Interesting and fast paced. ( )

Received an Early Reviewers copy in 2010. Forgot to write my review earlier! The premise of the story in The Hypnotist is everything Iove about a book: timeslip, paranormal elements and hint of romance. Unfortunately, I just could not get onboard with the author's writing, which was too disjointed for my taste. ( )

Welcome to spoilerville!

Malachi is front and center again and this time presents as a malevolent figure, not an avuncular one. He’s still driven to steal another Memory Tool in hopes that he will manifest some kind of past life memory despite having not done so when the rest of the concert attendees did when the flute was played for all of them and all hell broke loose. He’s so determinedly delusional. This installment has another convoluted plot involving past lives, buried memories and conspiracy. It was choppy and disjointed and I have to attribute that to its complexity. For example I still don’t know how Shabaz knew about the Hypnos statue and what it hid which was the reason for his decades-long art theft. I put the timeline together and it makes no sense.

I enjoyed the book despite its faults. With novels like these you have to really suspend disbelief in order to go with the flow, but once in the flow it can be a lot of fun. There are others that follow these three, but I’ll be giving them a miss. ( )

The Hypnotist, the third novel in author M.J. Rose's Reincarnationist series, is a fast-paced and engaging thriller that will keep readers enthralled right until the end.

While the main focus of the novel is on FBI agent Lucian Glass' attempts to solve a case involving the destruction of a priceless work of stolen art, several other secondary story lines are skillfully woven into the fabric of the narrative. While at first these story lines, which include a fight between Iran and the Metropolitan Museum of Art over an ancient sculpture, seem to be unrelated, it soon becomes apparent that they are in fact connected in some way to Lucian Glass' case. M.J. Rose effectively balances these multiple story lines, leaving the reader yearning to discover how they connect rather than leaving them wondering where each story line is headed. By the close of the novel the various story lines are successfully brought together in an ending that is sure not to disappoint.

Being the third novel in a series, I was initially concerned that I would be missing important background information as I've not yet read the first two books in the series. This concern proved unfounded. The Hypnotist can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. Given my enjoyment of The Hypnotist, however, I will now go back and read the first two novels in the series.

This novel is recommended for enthusiasts of the thriller genre, especially those who enjoy thrillers with an historical aspect to them.

Note: I received a copy of this novel for review as one of the hosts of The Hypnotist Virtual Book Tour. ( )

he Hypnotist was a bit different from the first two novels in this series, in that the reincarnation story line wasn’t nearly as important as it was in the other novels. As a result, I liked this one quite a bit more, and it was much easier for me to get through it. Additionally, our main character, Lucian Glass, was also in the last novel, and I enjoyed the continuity that his story brought.

Our ever present villain, Malachai Samuels, was far more tolerable to me this go around as well, which definitely helped the story move along for me. Lucian is a character that was pitted against Malachai in The Memorist and this novel, and that was much more fun to read about. In the previous novels, our main characters were working with Malachai, and it bothered me a ton cuz I haven’t trusted that guy from the start!

To read the rest of my review, please click here. ( )