Fatal Memories [Hardcover]

Vladimir Lange (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2005

This riveting techno medical thriller asks: Do we carry the memory of past lives in our genes’ Neuro-psychiatrist Dr. Anne Powell is haunted by a terrifying recurrent dream that renders her an emotional cripple. She channels her energy and intellect into the brain scanner that she has invented. Working at the Pavlov Institute in Moscow, she experiences a laboratory accident that unleashes a six-hundred-year-old chain of events that may return a blood-thirsty psychopathic dictator to power, and destroy Anne’s lover and her own sanity. She must confront past and present, reality and memory, love and hate in the ultimate battle of her life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The invention of a medical device that can cure mental illness but has frightening side effects fuels this promising if unwieldy debut novel that straddles the line between thriller and love story. The device, known as a MEG and built by Boston doctor Anne Powell, has yet to be approved for sale in the United States. Undeterred, Russian physicians at the Pavlov Institute purchase one, and Powell heads to Moscow to oversee its use. Initial tests on Russian patients are encouraging, but unbeknownst to Powell, officials at the institute have smuggled in a special guinea pig: a schizophrenic political candidate with authoritarian tendencies curiously reminiscent of those of his grandfather, Josef Stalin. Meanwhile, Powell has her own personal troubles. As a result of exposure to the MEG's lasers, she keeps having disturbing dreams that seem to transport her to a past life in Russia 500 years ago, where she is in love with a man who bears a striking resemblance to one of her colleagues, the dashingly handsome researcher Volodya Verkhov. Lange, a doctor and producer of women's health education programs, ably crafts a complicated tale rich in Russian history and peopled by a large cast of characters, though it may disappoint some readers expecting more intrigue around the MEG and Stalin's descendant and less love story between Powell and Verkhov.
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Review

"...The scenes from Russia were so powerful that they’ve remained vivid in my mind. This was a well-crafted novel... -- Andra Tracy, booksense.com

"...a compelling, endlessly fascinating read...a tale that asks: do we carry the memory of past lives in our genes?" -- Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of Body Double

"...compelling questions of brain science, technology and ethics are entangled in the high suspense science fiction of Fatal Memories." -- Judy Illes, Ph.D.

"A genuinely suspenseful thriller [that] moves at a whirlwind pace… Russia comes alive and fills your senses...…" -- Dave Wilks, roundtablereviews.com

"Fatal Memories is a compelling, endlessly fascinating read." -- Tess Gerritsen, best-selling author

"I highly recommend Fatal Memories as a genuinely suspenseful thriller. -- Dave Wilks

"Vladimir Lange has crafted a winner… Get set for a roller coaster ride with hairpin turns all along the way." -- Michael Palmer, bestselling author of The Patient

"Vladimir Lange's imaginative science fiction adventure will appeal to physicians and scientists who appreciate the rapid advance of neuroimaging..." -- Victor Haughton, MD

"…A must read medical thriller that plunges the reader into the nightmare of the psyche where memory and reality merge." -- G.H. Ephron, bestselling author of Obsessed

"…Combines the swashbuckling fantasy-adventure time travel of Diane Gabaldon’s Outlander with the cliff hanging science fiction elements of Michael Crichton." -- Katherine Neville, bestselling author of The Eight

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Red Square Press; 1ST edition (March 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976039818
• ISBN-13: 978-0976039815
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,596,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent High Tech Medical Thriller, March 11, 2005

By 

Vincent Latona (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Memories (Hardcover)

"Do we carry the memory of past lives in our genes?" "What if there were a device that could access these memories?" "Why do people have deja vu and love-at-first-sight experiences?"

What I personally like about the book is that it combines very credible science-based medical technology, (without that sci-fi stuff!) with a powerful love story between interesting characters (without the gooshy romance stuff!)

Without giving away too much of the plot:

Dr. Anne Powell, a brilliant neuro-psychiatrist, invented the MEG -- a brain scanner designed to access remote memories. In trained hands, the MEG can accomplish in seconds what conventional psychotherapy can only hope to achieve in years.

A clash with the FDA forces Powell to leave Boston and continue her research at the world-renowned Pavlov Institute in Moscow. There, an accidental exposure to the MEG triggers a series of dreams that make Anne realize that centuries ago she had a different life -- and a tragic relationship with a man who bears a striking resemblance to one of her current Russian colleagues.

As Powell learns that the MEG is capable of far more than brain-scanning, she is forced to confront past and present, reality and memory, love and hate, in the battle to save the life of her lover, and her own sanity.

I enjoyed the book and if you are into high-tech medical thrillers you will too. I highly recommend it. A good read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believeable Fiction, March 3, 2005

By 

Michael Schrieber - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatal Memories (Hardcover)

I just finished Fatal Memories. It was a very good read. I have been dragging through another book for about a month, but finished Fatal Memories in just a few days. The characters were believeable, it was well paced, the science was very clearly and plausibly explained, and most of all the story was good. Books in foreign settings, with foreign languages and names are sometimes a problem for readers. But the setting and language in Fatal Memories definitely did not detract, in fact, the dialogues of broken English mixed with Russian words worked very well, and the details about life in Russia were very interesting.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the past is always with us!, March 13, 2005

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Memories (Hardcover)

Rebeccasreads recommends FATAL MEMORIES as a fast-paced medical thriller about how past lives can affect present day relationships, especially when is has been bloody & passionate, & steeped in Russia's history.

A lively evening's romantic adventure about a woman scientist who has designed the MEG, a machine which shows how a person's brain remembers, & which allows the doctor to operate on the damaged parts of the brain which are leaving people disturbed.

FATAL MEMORIES takes you to modern Russia, & into an exploration of how the past can still be with us, & affect how we live.