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Everyone has nightmares, but in this work, readers learn that nightmares have caused much harm to the protagonist, Rachael. What makes this even more chilling is that it's a fictionalized account of what the author actually went through due to nightmares. The book begins in the 1970s, when Rachael is just a child, and her dream is about a killer cowboy. Her mother takes her to the doctor, and he believes she will grow out of this, but that's not the case.
Each new chapter follows Rachael's journey with this curse. The gruesome killing of her peers makes her dreams worse, since now she keeps dreaming about the killer, who is known as Harold. It haunts her, threatening to ruin her life. She eventually becomes a mother, so the stakes become even higher, and she makes some big decisions that affect not only her but her then-husband, Gary, and their twin boys. At one point, it involves a cult and some questionable teachings, showing again how her nightmares ruin her idyllic life.
Overall, this is a thrilling, well-written, and fast-paced story that could even give readers nightmares of their own. Lee gets straight to the point and the horror. The storyline is never boring, and the characters are thoroughly fleshed out. The author does an exceptionally fine job of creating a complex protagonist. She expertly shows how Rachael is not only a victim of her dreams but also of her insecurities. As the plot progresses, the story gets wilder and wilder, which is a good thing for anyone looking for a suspenseful read. As this is a fictionalized version of real events, the most terrifying part is wondering how much of this tale is true.