The Memorist (Reincarnationist) [Mass Market Paperback]

M. J. Rose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2010 | Series: Reincarnationist

As a child, Meer Logan was haunted by bizarre memories and faint strains of elusive music. Now a strange letter beckons her to Vienna, promising to unlock the mysteries of her past. With each step, she comes closer to remembering connections between a clandestine reincarnationist society, Beethoven's lost flute and journalist David Yalom.

David knows loss firsthand—terrorism took his entire family. Now, beneath a concert hall in Vienna, he plots a violent wake-up call to illustrate the world's need for true security.

Join international bestselling author M. J. Rose in her unforgettable novel about a woman paralyzed by the past, a man robbed of his future and a secret centuries old.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Near the start of Rose's fascinating follow-up to The Reincarnationist (2007), Meer Logan visits the Manhattan office of Malachai Samuels, the erudite head of a reincarnation foundation. When Malachai shows her an auction catalogue photo of a gaming box once owned by a friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, the photo closely resembles a sketch Meer made as a child based on what Meer wishes were false memories. Malachai believes Meer has been haunted by past-life memories, in particular those of Margaux Neidermier, whose husband in 1814 asked Beethoven to decipher a song inscribed on an ancient flute. The box turns out to contain a Beethoven letter suggesting the composer didn't destroy the "memory flute" as he claimed to have done at the time. When the box is stolen soon after Meer examines it, she heads to Vienna for answers. Alas, others are on the same trail, including FBI Special Agent Lucien Glass of the Art Crime Team, Austrian authorities and assorted thieves. Rose skillfully blends past-life mysteries with present-day chills. The result is a smashing good read. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Although not exactly a sequel to The Reincarnationist (2007), this novel combines mystery and fantasy in the same way. Meer Logan is still haunted by the memories she experienced as a child, memories that seemed to reveal a past life. Now, spurred on by a letter ostensibly written by Beethoven and a picture that resembles a vision that appeared to her many years ago, she travels to Vienna to try to find out who she is—and who she was. The story is quite convoluted—it involves past lives, a mysterious flute, and a journalist seeking revenge for a terrorist act that destroyed his life—but Rose tells it elegantly, moving gracefully between characters, between time and place, and building both momentum and suspense. It’s more skillfully written than The Reincarnationist, and, as with that novel, there are dozens of ways it could have collapsed under its own weight. But it never does, and for that reason it should be recommended highly to readers who appreciate mysteries tinged with the supernatural. --David Pitt --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Reprint edition (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778326632
• ISBN-13: 978-0778326632
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M.J. Rose (www.mjrose.com) is the international best selling author of thirteen novels and three non-fiction books on marketing. Her most recent novel SEDUCTION (Atria/S&S May 7 2013) is an May Indie Next Pick and had gotten a Library Journal starred review and an RT Top Pick.

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES (Atria/S&S March 2012) was chosen as one the ten best in several categories including mystery and fantasy by PW and Amazon and was chosen to be on the March Indie Next List as well as a summer main selection by the Pulpwood Queens Book club.

Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio.

Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the '80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors - Authorbuzz.com

The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose's novels in the Reincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype.

She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Large improvement from The Reincarnationist February 8, 2009

By M. Jacobsen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The Memorist is author M.J. Rose's follow-up novel to The Reincarnationist and she has again taken themes of reincarnation, this time weaving 19th century Vienna and the musical world of Ludwig van Beethoven with modern-day terrorist plots. A fast paced historical thriller, The Memorist takes the best elements of The Reincarnationist and improves upon them.

Although there is one carry-over character present, The Memorist is most assuredly a stand-alone novel.

One of the pleasures of reading an M.J. Rose novel is her approach to historical fiction. While much of The Memorist takes place in present day Vienna, her forays into the 19th century are impeccably researched. She incorporates fascinating details into her story, many of which the reader might dismiss as part of the creative license a historical fiction writer so often invokes. It isn't until reaching the author's note at the end of the novel that the full extent of Rose's research becomes apparent.

If the plot synopsis above sounds vaguely familiar, it's because the plot of The Memorist is almost identical to that of her earlier novel, The Reincarnationist. New characters, new memories of past lives, and new artifacts for the protagonist to chase, but the plot movment is the same.

However, the improvements over The Reincarnationist are quickly apparent. Characters are more fleshed-out and their motivations better explored, giving the reader closer relationship with the characters.

Rose's penchant for over-populating her novels with characters is still present, but the improved characterizations make it much easier to keep track of just who is who....

But the very best quality of The Memorist is Rose's ability to meld time and place, even over the span of centuries, while still maintaining a tight, fast-paced thiller that keeps you guessing to the end.

Recommended, of course, for anyone with interest in reincarnation, but also for those who have a love of classical music (Beethoven plays a pretty big role in this novel!) or for those who just want to see a good example of blending modern day with the past. Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking down the walls of time, this thriller seduces March 8, 2009

By Jessica B. Keener

Format:Hardcover

In her newest thriller,The Memorist, MJ Rose boldly embraces the mysteries of time, memory, and music, as she once again takes on the complexities of reincarnation and its dire consequences. Set primarily in Beethoven's Vienna as well as present day Vienna, with occasional throwbacks to 2000 BCE, a thirty-something woman named Meer, plagued by unexplained visions, is at the center of controversy with deathly consequences. So is her archeologist father, Beethoven himself, Beethoven's friend, a journalist who chases modern-day terrorists, and a brilliant, monomaniacal, eccentric man obsessed with unlocking past lives. All become part of an emotional fugue that culminates in an explosive ending reminiscent of Dante's purgatory. Secret, underground tunnels twisting beneath Vienna's streets, ancient vaults and catacombs create a biblical-like backdrop as Meer, her father and others race to break down the walls of time to get at the past--one to save his son, another to save her father. Readers will love MJ's deft ability to move back and forth between the ages, and will be seduced by her knowledge of music and her ability to convey music's power to resurrect the soul.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars superb thriller November 4, 2008

By Harriet Klausner #1 HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

As a youngster, Meer Logan only drew pictures of what looked like a treasure chest. Her family obviously noticing the pattern asked her why she insisted on drawing only this object. Meer explained that she had seen it before although no one including her could figure out when; her parents assumed it was youthful imagination though they were somewhat concerned with her seemingly compulsive behavior disorder.

Now an adult, Meer's sixty-five year old dad Jeremy, known as the "Jewish Indiana Jones" and who works in a Vienna auction house found the box listed in an auction catalogue. Inside the box is a letter that leads Jeremy to conclude that the artifact once was owned by Beethoven's beloved. Meer heads to Austria where memories flood her mind starting with the same flute tune that makes her wonder if she was Beethoven's lover in a previous life. As father and daughter seek a mystical flute, a murder and the stealing of the box and its letter makers both of them fear someone has a different fate in store for them.

THE MEMORIST is much more complex than the exhilarating THE REINCARNATIONIST, as M.J. Rose provides a superb thriller. There are several subplots that converge on Meer who like her dad begins to believe in her previous life. Meer, her dad and several other support players are fully developed so that the audience believes in all the seemingly paranormal nuances. Set aside plenty of time as this is not a fast read, but worth the time as THE MEMORIST is memorable.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed and then some January 21, 2013

By Lcookie

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading the first of the series, some years back, I bought the other two. What a let down, I wasn't able to get into the book, which is highly unusual for me, I read most of what I start, and I had to cut it short and read the last pages--and didn't miss a thing. If I hadn't waited so long to read it, I would have returned for a credit, consumer be aware.

I found the story's plot rather trite, boring, and altogether failing to raise my interest. It lacked some ingredient, just like in cooking, it was cooked correctly; it seemed tasty, smelled right; but the flavor was lacking, a lot, and lacking of that magic chemistry which makes words virtually sizzle in front of your eyes,

The worse part was that I guessed the who is who, and nearly the why, within a few chapters, whereby the suspense part wasn't even thrilling. Meer came out as blah and boring, and missing a vital component, not sure what, I suspect real passion to one of the living...I think that there was too much effort to make her 'fit' into her role, and overall, too many stereotypes, and too much of the same old boring, overwritten themes. Which is really too bad because the series premises are intriguing.

After reading other reviews, I have wondered if I had read another book, not a chance. Moreover, after having visited Vienna, several times myself, this story reads as an educated visitors' tour through Vienna, complete with a historical tour to the crypts, the cemeteries and for good measure a quasi-historical lesson on Beethoven, with other more grim aspects of Austrian history thrown for good measure; i.e...., souls of murdered Jews from the Holocaust, the plight of the Austria Jews, and lets not forget all others thrown for effect; victims of terrorism, the FBI, famous musicians, mental illness; darn too much in the mix, plus bit of this, and more of that, just in case, just hoping to make it click, to catch the elusive butterfly of the lector's interest, and -- Yawn!

The entire plot seemed forced, cookbook type, and in the intent to make Meer into a female Indiana Jones impersonator, failed as a souffle baked in a too hot oven... I like Ms. Rose's writing and will consider this an experimentation to cook a perfect confection. Keep trying. Read more ›