The Nightmare Virus

by Nadine Brandes Narrated by Greg D. Barnett

Overview

Some viruses go after the body. But the Nightmare Virus goes after the mind.

When dream technology goes wrong, a virus spreads across the globe, trapping people in a universal dreamscape. They call it the Nightmare Virus.

Cain Cross is determined to find a cure . . . if he can decipher his brother's chicken-scratch formula notes. But when he gets infected, he has only 22 days until he's trapped in the mental prison forever. Now, every time he falls asleep, he must fight in a Nightmare Arena until he earns his freedom to live in the “new world” that exists only in the mind.

Then he finds a way to manipulate the Nightmare-to change it by mere thought.

Forced to navigate a world of nightbeasts, mistblades, and half-truths, Cain turns his focus to survival. When the Emperor offers him a LifeSuPod-and access to a cure-in exchange for a dangerous favor, Cain thinks he's found a way out. But Cain's new power threatens to take him on paths that jeopardize his very soul.

Will he continue searching for a cure, or will he swear allegiance to the Nightmare? And the bigger question might be . . . will he even have a choice?

Editorial Reviews

WORLD BANK

"Nadine Brandes’ masterful storytelling explores themes of doubt, imagination, and Christian ­community." 
 

Lorehaven

"Nadine Brandes masterfully crafts a vivid dreamscape where wicked battles rage but hope cannot be extinguished." 
 

Kirkus Reviews

2024-05-30
After Cain is infected with the Nightmare Virus, he only has 22 days to find a cure and save humanity.

Cain wanted to build dream worlds as a professional Draftsman, but then the Nightmare Virus arrived. It traps sleeping people in the nightmarish state Cain’s older brother, Nole, called the Tunnel, adding one hour of sleep per day until, after 22 Sleeps, you never wake up. When Cain is infected after Nole’s death, he fights his way through the Tunnel by sheer force of will and finds Tenebra, a dreamscape reminiscent of ancient Rome that’s inhabited by other infected people. Cain makes a bargain with young Emperor Luc—save Luc’s infected father (who’s in a Life Support Pod that needs charging in the Real World), access the cure that’s locked in his mind, and get an exorbitantly expensive LifeSuPod of his own. While Cain is asleep, he must earn his Tenebran citizenship by surviving the Arena and dangerous Spores who enter and exit the Nightmare at will. When he’s awake, he faces the apocalypse. If he dies in one world, he also dies in the other. While this genre-bending work features an interesting premise, it’s slow to start, the worldbuilding is muddled, and the ending may not satisfy readers who are unfamiliar with Christianity. The author’s approach to dealing with mental health and emotional struggles is confusing, potentially communicating blame for sufferers. Most characters read white.

May satisfy Christian fans of dystopian science fiction.(Christian science fiction. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191933603
Publisher:	Oasis Audio
Publication date:	07/16/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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