The Reincarnationist

by M.J. Rose

Every now and then I will try a book from a genre I don't usually read. The Reincarnationist is a mystery/suspense thriller on the subject of reincarnation and ancient religious practices. Its main character suffers intense flashbacks of memories not his own, from a life he comes to believe his spirit lived over 2,000 years before in ancient Rome. Seeking help from the Phoenix Foundation, an institution which studies and treats "past-life regression" in children, he becomes involved in a search for some ancient jewels rumored to hold a secret that can connect the past to the present. His search quickly becomes tangled with love, murder, secrecy, ancient mysteries and a kidnapping.

I found it rather difficult to read this book. The story was told in a very disjointed fashion, with important background events explained at current moments in the plot, instead of being introduced earlier to build up to that point. As a result I felt disconnected from the characters, not really caring about what happened to them, because I didn't get any sense of why things were important to them, other than it was told to me. The book wound to an unsatisfying, abrupt close that left some unanswered questions.

It was just a rather boring read. I have heard that this book is along similar lines to The Da Vinci Code, so I suppose it may appeal to readers who liked that book (which I haven't read). I concluded after this experiment that I still don't like thrillers much at all.

Rating: 1/5                 458 pages, 2007

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