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Unquiet Dreams
in Paperback edition on January 29, 2008 and has 292 pages.
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Second in the Connor Grey urban fantasy series about a down-and-out Druid with very little power in Boston.
My Take
Lots of misdirection in this one and an interesting peek into gang warfare from street to the upper levels of society.
This is good experience for Conner (as I sit here in my easy chair) as he discovers the hard way how the little people feel, how they’re treated. He used to be one of the elite. Thinking the same way. I have to wonder if del Franco is setting us up for a future installment where Connor takes a top position.
Oh, that’s a good one. I love Meryl’s remark about getting more evil eye repellant up as she’s infested with Christian missionaries. I suspect a romance down the road between Meryl and Murdock. I have my doubts about Keeva. She screwed up in Unshapely Things and she does it again here. I’m curious as to how she’ll muff it in the next story, Unfallen Dead.
Poor Murdock, everybody makes him as a cop.
It’s typical police work. Lots of late night visits to bars, nightclubs, and back alleys. Pushing and poking at the powers that be. Examining everyone’s angle.
Whoa, I can understand Connor’s backhanded appreciation for the black mass in his brain that won’t allow him to use his magic anymore. I…I guess it’s a good thing when it saves the world.
Cute. Connor and Meryl are having this running conflict about dating. Shoe’s suddenly on the other foot and I’m curious as to where it will go.
Snicker…I love Connor’s statement at the end to Nigel. And it was so true! And so typical of a governing body.
The Story
Gang wars do have their unintended victims, but evidence uncovers drugs and then the possibility of a real estate grab. When one of the victims turns out to be a rather prominent activist, it really hits the fan and Connor uncovers more than expected with the pissing contests just getting messier and messier.
The fallout ranges from Briallen’s appointment of Connor as a Guild Director, which upsets all the right people and the Guildmaster’s command that Connor ferret out information on some dangerous people against the High Druid’s advice.
Damn lucky that he’s now a Guild Director, however temporary, when he comes under fire.
The Characters
Connor Grey is a disabled Druid, kicked out of his cushy position at the Guild and really feeling the kicks to his ego in this one. It’s certainly a good lesson in being polite to everyone you meet. Stinkwort, a.k.a., Joe, is a flit and has been hanging about Connor since before he can remember. He’s a foot tall with wings and the ability to teleport. Lady Briallen ab Gwyll is a powerful Druidess in the world of the fae and she’s Connor’s friend. She’s also named him as her alternate for the Guild board if she ever has to be out of town. Virgil is a gargoyle who drops cryptic comments to Connor. Callin Grey is his older, screw-up brother who lives on the shady side.
Detective Leo Murdock is the cop that Connor works with on fey cases. In Unshapely Things, his essence changed, which is all for the good in this story.
Keeva macNeve is the new Community Liaison Officer from the Guild and the Guild and the local police get on as well as the cops and the FBI.
Druids
High Druid of the Bosnemeton Circle, Gerin Cuthbern leads all the druids and druidesses in New England. A major jerk. Somehow he missed the memo on equality AND manners. Meryl Dian is the Guild’s archivist and a Druidess with a strong dreaming ability and she and Connor have become friends. Nigel Martin is a powerful Druid and was Connor’s mentor; Conner was his prize pupil. Since the accident he wants nothing to do with him and belittles him every chance he gets.
Hala is a drys. They are essence incarnate, the heart of the oak. Almost a goddess to the druids. The essence of Float.
The Dananns
Ryan macGoren is the current fairy golden boy. Handsome, rich, powerful, no morals, and a Guild Director. Just the guy for Keeva. The Clure leads the Cluries, a clan of hard-drinking fairies who specialize in chaos. They either start the party or know where one is. I’ll bet they end every party… Gillen Yor is High Healer at Avalon Memorial and is an Old One as is Briallen; Maeve, the High Queen at Tara. Guildmaster Manus ap Eagan is the power in the Guild and he’s dying. Tibs is a brownie who’s been with him for almost ever and is Connor’s buddy in and out of bed.
Elves
I suspect that Janey Likesmith, a dark elf with the Office of the City Medical Examiner is going to become a part of the cast. The Marchgraf, Alvud Kruge, is an elf activist working to clean up the Tangle, the worst part of the Weird. Trying to get beings off drugs, employed. He was also a member of the Guild board. Now his wife Eorla, Marchgrafin Kruge, is agitating for it. Donor Elfenkonig, the elf king. Bergin Vize is an environmental terrorist elf who couldn’t handle the power coming off a ring.
Street Gangs
Moke and C-Note are trolls and rival gang leaders facing off. Moke leads the TunnelRats, dwarves, while C-Note heads up the TruKnights, all fairies and elves. Banjo leads a gang of dwarf mercenaries and can see the future. Dennis Farnsworth was in the wrong place while Crystal Finch simply got lucky.
The street gangs are mostly race-restricted with the fairies sticking to their own, the elves and dwarves to theirs and the humans to theirs. It’s when you get to those upper levels that it gets much trickier. Croda was a troll who worked as a cleaning lady at Unity for Kruge.
The Weird is a neighborhood in Boston to which the fairies, elves, and things that go bump in the night gravitate.
The Cover
The cover is a bit hokey with its graveyard scene and the tilting tombstones, but it is accurate for its finale with Connor at the cemetery.
The title is a bit lame as it simply refers to the Unquiet Dreams that Connor and Meryl are each having.
