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Recycled Review: The Memorist by @MJRose

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Recycled ReviewsThe Memorist
by MJ Rose
Book 2 in The Reincarnationist Series

Blurb:

As a child, Meer Logan was haunted by memories of another time and place, always accompanied by the faint strains of elusive music. Now the past has reached out again in the form of a strange letter that sets her on a journey to Vienna to unlock the mystery of who she once was. With each step, she comes closer to remembering connections between a clandestine reincarnationist society, a lost flute linked to Ludwig van Beethoven, and David Yalom, a journalist who understands all too well how the past affects the future.

Memorist coverReview:

Malachai Samuels of the Phoenix Foundation (from The Reincarnationist) is under investigation by the FBI, but that doesn’t stop him from his quest for a personal experience of reincarnation. This time the memory tool he seeks is an ancient bone flute rumored to have once been possessed by Beethoven.

Since childhood, Meer Logan has been haunted by a tune and images of an ornate memory box along with what she believes to be false memories of another lifetime. Malachai helped her through the difficult times then, so she turns to him now. When the box in her visions turns up in Vienna, she goes there and the visions return with a vengeance. Again, there is someone willing to kill for the memory tool as well as an Israeli journalist out to avenge the deaths of his family by terrorists.

The plot is fairly complicated, but comes together nicely at the end, with a few loose ends for the next book, The Hypnotist. The flashbacks to previous lives are fascinating, and I found the ending to be satisfying and emotional; a beautiful story in many ways. This is one of my favorite books in this wonderful series.

Linda

This review of The Memorist by MJ Rose was first posted May 6, 2009 at my Flights-a-Fancy blog.

Recycled Review: The Reincarnationist by @MJRose

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Recycled ReviewsToday’s Recycled Review is of The Reincarnationist by M. J. Rose, which I first reviewed on March 4, 2009.

cover reincarnationistI’ve always been fascinated by the idea of reincarnation, so when I discovered this book, I had to read it. This is the first in a series of six books, all of which I have read. The entire series is listed here at Goodreads.

After being injured in a suicide bombing in Rome, photographer Josh Ryder starts having flashbacks to two previous lives: one in 19th c. New York, the other in Rome c. 390 AD. The earlier life is more compelling, both to him and the reader, as he was a pagan priest in love with a Vestal Virgin at the time when all pagans were being persecuted by the now-powerful Christians.

Problem is, he doesn’t believe in reincarnation, so he goes to the Phoenix Foundation, which only treats children troubled by past life memories. Josh is given access to the foundation’s library in exchange for photographing their work. When the tomb of a Vestal Virgin is uncovered outside Rome, the archeologists discover the perfectly preserved skeleton of a woman Josh knows was named Sabina, and a box containing six precious gems that may be the fabled Memory Stones that can reveal past lives. But someone will kill to possess the Memory Stones. As past and present collide, Josh and archeologist Gabriella Chase embark on a life and death quest to decipher the stones.

The plot is very complex but the story moves along nicely. I liked the reincarnation theme and I loved the book right up to the ending, which I found abrupt and shocking. (What can I say, I’m a romance reader. I’m used to the HEA.)

I enjoyed the quotes from famous people interspersed throughout the book, like this one from Rudyard Kipling:

They will come back, come back again,
As long as the red earth rolls.
He never wasted a leaf or a tree.
Do you think he would squander souls?

The Reincarnationist is an excellent thriller and a great opener for a series, just don’t expect a romantic happily-ever-after ending. Still, I liked it enough to read the sequel, The Memorist, which I loved. I recommend this series highly.

Linda