Meet the Cast
Nolan Erling is a fourteen-year-old boy who does well enough
in school, but doesn’t really fit in. It probably doesn’t help that his best
friend is his elderly next-door neighbor, Frostee. Home life used to be great
even though Nolan is adopted, but the recent addition of a younger brother—a
miracle baby—to the family has caused him to grow apart from his mom and dad.
Then there’s the headaches. He’s been waking with them for four straight days,
and the only person who claims she can help him with them is the mysterious new
girl at school
Aeryn Sandman is fifteen and a Junior Agent with the DREAM
Institute, a secret organization tasked with protecting the world of dreams
while the population sleeps. This is her first mission, and she’s trying to
recruit Nolan by integrating into his life—and his dreams—to bring him into the
fold at the Institute. She’s driven and wants nothing more than to impress her
superiors, including her father.
Geoffrey Sandman is the Director of the DREAM Institute. He
runs the day to day operations, overseeing all of the various departments. He
is a precognitive dreamer, meaning he occasionally sees glimpses of the future.
He’s seen Nolan in a few of those dreams, but he won’t disclose why. He is the
father of two children, Aeryn and Marshall.
Marshall Sandman is Aeryn’s slightly older twin brother, by a
whopping five minutes, which he likes to rub in when he can. He is on a
research tract at the Institute, preferring to spend his time learning about
dreams rather than manipulating them while asleep. He’s pulled into the Nolan
and Aeryn’s quest due to his knowledge of the dream world.
Jade Melody is Aeryn’s direct supervisor and she travels with
Aeryn on her recruitment mission to offer advice and make sure everything is
going okay. She is one of the few adults sympathetic to the kids’ cause when
thing ultimately go awry.
Penchant Downing is the Institute’s finest oneironaut, or
O-Naut for short. O-Nauts operate in the dream world and are experts at
manipulating dreamscapes. Penchant is assigned to Nolan’s case early on, mostly
as a cleanup crew while Nolan tries to get a handle on his dream powers, and
later as a protector from the dangerous creatures stalking the kids.
Crispin Devereaux is Penchant’s boss, the Head of the
Maintenance Department. His group is focused on maintaining and repairing
dreamscapes within the dream world. But the dream world is a big place and his
work force too few, especially so when one of the worst breaches in history occurs.
Lester Bogman, or the Bogeyman as he is known around the
Institute, runs the Nightmare Department. He has a reputation of being a jerk
and often suggests harming the kids to remedy the crisis they’re facing. This
utter disregard for the well-being of Nolan and his friends puts him at odds
with Geoffrey, and Nolan is pretty much convinced Lester caused the entire
situation himself.
Frostee Shupert is Nolan’s eighty-year-old next-door neighbor
and substitute algebra teacher. He and Nolan get along great, and when he’s not
hanging out with the boy, he’s sleeping an inordinate amount of time in the
hammock in his backyard or playing with his adorable chub of a pug, Scranton.
Julia Grimm runs the Death Department. Yes, there is a Death Department
because people die in their sleep all the time, and someone has to make sure
that happens as naturally as possible. Unfortunately, a major oversight by her
subordinates is partially to blame for the events of the story.
The Shadow was once the most feared nightmare in the dream
world, stalking and terrifying his victims by being able to meld into shadows
and turn into smoke with ease. He begins the story imprisoned, a result of
becoming too good at his job. But someone wants to set him free, and he wants
revenge…
Gearby Stelensnarf is a nightmare specializing in stealing
people’s clothing while they dream so they end up in their underwear or nude in
terrifying situations. He is recruited by the Shadow, but if the right garment
comes around, he’ll switch sides at the drop of a hat.
Bolt is another nightmare, a small demon with a pair of bolt
cutters larger than he is. He uses them to disable the brake lines of vehicles
so dreamers experience the terror of driving with no brakes. He and Gearby are
rarely seen without each other.
A vivid, dangerous dream world. Real-life consequences. Better ready your defense.
When
fourteen-year-old Nolan Erling wakes up with a headache for the
fourth straight day, he suspects the likely culprit to be any number
of things—from his annoying baby brother, to vehicular crashes with
his elderly neighbor, or even his questionable late-night food
choices—not his dreams.
Aeryn
Sandman knows the true cause, though. She is a junior agent with the
DREAM Institute, a secret organization tasked with protecting the
world’s population while they sleep, and she’s on her first
assignment.
Her
mission: infiltrate Nolan’s life—and his dreams—and keep him
safe, all while persuading him to join their protective force.
But
recruitment missions are no walk in the park, and Aeryn’s goes
horribly wrong when Nolan’s powers unwittingly unleash two dream
creatures locked away in a restricted area of the dream world. While
Aeryn and Nolan search for ways to contain the escaped beings, they
uncover a much greater conspiracy.
For
these dreams can kill, and someone is orchestrating their actions in
the dream world. If Aeryn and Nolan can’t figure out who is behind
it, no dreamer will be safe, and neither will the organization that
defends them.
Discover
a book with a fresh voice, genuinely humorous characters, and a
compelling, original storyline. The Dream Defenders will
appeal to readers of all ages.
★★★★★ -
"A spectacularly imaginative story." - Indies Today
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July 29th – 31st!!**
Neal DenHartog was born, raised, and currently resides in Iowa. After a fifteen year career in the sciences he decided to rekindle his childhood passion for writing. Now, when he's not donning a lab coat, he writes stories about dreams.
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