Review of YESTERDAY'S DREAMS by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Mundania Press, 2006

With her father dying of cancer and her family's finances stretched past breaking, music teacher Kara O'Keefe decides to make the ultimate sacrifice--she'll sell Quicksilver, the fiddle that her family brought from Ireland and that is the most precious thing she owns. The power of the instrument, however, attracts a dark force that has long warred with the Sidhe of Irish legend. If it can claim the fiddle--and Kara's untrained but powerful magic--there are no limits to what it might accomplish.

Fortunately, Kara takes her fiddle to Maggie McCormick's pawnshop, Yesterday's Dreams. And Maggie is a Sidhe with a special bond to the O'Keefe family and the power to train Kara to protect herself. With the fiddle hidden in Maggie's shop, and Kara protected by a pin from Maggie, it seems that evil may yet be defeated.

Neither Maggie nor Kara count on the raw power that their enemy can bring against them. After distracting most of the Sidhe population of New York, the evil one attacks, bringing a street gang to provide the physical muscle. Maggie's magics are sophisticated, but no match for the pure power that is thrown against her. And Kara has still not had a chance to learn to control her own powers.

Author Danielle Ackley-McPhail shows a real love for the mythology and legends of Ireland and the Celts. From Sidhe elves to fairies, to the dark gods of ancient Athens, the legends come to life in this novel. As a character, Kara develops from a weak and indecisive woman to a person who can wield power in her own right, and who can make decisions that go against the advice even of her closest friends. I would have liked to see more evidence of the power of the evil to add to the sense of danger, and some aspects of the magic are still unclear to me, but overall, YESTERDAY'S DREAMS is an enjoyable and satisfying read.

Three Stars

Want to buy it? Click the button:

Too generous? Too stingy. Or did I miss the whole point? Send your comments to publisher@booksforabuck.com