, it's the fact that I wish it's at least novella length instead of 52,000+ words. 

However The Specials is really good and it cuts right to the fillers and chase and goes straight to the heart of the matter. Once again the heroine can kick some serious butt and the conflict of the story is well thought of and not some haphazard imaginings.