The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose and Giveaway!

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Haunted by the murder of his lover — a beautiful young painter — Lucian Glass keeps his dark memories at bay by focusing on his work with the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector destroying priceless masterpieces, he becomes involved in a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation.

Under hypnosis he travels back to ancient Greece and nineteenth-century Persia, past life while the case takes him New York to Paris and the movie capital of the world. These combined journeys will shatter his understanding of reality, force him to question his sanity, and lead him into the center of an intricate plan to break in to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and steal Hypnos, the 1,500 year old sculpture of the Greek God of sleep, said to hold a secret that many would literally kill to uncover.

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose is a different kind of mystery/thriller than I usually read in that it has an intriguing mix of mystical lore, ancient mythology, psychology, and action. I haven’t read any of the previous novels in the Reincarnationist series, and while that did not deter from my enjoyment of The Hypnotist, references to the overarching story thread running through the series provoked my interest in picking up The Reincarnationist and The Memoirist.

As I understand it, the pursuit of Memory Tools and how to utilize them to access past life memories are the main themes of the series. In The Hypnotist, an enormous piece of ancient sculpture called Hypnos has been found and various shadowy organizations are doing everything they can to get it, such as mutilating priceless pieces of art. And some even commit murder. Why do they want it? It seems that Hypnos has an intrinsic worth beyond the artistic.

"It is believed that four to six thousand years ago, in the Indus Valley, mystics created meditation aids to help people go into deep states of relaxation during which they would have access to past-life memories. There are twelve tools-twelve being the a mystical number that w see repeated all through various religions and in nature...The first was a cache of precious stones, and the second was an ancient flute made of human bone."

""We're talking about more than just a piece of sculpture...It appears that Hypnos could be a map of sorts that holds the secret to how man can access his inner realms and higher consciousness, making visions, clairvoyance, precognition and out-of-body experiences all possible. If tapped, this power would allow man to use his imagination to affect reality. You'd just imagine murdering someone and your imagination would make it happen...Is there anything more valuable than potential...Than possibility?""

The motivations of the bad guys are varied and surprising, but Hypnos’s personal connection to the protagonist, Lucian Glass, was the most exciting part to read. Lucian’s tries to figure out why he keeps drawing agonized faces of people he’s never met. Coincidentally, or not, once he undergoes hypnosis, he finds out that his past lives have intersected meaningfully with the statue. Perhaps in the present, he can put to rights the tragedies in his past lives.

Lucian is a different sort of action hero in that he’s also an artist and a sensitive soul. I loved reading all the rich descriptions of art and scenes of creative expression.

There is a motif repeated in the book which struck a chord in me, that there is no such thing as coincidence. Seen from the perspective of reincarnation, what is perceived as coincidence is actually a significant pattern running through one’s lives, past and present, that has to do with one’s purpose. I’m not sure if I wholeheartedly believe in reincarnation – I’m leaning towards belief – but The Hypnotist was an entertaining, fast-moving adventure that provoked much thought.

Thank you to Lisa and TLC Book Tours for providing a copy for me to review!

***GIVEAWAY DETAILS!***

I know you're gonna want to read this book and lucky for you, M.J. Rose is generously providing a copy to give away.

Just leave a comment saying you would like a copy of this book with your e-mail address.

U.S./Canada mailing addresses will receive a paperback copy.

International mailing addresses will receive a PDF copy.

Giveaway ends on June 28, 2011, 8:00 PST.

A list of the lovely blogs participating in M.J. Rose’s TLC Book Tours, including Ryan of Wordsmithonia on June 27, 2011.