Michael Black thought everything in his life was going well. All Michael had to worry about was going to college then everything changed. Michael witnessed his parent's death in a fiery car crash. Michael can't afford to keep his parent's home by himself and has the bank auction it off. The house is sold but memories remain. Michael doesn't recall his dreams being so vivid yet they're so startling realistic. Michael kept emerald green stone that belonged to his mother. The new owner of the house asks to speak with Michael. Mort Bell is an unusual man with many secrets. Mort shares with Michael that the stone is called a trace and dreaming is called bridging. Michael isn't sure what to believe yet finds that he trusts Mort. When Michael is attacked by the somnibus Mort steps into rescue him. Will Michael seek out the truth? What are Mort's intentions? What do the somnibus want? Your answers await you in The Somnibus.

A very unique and complex world Mr. McGray has created here. I honestly didn't know who to really trust or believe in. I was convinced I knew the truth but was happily proven wrong at the end of the story. I found the characters to be realistic and relatable. I loved the uses of dreams as a key component of this book. The hints of mystery and suspense were perfectly timed. ( )

Somnibus: Book 1 Finding the Mark was a free book I snagged during a membership giveaway. I was really excited to read this novella from this up and coming author but it took less than two paragraphs to have all forms of excitement erased. By the end of the first chapter, which is all of about 1 page or so, my shoulders were already hanging low and the highlighter was already at work. The novella was a quick read but I credit it to the very simple, child like, writing style. Harsh words, yes but to be honest, there was nothing at all challenging in this book, not even the plot line. The plot is so thin and it shows through all the white space on the page. The characters are one dimensional all the way through and though the twist was not predictable, it fell flat. I think that most of that has to do with the fact that you just really don't care about the characters at all. At times the story did pick up with a tad bit of suspense but for the most part it dragged on trivial bits of information and filler. The whole book is littered with common errors, spelling and words out of place. I honestly thought that there was something wrong with me but after have an English major read a section and send it back with the same highlights and comments that I had, I realized that I was unfortunately right, the book needs a major rewrite.

Truth is that I'm the last person to correct English, spelling, grammar and punctuation...I suck at all of the above. So I won't even get into it. I'll just give an example of some of the issues I had with this story (that apparently every other review seemed to miss...which only makes me wonder how they are related to the author...).

First page: He watches his parents car roll and flip. My first question is...how. He is apparently driving because he pulls over. They apparently have been driving for a while because he sends them a text and later on we find out about how the accident happens. One is left wondering why he's on the road with his parents, in separate cars...when he lives with them. In the end I came to the conclusion of "How convenient...and forced." On that same page he manages to get the stone from his mother who squeezes her hand through a crack in the window and drops it. This also seems convenient and forced when the paragraph before talks about how he can't even get near the car because of the flames shooting out. But some how, he's now able to get close enough to pick up this stone next to his mother but not actually help her? Mind you, the stone doesn't even burn him when he grabs it and he doesn't manage to catch on fire even though he's that close to the flames but whatever. This of course is the first chapter, the first 1 or 2 pages, just imagine how it went after that. So much done out of convenience that left me rolling my eyes at times and confused at others.

Another issue is that the author has trouble describing things. I remember at one point he went on and on to describe that one character was overweight and oh the cliches used, ballooned hand I believe was used twice at two different times but on the same page. At times characters are standing but then suddenly one is getting up off the sofa. The lack of actuate description confuses the reader.

One more issue, the main character is an idiot. It seems that he can't grasp anything the first time and so everything is a "surprise" to him. Truth is, this is all supposed to be some sort of suspense or mystery for the reader, "Who is that man with his eyes black, snorting and smelling of metal? Our character is clueless and so opens the door. Later he finds the man without the signs of the Somnibus and gets angry, wanting to know why he broke in." All of this makes no sense since other character gave him (and the readers) a demonstration on how this whole thing works and he's seen it at least twice and it's happened to him already twice. So instead of action or suspense or mystery is comes off as a character who is dumber than bricks.

But not all is lost, the dialogue is pretty decent and the whole premise is good. If only the author could pull it off and do so well. ( )

Interesting story about a young man with a different kind of ability. Sort of a paranormal story with a "light" amount of horror involved. Keeps your interest all of the way through. ( )

Overall, this was a rather decent read. It wasn't of the horror mold that I was expecting but there was a great deal of suspense and the plot progressed rather nicely while managing to avoid those lulls that often lose the attention of the reader.

I loved this story. This story is one those that you can imagine the story in your mind as you read. I enjoyed the supernatural element to the story. You think you know what is happening but then it takes a turn.I couldn't put it down, read it in one night! I am dying to read part 2 to see what happens! ( )