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The Rules of Dreaming

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The Rules of Dreaming

By: Bruce Hartman
Narrated by: Neal Arango
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About this listen

Awarded the Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit

Nicole P. is an Irish graduate student pursuing a doctorate in literary theory in New York. She checks herself into the Palmer Institute (a posh upstate mental hospital), seeking help with anxiety and disorientation triggered by a recent breakup and her quest for a dissertation topic. But by the time she’s discharged two weeks later, her life has become dangerously entangled with those of her psychiatrist, who has fallen in love with her, and two schizophrenic patients, Hunter and Antonia Morgan, 21-year-old twins whose mother, Maria Morgan, committed suicide seven years earlier. Maria Morgan’s suicide has cast a spell over the Institute, enmeshing everyone there in a world of deception, delusion, and death. Prompted by a blackmailer named Dubin, Nicole realizes that she must untangle the mystery of that suicide and its consequences in order to keep from losing her mind.

©2013 Bruce Hartman (P)2016 Bruce Hartman Classics Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction Detective

Critic reviews

"A mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery...In this intricately plotted novel, Hartman spins the familiar trappings of gothic mystery together with a fresh postmodern sensibility, producing a story that's as rich and satisfying as it is difficult to categorize.... As Hartman skillfully blurs the lines between fiction and reality, the book becomes a profound meditation on art, identity and their messy spheres of influence...An exciting, original take on the literary mystery genre." (Kirkus Reviews)

"A great read and highly recommended." (Jack Magnus, Readers' Favorite Book Reviews)

All stars
Most relevant
Having thoroughly enjoyed The Devil's Chaplain by Bruce Hartman, I thought I'd give The Rules of Dreaming a listen. Firstly, let me say that the narration by Neal Arango is excellent. He is an extremely talented voice actor, I thought he turned in a stellar performance in The Devil's Chaplain and, once again, in this book, his abilities are thoroughly tested and he scores A+++ throughout. I'll definitely be searching for more books Mr Arango has narrated. Now, onto the story. I have to confess I got somewhat confused; there is difficulty knowing which Hoffman is being referred to, if the talk is of composers, story characters or characters in this story. I was so busy trying to work out who was who that I kept losing the thread and having to go back and listen again. After a while I realised that it didn't actually matter and I just let the story kind of wash over me, and that made it so much easier. It may be that books such as these, where there are a number of people with the same or similar names, just don't translate well to audio, (or it may be that I'm a bit stupid). Anyway, once I stopped driving myself crazy trying to figure out exactly what was going on with who, I enjoyed it much more. I'm still not convinced I know precisely what happened, but I understood enough to get the gist. As I'm unlikely ever to be asked to write a paper on the intricacies of The Rules of Dreaming, comprehending the book on a very superficial level was more than enough!

Mostly enjoyable

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