David Knight has been plagued by dreams his entire life, only to have all memory of them vanish when he awakens. Now the dreams are coming with more frequency, and they seem to be drawing him to the Amazon. A scientist with a PhD in ichthyology and a dedication to learning all he can about lungfish, whose existence dates back to the Devonian era, David is determined to see what the Amazon holds. His hopes seem about to be answered when Dr. Carlos Avila contacts him. It seems the Brazilian archeologist discovered the remains of a previously undiscovered species on a tributary of the Amazon, and he’d like nothing better than for David to join the expedition to see if more of the creature can be found. Of course David leaps at the opportunity and flies to Pesadelo Bay to join the mismatched team. Once there, he discovers not only does Dr. Avila have his own agenda, but a former conquest as well as a friend who’d saved his life years before are part of the team and are engaged to be married. Meanwhile, the need to sail up the Amazon to find what ... or who ... is calling him there has become more and more pressing, and David must decide which is the most important -- learning what Dr. Avila really is searching for, or finding the answer to his dreams?

Lagoon of Dreams

“In the meantime, Cristovao, get this miserable piece of shit off my boat.”


The man gave his captain a resentful look but obeyed him and gingerly dragged the body to the gunwale and manhandled it over the side, pausing only once or twice to vomit. I staggered to my feet and flinched as pain shot through my brain, and swayed as I watched the remains float on the surface. There were a couple of deceptively gentle nudges and then a flurry of activity. Within seconds, the body was gone.


The captain observed Cristovao and nodded in satisfaction. “Now, clean this blood off the deck.”


The man sent a scowl in my direction—what had I done to him to deserve that?—grabbed a bucket, leaned over the transom to fill it with river water, then brought it to the spot where the body of Arnaldo Torres had lain and tossed the water over it.


“Now, we go eat.” Captain da Rosa didn’t seem to find anything incongruous about his words.


Chapter 92