The Nightmare Brigade, Vol. 1: The Girl From Deja Vu

I've never seen the movie. But I from what I've heard and read about it, I really think that today's book is Inception for kids!

Dr. Angus runs a sleep clinic that specializes in nightmares. With the help of his wheelchair bound son Tristan and the mysterious Estoban, a doe-eyed boy with amnesia, Dr. Angus is able to dig deep into the psyche of his patients. Literally!

Thanks to computers, a special wrist device and hi-tech communications, Dr. Angus has created a way for the two boys to physically enter the dreams of others. In this dream world, Tristan can walk again and Estoban can walk through solid objects. Once the dreamer begins their REM cycle, the boys have 20 minutes to solve what is behind the patients nightmares or they will be trapped until the next sleep cycle. Good thing that every 1 minute of REM sleep in reality is equal to 1 hour of time in the dream realm.

The next patient Tristan and Estoban are assigned to help is a teen girl named Sarah. She's been having this recurring dream of being chased by angry adults. Each night Sarah dreams, the number of children dwindle. With only Sarah and a couple of other kids left, if the Nightmare Brigade doesn't act soon, Sarah might become trapped within her own mind. But why does Estoban, who has no idea who he really is, have a funny feeling that he's met Sarah before?

The Nightmare Brigade is a French comic story that began in 2018. Only this year has the series been translated into English and become available in the States thanks to Papercutz. It's been a while since I have really gotten into a new young adult series. But the Nightmare Brigade has really captured my attention! Gosh darn it that I'm going have to wait an unknown amount of time for the promised volume 2!

Being a French series, there's a few minor things that might not be appropriate for American young readers. In Sarah's dream, one of the remaining teenagers smokes. With how cigarettes and tobacco paraphernalia being erased from old TV shows and movies, such an act is considered unimaginable in today's family media. But in Europe, the fervor against tobacco is nowhere near that of Yankee opinions.

This series can also be considered a bit intense. There's a second story in this volume in which a boy has recurring nightmares of tourists turning to stone. There's a monstrous creature behind the scenes and that's one scary looking entity! I'm reminded of the Weeping Angels of Doctor Who!

Amazon rates this book as being for readers in grades 3-7. School Library Journal recommends this book for those in grades 5 and up. Based on the fear factor and some intense situations involving a one of the clinic's long-term care patients, I'm going say that I think the latter might be on to something with their reading recommendations. 

One of the most cerebral series for middle-schoolers I have read in a very long time. There's a ton of mysteries waiting to be explored with The Nightmare Brigade. I just hope Papercutz hurries up with Vol. 2. I've got to know what happens next! 

UPDATE: Thankfully, I won't have to wait long. Thanks to a trip to Papercutz' website, I leanrned Vol. 2 drops next month!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.