A memory tool is at stake, and someone is willing to kill to lay claim to it. Meer Logan, a woman who has been plagued since childhood with memories of haunting music and a gaming box from the 1800s, is the key to locating it.

In The Memorist, the memory tool is an ancient bone flute hidden by Beethoven after he deciphered the carvings on the instrument and discovered the dangers of the memory song. Anyone who hears the song will remember the horrors of their previous life.

Woven in with the story of Meer, her father, and Malachai Samuels of the Phoenix Foundation (a familiar face from The Reincarnationist) looking for the memory flute are several subplots involving a number of intriguing characters: a hard-nosed CEO of a security firm who would bribe terrorists to ensure complete security at a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic; an oboe player in the Vienna Philharmonic and a friend of Meer's father who is desperate to find out why his young son has withdrawn and spends his days in a psychiatric facility (a hospital where the Nazis conducted horrific experiments during WWII) reciting a prayer for the dead in Hebrew, a language he has never spoken; and a prominent Israeli journalist who lost his entire family to a terrorist bomb and plans to retaliate. Rose also takes readers back to the past, specifically to Vienna in the 1800s when Beethoven was deciphering the memory song and to India in 2120 B.C.E. when the ancient bone flute was made.

Not only does The Memorist keep you reading when you should be doing things like sleeping or cooking your family dinner (I even read this while walking to work from the bus stop, though not when crossing the street!), but it also gets you thinking about the power of memory and what happens to one's soul when they die.

more ( )

I won a copy of this and look forward to reading it!A haunting tale of past lives with some mystery and intrigue thrown in, I think it would make a great movie. ( )

Rose did a good job of maintaining the suspense and weaving together the various threads. I liked this one. ( )

Good read - well written - ( )

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. ( )