At the age of twelve, Jenny Jameson had a chance encounter with an injured and frightened merboy. Little did she know then that she would be haunted by those ice blue eyes filled with fear and her abandonment of him for years to come; nor would she have believed he would be a part of her dreams with such intensity that they would have her continually searching the ocean for that 'something'.

Perrin's dreams of the human girl on the beach were the only thing that kept him going through a tortuous childhood. Even after he had been exiled from the sea, and sent to live a death sentence on land, it was her image that kept him alive and made him strong.

Now Jenny is a marine biologist working in between the realms of science and myth. She was raised in a family that sought out both, and experienced it herself. So, when they discover the murdered body of a mermaid, it comes as no huge shock to her but rather a mystery to be solved.

Perrin's exile on dry land is truly a fish out of water story (forgive the pun). He not only has to learn the language after being washed ashore, but how to live 'civil', spending many of his first years on land getting into trouble, fights, and jailed.

When the two do finally come together by a twist of fate, the recognition is immediate for Perrin, whereas Jenny has to battle within herself some before giving in to the notion that she is destined to be with Perrin, and that they together are destined to save the world.

Marjorie Liu is an extremely talented writer. She takes the reader on such a clear visual tour of the fantasy world her characters live in, and adds real romance into the relationships and just not a lot of sex (albeit, there is some). IN THE DARK OF DREAMS is filled with plenty of tension and action to carry the reader through to the end, as well as a perfectly balanced amount of romance.

This is the 10th book in the Dirk & Steele novels, and it was my first. Now that I have discovered how beautiful a writer Marjorie Liu is, I plan on going back for the rest.