Introduction

Without sleep, her life became a living nightmare. 
 
Fatal. Insomnia.
 
From New York Times bestselling and Thriller Award-winning author CJ Lyons an explosive medical thriller with a dark and edgy twist, "a heroine you'll never forget and a story that whips by at bullet speed" (Tess Gerritsen). 
 
"CJ Lyons scores a major triumph with FAREWELL TO DREAMS. Totally absorbing and impossible to put down." ~Douglas Preston, #1 NYT bestselling author
 
In the chaos of the ER, functioning without sleep is a prized skill. But even Dr. Angela Rossi will admit that five months is far too long. Then a dead nun speaks to her while Angela is holding the nun's heart in her hand.
 
"Find the girl," the nun commands--although no one else in the trauma room can hear, the words drilling directly into Angela's brain. "Save the girl."
 
Aided by a police detective fallen from grace, Angela searches the midnight catacombs beneath the city, facing down a ruthless gang leader and stumbling onto a serial killer's lair. Her desperate quest to save the girl leads her to the one thing she least expected to find: a last chance for love.
 
As her symptoms escalate in bizarre and disturbing ways, Angie realizes exactly how serious her illness is. She might be dying, but she's finally choosing how to live...
 
FAREWELL TO DREAMS is the first installment in a new series of medical thrillers with a sci-fi twist that features non-stop action, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and a surprise ending you won't see coming.
 
Join the millions of readers who have already fallen in love with CJ's "Thrillers with Heart" and grab your copy of FAREWELL TO DREAMS today! Be ready for more twists as the story continues in Book #2, A RAGING DAWN.


"CJ Lyons scores a major triumph with FAREWELL TO DREAMS, a remarkable medical thriller equal to the very best of Robin Cook or Michael Crichton. This intelligent,well-crafted novel, based on a startlingly original premise, builds up tension to the breaking point and beyond, delivering plenty of surprises along the way.Totally absorbing and impossible to put down." ~Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling author
 
"FAREWELL TO DREAMS has it all: a heroine you'll never forget and a story that whips by at bullet speed.  It's easy to see why CJ Lyons is a perennial on the bestseller lists."  ~Tess Gerritsen, NewYork Times bestselling author
 
Additional Praise for CJ Lyons' medical thrillers:
"CJ Lyons continues to mesmerize readers...pulse-pounding." ~Fresh Fiction
 
Lyons"is a master within the genre." ~Pittsburgh Magazine
 
"This exhilarating medical thriller gets the blood pumping ...This is a terrific thriller and fans of Michael Palmer will enjoy this fine tale." ~The Mystery Gazette
 
"A powerful and dramatic look into the frenzied world of emergency medicine...Lyons' characters are dynamic and genuine.  Readers need only shut their eyes to imagine this group on the big screen."~Suspense Magazine
 
"Sure to keep readers enthralled...a suspenseful and engaging tale that comes to an exciting conclusion.  Readers won't want to miss this one." ~Romance Reviews Today
 
"A great fast-paced read....Not to be missed for fans of ER and Grey's Anatomy." ~4 ½ Stars, Book Addict
 
"Lyons delivers a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." ~Publishers Weekly
 
"A winner!"  ~Romantic Times, Top Pick
 
"Simply superb...riveting drama...a perfect ten." ~Romance Reviews Today
 
"Characters with beating hearts and three dimensions." ~Newsday
 
"A pulse-pounding adrenalin rush!" ~Lisa Gardner
 
"...Harrowing,emotional, action-packed and brilliantly realized.  CJ Lyons writes with the authority only a trained physician can bring to a story, blending suspense, passion and friendship into an irresistible read." ~Susan Wiggs
 
"An intense, emotional thriller...(that) climbs to the edge of intensity." ~National Examiner

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE



I’M ANGELA ROSSI. I’m thirty-four years old, and this is the story of how I die.
I’m an ER doctor and victim’s advocate—make that former ER doc—and this is the story of how I live.
Most of all, it’s a story of redemption.
I hope.
Guess it all depends on your point of view…

T;R

EVEN IF IT’S a rainy Thanksgiving night with the ER’s waiting room overflowing and all of our exam rooms filled, cops and firemen will always get first dibs on our attention. They may have to wait if others are closer to death, but they’re going to get seen and seen fast. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. We know Angela is dying before she’s aware of how devastating her symptoms are. How does this make her character more compelling and sympathetic?


2. They say doctors make the worst patients. How does Angela personify this? Does her ER physician’s ability to compartmentalize and objectify her symptoms hinder or help her cope with what’s happening?


3. It’s clear that Angela and Ryder have strong feelings for each other, yet Angela pushes him away. What moral and ethical issues come with falling in love or starting a relationship when you’re facing a devastating illness or terminal diagnosis? How would you overcome these challenges?


4. At what point should you disclose your illness or allow your romantic partner to have a say in how you live or choose to die? Is there a time when it’s better to walk away and save your partner the suffering and emotional pain of facing death alongside you?


5. Devon’s character appears one way to almost everyone in the story, yet Angela sees the truth of the man he is—just as he understands the truth of what is happening with her and accepts it. What kind of masks do we assume in public and how do they serve us? When do they end up being more comfortable than facing the truth and our need to change as Devon found when he returns too late to save Jess?


6. The many forms a family’s love takes is a recurrent theme in FAREWELL TO DREAMS: Angela’s family’s inability to forgive her for her father’s death, her love of her family despite playing the role of scapegoat for their collective grief, Devon’s sacrifice of Jess and Esme in the name of love, Daniel’s treatment of his sons, and even Tyrese’s treatment of his “family” of Tower residents.

How does our family inform the way we learn to give and receive love from others? Have you seen this played out in real life, the things people do in the name of family—or despite their family and upbringing?


7. Fatal Familial Insomnia is a real disease caused by prions—the same proteins that cause Mad Cow disease—and patients with FFI suffer one of the most devastating deaths imaginable. What would your own worst-nightmare death consist of? A lingering one with the ability to say goodbye to loved ones? A sudden, unexpected tragedy?


8. How can we better communicate our wishes about how we want to die with our loved ones? Is there anyway to prepare for death and face it with courage and dignity as Angela hopes to?


9. At the story’s end, although it is only Book #1 in the series, Angela expresses a bittersweet combination of hope for a future with Ryder while also acknowledging her imminent death. Where do you see these characters headed in future books? What are your own hopes for them?


Want to know what happens next?
The story continues…
Fatal Insomnia Book #2:
A RAGING DAWN
Coming August, 2015 ebook,
January 2016 hardcover/trade paperback


Be the first to learn more! Join CJ’s Thrillers with Heart newsletter at http://cjlyons.net/signup

A RAGING DAWN:

I may be dying, but I’ve finally found someone to live for…

It’s been a sleepless month since Dr. Angela Rossi was diagnosed with Fatal Insomnia after a not-quite-dead nun reached out directly to Angela’s mind and set her on the path to hunt down a serial killer.

After learning she only has a few months left to live, Angela has left the ER and has one final case to testify at for the Advocacy Center. As soon as she brings justice to her last victim, a woman who was raped and brutalized seven months ago, Angela plans to take control of what little time she has left by escaping the sullen Pennsylvania December to a remote tropical island and ending it all on her terms. Her one regret is leaving Detective Matthew Ryder—he’s been her solace in the midst of the chaos her life has deteriorated into.

When the rape victim is murdered on the day she’s scheduled to testify and the rapist goes free without naming his accomplices, Angela makes it her mission to bring him to justice…one way or the other.

She’s helped by streetwise Devon Price, who doesn’t care about the law but does care about justice. He argues that Angela could be the perfect vigilante if she wanted, given that she no longer has anything to lose or to fear.

When a loved one is targeted, Angela is forced to betray everything she holds dear in an effort to stop the killers. Unfortunately, there’s a thin line between justice and vengeance.

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