AustLit

'When a young runaway is found dead in St Kilda one morning, a syringe hanging out of his arm, no one is terribly shocked. A known junkie, the kid's criminal record was as long as the Scenic Railway. Even local detective Rubens McCauley is quick to conclude Dallas Boyd died of an accidental overdose.

'But anomalies in the boy's death - and the haunting memory of a childhood friend - continue to nag at McCauley. Unable to shake his unease, he fights to revive the investigation. Case re-opened, he soon finds himself enmeshed in a secret network of paedophiles, child abusers and underage prostitutes.

'Forced to look evil in the eye, McCauley must conquer his own demons as he battles to find justice for a young boy he never met but has come to know intimately in death ...' (Publisher's blurb)

Dermot Nolan is an award-winning bestselling author who seems to have it all—a successful career, fame, fortune, and a beautiful wife. Between the royalties coming in from his most recent book and the revenue he has received from the film company that bought the rights, Dermot seems every bit the literary darling.And yet, for the last year, he has suffered from a bout of writer’s block, and in the process has grossly overspent his income. So when Dermot comes across an unsolicited manuscript stuffed into his mailbox, he cannot help but feel intrigued. It tells the story of the homicidal “Dream Healer,” who snares his victims via his website, worstnightmares.net, seduces them into revealing their innermost fears, and then kills them by revisiting their very own nightmares upon them.

Dermot, with the help of his wife, begins to rework the novel, while simultaneously researching the individual dream stories. In his search, he very slowly begins to realize that the novel may not be entirely fictional, that these poor characters may have perished at the hands of a twisted torturer. Could the Dreamhealer be real? Could these innocent cyber-surfers have fallen victim to a raving maniac? Just how far is fact from fiction? And could Dermot be writing his own ticket to death...his very own worst nightmare?

Source: Publisher's Blurb