WAREHOUSE DREAMS: A LOCAL AUTHOR’S DELIGHTFUL FANTASY NOVEL

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Book by Theresa Halversen

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

July 21, 2022 (San Diego) -- This delightful fantasy by San Diego author Theresa Halversen is a fast, fun read from the first page to the last. The story in Warehouse Dreams occurs in a world where the quality of each person’s genes reflects their parents’ wealth.

Breds have the best genetics, including their choices of psychic abilities, where Wilds are from poor families. However, their psychic abilities can be novel, and often, if they are not trained, child Wilds can become a danger to society. Regular people (called Regs) become aggressive towards Wilds and want to institutionalize if not kill them.

Kendle, a teacher at a school just for Wilds, is a Wild herself. Every time she recruits students whose talents are dangerously out of control, her boss threatens to fire Kendle. Being an out-of-control Wild when a child, Kendle was rescued by the school (the Warehouse). Now she is sympathetic and protective towards kids who must be trained to control their talents, both to save the kids and to protect society at large.

Stephen, a Bred, joins the Warehouse as a telepathy teacher. He is GQ gorgeous and stinking wealthy, but he is tired of being a Bred and comes to love working at the Warehouse, despite the long hours.

While giving a tour to five-year students at a mall, an angry mob assaults the teens. To protect their students from harm, Kendle and Stephen put up psychic barriers around their students but, somehow, their barriers connect. After that, Kendle starts to have intense dreams about Stephen and comes to learn that he has them too. Will a school romance actually grow between a Wild and a Bred?

As the society around the school ramps up hostility towards the Warehouse’s students, three of the students threaten the school’s very ability to survive. The school’s survival is threatened when one of the students “implodes.” As a result, the dorm is almost totally destroyed.

Kendle struggles to find a way to protect the three most gifted, as well as the most dangerous, students as the school’s director threatens to fire Kendle if she does protect them.

All the characters are interesting and all the chapters offer Kendle and the school challenges. The book is beautifully crafted from Kendle’s point of view, as she struggles to keep her own talents under control while living in constantly stressful conditions.

Theresa Halversen is also author of “The Dad’s Playbook to Labor and Birth.” Her collection of short stories in Tiny Gateways will soon be released. She is a member of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. To learn more about her, visit https://www.theresahauthor.com.


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