The Memorist

by M.J. Rose

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778325849
• ISBN13: 9780778325840
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Mira Books
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

ANOTHER SPINE-TINGLER

Wow, what an amazing novel. This was an edge of your seat page-turner!!! The Memorist takes place in 19th century Vienna, the place where Beethoven was from. A woman by the name of Meer Logan is eerily hearing music. When she meets David, she begins to understand that he knows how your past can affect your future. Then Meer receives a very weird letter that propels her to go to Vienna to try and find out who she used to be in the past. This was an EXCELLENT read and I recommend it to EVERYONE!!! I can't wait to read another one!

Layered, Complex, and Satisfying

The Memorist is a literary mystery that takes place in multiple time periods and places. It has the pacing of The Davinci Code with the literary finesse of The Kite Runner. In The Memorist, a woman in the present day, and many of her acquaintances, search for Beethoven's secret flute and the melody carved on it that promises to free people assaulted by past life memories. The plot is complicated and there are many characters and storylines, but it all comes together in a very satisfying conclusion. The Memorist also includes references to many classical music pieces that help to make up its "soundtrack," and provide sensory layers to the book. I loved this book, and look forward to reading more by M J Rose.

Breaking down the walls of time, this thriller seduces

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.

Past Lives to the Surface

The Memorist is the second in a series of books about reincarnation, lost memory tools, and the struggle of Meer Logan to find herself through her past. Her father struggled to help his daughter call her past-life memories to the surface, but Meer found her life bearable only when she avoided the triggers that called those memories to the surface. M.J. Rose's narrative technique easily transports readers to Vienna, the home of Ludwig von Beethoven, and to Vienna in the past when Beethoven lived and taught in the city. She carefuly weaves a suspenseful tale to find a lost memory tool once in the possession of Beethoven. Meer not only struggles with the surfacing memories, but with whom she should trust of her father's friends and how deeply she should not only confide in them, but lean on them when the memories flood her mind. "Margaux's lovely home was filled with cleaver and important people, fine food and charming music. It was all a patina. The threads that held the partygoers' polite masks in place were fragile. Everyone in Vienna had an agenda and a plan for how the reapportionment of Europe would work best for them now that Napoleon was in exile. . . . So even here tonight, at what purported to be a totally social gathering, nothing was as it seemed." (Page 226) This paragraph illustrates the facades built up around her father, her long-time confidant Malachai, and her father's sorrowful, new friend Sebastian. The face they present to one another does not represent reality; her father hides many things from her, just as she prepares speeches she believes he wants to hear. While this story is a thriller reminescent of The Da Vinci Code, it is much more, illuminating the relationship between Meer and her father and the secrets that lie beneath. "'Yes, behind the facades of these elegant buildings are ugly secrets and dirty shadows. . . .'" (Page 297) Readers will enjoy the shifting perspectives from chapter to chapter and the subplot that lurks beneath the surface and could change everything for the main characters and Vienna. Music, art, and mystery are the order of the day in The Memorist, and they are woven together beautifully. "Lifting the plastic cover over the keys she put her fingers on the yellowed ivory and began. The piano had obviously been kept tuned and she was surprised at how differently this two-hundred-year-old instrument played from the ones she was used to. There was more power and feel to its sound, less control, less sustaining power and it seemed she could do more with its loudness and softness." (Page 252) Meer underestimates her abilities, and readers will love the evolution of her character. The only drawback in the novel for readers may be the repetition of several descriptive lines as Meer enters her past memories and "a metallic taste fills her mouth." Aside from this minor annoyance, this novel is action-packed, thrilling, and absorbing. M.J. Rose has done her research and created a believable world in whi

Loved It - Totally Fascinating

Covering a subject that has long held interest for me international best selling author M.J. Rose has written a fascinating novel about a woman who has been tortured her entire lifetime by snatches of memories she could never put to rest. The "dreads" were how Meer Logan referred to glimpses of terror and soul searing memories that were always accompanied by odd notes and strains of music; music she could never remember when she came back from those paralyzing moments of dread. After seeing a strange letter sent by her father Meer sets out on a journey to Vienna to perhaps discover her past thru the unearthing of a box; a special box which holds clues of a lost flute linked to Beethoven; and links to a secret reincarnationist group. Meer also runs into David Yalom - a man whom she'd never met but was another link to Meer's past. David a man who lost everything and planned to show the security industry a first hand look at terrorism and prove those who could not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. *** Edge of the seat drama and suspense are two of the vital elements in this book but the most fascinating for me is something I've always thought to be a reality - reincarnation. Ms. Rose's well written story offers a look at the heart wrenching pain that is felt by Meer as she suffers from memories, or as she refers to them `the dreads'. Each memory gives small glimpses of women from other past lives who had been involved in situations that involved perilous events culminating with loss, and always accompanied by strains of music so beautiful and achingly sweet which Meer could never recall after the episodes were over. While keeping Meer in the dark, Ms. Rose manages to keep the reader on pins and needles as she gives little clues into Meer's past lives, as well as introducing other characters who keep the action and suspense racing along in a sub-plots with twists and turns of betrayals along with a race against time to stop a terrorist attack. These past events seem to be repeating themselves in the present and until Meer can bring all the memories forth it seems that tragedies from the past are doomed to repeat themselves. Bottom line: I found this book to be highly riveting, loaded with thrills and intensely appealing. Whether or not you're a believer in the possibility of reincarnation I highly recommend this novel for the sheer fact of being a most compelling and entertaining read. Marilyn Rondeau