THE MEMORIST
M. J. Rose
Mira
Suspense
ISBN: 9780778325840
THE MEMORIST is arguably M.J. Rose’s best novel to date, no mean feat considering her already impressive body of work. This sequel to 2007’s THE REINCARNATIONIST reintroduces readers to the Phoenix Foundation, a somewhat shadowy organization devoted to helping emotionally disturbed children whose difficulties appear to stem from their repressed memories of past lives. Malachai Samuels, its enigmatic figurehead, is a very self-possessed and quietly driven man whose devotion to the Foundation’s patients is unquestionable yet seems to have a personal agenda of his own: acquiring what are known as the memory tools, a varied collection of objects that reputedly have the power to unlock and reveal memories of the past lives of individuals.
The focal point of THE MEMORIST is music, specifically that of Ludwig van Beethoven. At the time of his death, he was reputed to have an ancient flute on which was inscribed a melody that, when played, would awaken memories of past lives in the listener. Meer Logan, a former patient of Samuels, has been haunted since her early childhood by memories of another life that are always accompanied by the faint strains of hauntingly familiar music. Logan’s father, a dealer in antiquities in Vienna, discovers a heretofore unknown letter appearing to have been written by Beethoven that references the flute.
For reasons both similar and different, Logan and Samuels travel to Vienna hoping to trace the instrument. Logan longs to discover who she once was and lay her demons to rest. For Samuels, the flute may well be one of the reputed memory tools that he can utilize in the treatment of the patients of the Phoenix Foundation. Arriving in Vienna, Logan meets Sebastian Otto, a friend of her father’s whose young son is having difficulties similar to those that Logan herself experienced as a child. Otto is convinced that the flute will provide a cure for his boy, helping him to overcome the catatonic symptoms that afflict him to the extent that he is all but bedridden.
Yet there are others who are interested in obtaining the flute for their own purposes. A journalist named David Yalom has come to Vienna as well. Ostensibly covering the four-day ISTA conference and the concluding performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Yalom has a terrible and frightening demonstration planned to bring to the world’s attention the horror that terrorist acts can visit upon their victims. Events speed toward a terrifying and cataclysmic conclusion, but not from the source the reader might expect, at least not directly. M.J. Rose neither misdirects nor fashions a sleight-of-hand in THE MEMORIST, but rather lets consequences of actions unintended by their actors follow their natural course. The result is an ending that is unexpected, oddly satisfying and possibly a springboard for things to come.
While THE MEMORIST is primarily Meer Logan’s show --- both in her present and past lives --- there are enough interesting characters here to launch at least one additional series and keep the Phoenix Foundation series going for as long as the author cares to write it. Logan --- not to mention her potential love interest --- is much too interesting a character to limit to one novel, and at least one of her past lives could easily be the focus for additional storylines in the future. THE MEMORIST, however, provides optimal satisfaction all by itself.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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