The Nightmare Brigade Vol. 1: The Case of The Girl from Deja Vu (Nightmare Brigade, #1)

by Frank Thillez

Yomgui Dumont (Illustrator)

These kids can insert themselves into your dreams and fix whatever gives
you nightmares!
The Nightmare Brigade is a dream team led by Professor Angus.
With his two young sidekicks, 14 year-olds Esteban and Tristan, they have one
goal: help people get rid of their worst nightmares. With unique skills, the
team members can literally infiltrate their patient’s nightmare to seek
its root and destroy the cause. Things are shaken up a bit, however, when they
meet the young Sarah. The Brigade has a feeling they have seen her before...
Then, an insomniac is invading other’s dreams. How does he do it and how
can he be stopped? It’s a paranormal story you won’t want to sleep
on!

• ISBN10: 1545808767
• ISBN13: 9781545808764
• Publish Date: 22 February 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Papercutz
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 112
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Case of The Girl from Deja Vu is the first volume of The Nightmare Brigade by Frank Thillez (writer) & Yomgui Dumont (illustrator) Released 22nd Feb 2022 by Papercutz, it's 112 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

The eARC provided for review was approximately half the finished graphic novel, but more than enough content to give a feel for the flow of the story and art. This is a well plotted middle grade to young adult graphic novel about a team of researchers who are able to infiltrate people's dreams in order to help them process trauma and recover from their nightmares.

There is a creepy sense of dreamlike unreality which the art suits very well.

Originally published in French, the translation work is seamless and not at all apparent in the English language version.

Four stars. Maybe a little creepy for very sensitive readers, but there's no graphic violence or objectionable material (just that all-pervasive creeping dread - very nightmare/dreamlike).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Rach Wood]

I have to thank NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of the first 48 pages of this book for an honest review. The final version will have over 100 pages and is scheduled to be published on February 1, 2022.

The story follows the adventures of the “nightmare brigade”, a dream team led by Professor Angus. With his two young sidekicks, 14-year-olds Esteban and Tristan, they have one goal: to help people get rid of their worst nightmares.  

I liked the illustrations, even though the definition of the image wasn’t great. The storyline was mysterious and, as it progressed, it got me hooked. It’s definitely a page-turner, and the ending was nerve-racking. I really want to know more! On another hand, it’s also so fast-paced that there’s very little build hope for the action. Still fun though!

Although 48 pages aren’t really enough to fall completely in love with the characters, I appreciated that there’s one of the main characters is a disabled person, who’s also really brave, kind and honest. I’m just sorry that the author used the term ‘handicapped’, since it’s offensive, and I hope that is revised and corrected before it is published.