"A solid, well-plotted mystery.., takes some unex pected twists, and the ending is a surprise."

 --Kansas City Star

"Intricate and spellbinding with an unpredictable twist and scary even when read in daylight."

--Star-Ledger (NJ)

"Every once in a while, a reader has the great good fortune to encounter a book with the strengths Ruth Francisco brings to this noveb-it's vivid, original, and stylishly written, a finely told story that will hold you spellbound from the first word to the last."

--Jan Burke, author of Nine

Everybody was in love with Laura: the Mexican fisherman who admired her through her kitchen window in the predawn darkness, the boyfriend who refused to take no for an answer, the detective who instructed her in martial arts, and the creepy boss who harassed her. Then one day Laura disappears. When the fisherman finds a woman's severed arm on the beach, he is convinced it belonged to Laura. And her self-defense teacher, LAPD Detective Sergeant Reggie Brooks, also begins to wonder if Laura is alive or dead. With no evidence of foul play, he unofficially looks for the preternaturally beautiful woman who haunts his dreams. But as he travels the lonely coastal highway in an obsessive search for answers, Brooks will soon find himself in a dark, terrifying place of unthinkable acts, irrational behavior, and premeditated murder...

DARK DREAMER

PRAISE FOR RUTH FRANCISCO'S NOVELS GOOD MORNING,DARKNESS

CONFESSIONS OF A DEATHMAIDEN

PART ONE VIGILS

PART TWO LAUDS

PART THREE TERCE

PART FOUR SEXT

PART FIVE NONE

PART SIX VESPERS

PART SEVEN COMPLINE

EPILOGUE