Review: Tommy Nightmare by JL Bryan

Not long ago I read J.L. Bryan’s Dominion, which for quite a long time had been paired with one of my books on Amazon. Overall I loved the book, and went on to read Jenny Pox, a sort of paranormal fantasy. The premise of Jenny Pox is simple: teenage girl whose touch causes people to break out in plague. Despite the simple premise, the author develops believable and likable characters and made for a very good read.

Tommy Nightmare is very much a worthy sequel to Jenny Pox. The book opens with a new character, Tommy, who suffered from a childhood so ghastly you can’t help but like him. Soon, however, the story picks up immediately after the end if the first book, returning to main characters Jenny and Seth.

I can’t get much into the details of their situation at the beginning of the story without giving up major spoilers from the first book, and in order to get this book and enjoy it, you really need to read Jenny Pox first. That said, the stage Bryan sets in book one lifts to a new level here… higher stakes, eventually bringing in involvement of a number of new supernatural types, the federal government, and setting the stage for what I suspect will be a major conflict in book 3.

My only disappointment was the development of the relationship between Jenny and her father. Given the events detailed in the climax of Jenny Pox, I expected and would have liked to have seen much more detail and development of their relationship. As it was, it seemed glossed over.

All in all, an excellent book, one that I really enjoyed. I’ll be waiting for book 3, and highly recommend it!