The Dreaming Tree

By: Matthew Mather

Narrated by: Robin Eller, Tom Taylorson

Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A serial killer is loose on the streets of New York,
chased by a detective whose mutated eyes
see things only she can.... 

Shutter Island meets Jacob’s Ladder in the new near-future crime thriller from million-copy best seller Matthew Mather, with books translated in over 20 languages worldwide. 

“Relentless pacing, well-developed main characters, and plethora of bombshell plot twists.” (Publishers Weekly)

After a near-fatal car crash, Royce wakes up to find he’s one of the first patients to undergo a radical new procedure: a full-body transplant. Convalescing and suffering from waking nightmares, he answers the door at his Long Island home and meets Delta Devlin, a New York detective. She sees things nobody else can, visions created by a mutation to her eyes. 

Royce becomes Devlin’s prime suspect in a string of grisly murders. Desperate for answers, he tracks down the grieving widow of the man whose body he now inhabits. Out of time, and perhaps his mind, he tumbles through a hallucinogenic underworld of black-market body parts and billionaires where nothing can stand in the way of living forever - not even death itself.
 

©2019 Matthew Mather (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A very real lifelike story!

This has to be some of the finest work! So far I have read almost all of his books, and am lost in each one to the end..
I'm glad I don't live inside his mind!

Okay story but the writing felt ‘off’

It was okay. The concept was interesting and though for most of the book it seemed to go to a bit of a dull cliche storyline it actually redeemed itself at the end. But the writing was just not my cup of tea. The characters felt a little forced somehow and they acted very strange. And not just those who were losing their mind. They just had very little depth.
The author was too focused on writing a book filled with surprises that it just didn’t feel right.
The female narrator made listening a bit of a chore for me. I don’t want to be mean, but I think she had a very light speech impediment and that made her tone just sound a bit strange. It really made it difficult to get immersed into the parts she read.
If you’re not a very critical reader you will potentially enjoy this book. It’s not bad. I didn’t feel it was a waste of time reading it, but I wish it was better

bad narrator, okay story

I hated the female narrator. decent story, kept me engaged despite the awful performance. the ending kind of puttered out.

All guesses are wrong

(As posted in GoodReads)
Every guess I made during the course of the book was wrong! The surprise conclusion was great, particularly because I was not satisfied with any of my "guesses"; they were all unsatisfying and depressing. But the actual conclusion was definitely satisfying, and it dispelled all suspicions of cliché. The characters were well developed and likable, which is part of why my guesses were depressing. Well, the doctor wasn't exactly likable, but that's another situation altogether… Looking forward to the next one in the series.

Taylorson 4, Eller 2

...purchased this at a deep discounted sale price and still almost didn't listen to this upon hearing Eller's first chapter...upping the speed during her parts helped, but her characterizations of all but Devlin where awful - especially Devlin senior. Taylorson was wonderful as usual.
The story is timely and plausible. The writing has many moments of beautiful description.

A bit far-fetched...

Male reader was excellent. Female reader not so much. The story had some great twists and turns but ultimately was rather drawn out and unbelievable.

A thriller full of twists and turns.

Loved the writing. I plan to read more of this author's work. The final chapters so good I just had to read all the way to the end.

what happened to Susan Collins

This book was hardly worth my time, but I finished it to meet the conditions of the current challenge. it was slow moving and repetitive. the story was thin and there certainly was not enough mystery to fill eighteen hours.
the characters were poorly developed and dull. I had difficulty in garnering any sympathy for the main character. the motives were convoluted and confusing.
I would not recommend this book.
the narrator were okay but two were not necessary.

OK book

This book got confusing at times. The timeframes weren't consistent which had me rewinding to see if I missed something. The ending was a little out of left field. Plus, I didn't like the female narrator.

Great New Read by Matthew Mather

The Dreaming Tree"

My favorite read by author Matthew Mather was Cyberstorm but his newest novel The Dreaming Tree is now my new favorite. The genre is futuristic but very grounded in real medical possibilities. I listened to the audiobook adaptation, in which both excellent narrators enhanced the author's words. From the first minute of listening I was immediately immersed into Royce Lowell-Vandeweghe's new life, new body. This storyline takes body-dysmorphia to an extreme end after Roy wakes up after a violent car crash with a new body. Throughout the novel he verbally battles within himself with the mind of the donor or is he just becoming crazy? There is a side story about a New York detective named Delta Devlin, obsessively working on a serial killer case that may or may not involve Roy & his donor....

Brilliant better than expected

Bloody brilliant what a well crafted book the characters and twists keep you wanting more. Mather is an incredible author

Devlin is a detective but with a right-hand twist

*Please note this review contains spoilers, which start where I have detailed *spoilers* in capital letters.

l have read previous series and books by Matthew Mather, all very serious and dramatic, dealing with world-shattering events and their effects on us all, but this book felt like a description of world-shattering events on a smaller, more singular personal scale.

The series protagonist, Delta Devlin was introduced into this book as a pivot on which to base a continuing series, but actually I felt the author started out with an unusual story he wished to tell, and later decided to enclose the story with a wrapper that could be used to launch a series, with Devlin being the wrapper here. I may be wrong about this but it hasn't and won't spoil my enjoyment of this or future books which more closely align with the main character than this book does.

Devlin is a detective with an unusual ability that enables her to see beyond that which ordinary humans can perceive. This gives Devlin an uncanny knack to see past the obvious surface to the underlying truth hidden beneath. Delta is a sharp, focused and driven woman who just won't quit, so I can see myself reading her further adventures. Though this book isn't really about her. This book is another character's story. Not of life and death, though that is what happens, but more of life - after death.

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************ SPOILERS ************

Roy Lowell is a man who had died, was brought back and was in a coma for a long time. When he awakes, not only has he to cope with the massive changes that follow a near fatal accident, but he himself is literally in someone else's body. Coming to terms with this life altering event is just the beginning of his troubles. There are questions about how he had his 'accident', how he ended up in another body, why some of his friends and family are lying to him, and why others aren't happy to see him alive at all.

Roy is certain he is being watched by someone all the time, wherever he goes. Outside of his obvious physical and mental issues, there are more horrific and massively important events transpiring around him that he is tied to directly without his knowledge.

The story follows his attempts to find the truth in it all. Roy cannot trust anyone around him, not even himself, so he goes on the run to escape all the attention and seek the help he needs to discover the truth.

To determine who and what he his, and what if any future Roy can have that is his own. More than anything, Roy needs to discover if he could be insane. Is he still Roy, or becoming someone else?

Delta Devlin is only peripherally involved with Roy at the outset, but their individual investigations intersect at various points and each drives the other on to an inescapable conclusion - that death is only the beginning of your troubles, not the end.

Fantastic story with original plot

This was a fantastic book which had a interesting story line - the characters were well defined and it has plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
I liked the fact that I was first feeling on the side of the main character then changing my mind as the twists in the story progressed and evolved.

If you like a story with a twisting plot, good narrator the will keep you hooked then this is you you.