Imaginary Things

Author: Andrea Lochen

Imaginary Things allows one mother, Anna Jennings, to see into the imagination of her four year old son David as he creates dinosaurs to protect him from someone David knows is following him. David cannot tell his mother as he is not sure himself who or what is trying to hurt him. And Anna has her own imagination to lead her to her childhood and to what happened between Anna and her mother when Anna created her own imaginary friend Leah Nola. As Anna realizes that her mother also could see into Anna’s imagination, and that it frightened her mother, she determines not to do that with David. And she sets out to find out who is trying to hurt her son.

Anna Jennings is twenty two, has left her bipolar husband Patrick because he is endangering herself and her son, David. She has been let go of her position as a receptionist. Anna returns home to her grandparents Duffy and Winston as a total failure towing David in hand ; as she begins to regroup, David begins to have nightmares. And then, David’s monsters start chasing them both. Two dinosaurs named King Rex and Weeple appear as well as a black mist that later turns into a panther and Anna realizes that they are real, in some sense, and can hurt her son or his friends.

Toss in Jamie Presswood, Anna’s neighbor and childhood friend, and Anna’s growing feelings for Jamie, and Imaginary Things erupts and sizzles.

I wanted the action to go faster than it did; I wanted the gallop, not the trot. Andrea Lochen’s characters are solid and her plot was imaginative; however, I would have preferred a stronger sense of magic, which Lochen almost achieved. When I pick a novel up, put it down, pick it up, put it down, I feel nebulous about what happens to the characters when I should be excited, tossing pages about as they own me!

Imaginary Things has been selected for features in ForeWord Magazine, Huffington Post, WSJ, Fiction Writer’s Review, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Brit + Co. and so many more! The novel was also chosen by Barnes & Noble as a featured title for their special worldwide Nook campaign in April.

Ratings are based on a 5-star scale

Overall: 3

Review by Broad “A” 

We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own

 Imaginary Things is available for purchase on Amazon.com and at bookstores nationwide