Yume

A modern-day fantasy novel about demons, dreams, and a young woman teaching English in Japan.

Cybelle, an expat, lives in a small city in the Kansai region of Japan. Life is difficult: her coworkers don’t treat her as one of their own and, outside of work, people dislike or even fear her. On top of it all, Cybelle is struggling to conform to the rules that have helped her survive so far.

Elsewhere in Kansai, Zaniel navigates the dream realm, bringing women to have romantic encounters with a demon named Akki, his “bodyguard.” When another demon — the Yokai — appears in Akki’s territory and wreaks havoc in his domain with its voracious appetite, both Zaniel and Cybelle find themselves caught in the middle of the supernatural creature’s antics.

Will Cybelle be able to keep up her do-your-best attitude when she is pulled into the world of demons and the heated battle between Akki and the Yokai?

"At its heart, Yume is a compelling story about finding connections — to others as well as to parts of oneself — in an increasingly disconnected world. With empathetic characters, terrifying monsters, and a cinematic feel, Yume is a dream that will keep readers awake at night." —Richard Ford Burley, author of Displacement