The Reincarnationist [Mass Market Paperback]

Josh Ryder starts to experience flashes from the past. Another past that was a different life and a different era. As a photojournalist, the flashes of colour are not always from Josh's own camera. The colours represent a different time.

During some research, Josh witnesses a murder at the tomb of a Vestal Virgin. Then without warning he becomes Julius who was a priest back in 391AD. Josh fights for his life and his lover's. Will he ever get his past and present together?

Excellent novel.

After an accident in Rome, photojournalist Josh Ryder begins experiencing flashes of past memories¯from another life, another era. As these flashes intensify, he's drawn back to the time of ancient Rome, Vestal Virgins and the mysterious Memory Stones. Through the eyes of Julius, he is reunited with a powerful love for Sabina, the Vestal Virgin he has sworn to protect and would willingly die for, a woman whom would be buried alive if their secret love were ever discovered.

In present day Rome, Josh assists at the Phoenix Foundation, an organization that explores and researches claims of reincarnation or incidences of memory flashes, especially in children. Led by impulse, he finds himself at the edge of a freshly unearthed tomb and witnesses a murder.

His search for answers, for the Memory Stones stolen from the tomb of the Vestal Virgin Sabina, for the truth about what happened in ancient Rome, leads him to two women¯Professor Gabriella Chase and Rachel Palmer, a young woman who is haunted by her own past life memories.

Is either of these women the Sabina he once knew? And will Josh ever reconcile his past with his present? These are just some of the questions I found myself asking along the way. I found the premise of this novel intriguing. I couldn't put the book down once I started it.

Author M.J. Rose tells a compelling story that weaves history and religion into a fateful adventure filled with intrigue, romance, murder and deception. Her writing is detailed but not overloaded, just the right mix of fact and fiction to make me a believer and her characters are ones I'll remember for a long time. The flashes of past and present are so seamlessly woven yet clearly defined, that I was never jolted from the story, but swept along and taken on a ride that left me breathless by the end.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in the theory of reincarnation or anyone who enjoys a suspenseful, thrilling journey to the past. It would also make an exceptional read for a book club.

The Reincarnationist is the inspiration for a new television series that will be airing soon. I can't wait to watch Past Life. If it is anything like M.J. Rose's novel, it is going to be an adventure of a lifetime.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
author of The River

Be careful who you photograph! Photographer Josh Ryder is intrigued by a red-haired young mother. He focuses. He moves in, but the next flash of blue-white light is not from his camera, and from that moment on his life –-his lives—are not the same.

Watch out for the brilliant symbolism of colors: the red- or copper- haired ladies, the flashes and flashbacks, the blues and greens of the present and the heavier, thicker air of the bloody past.

Was Josh once Julius, the humane and civilized Roman priest of an all-inclusive belief-system under siege? If so, does the Vestal Virgin Sabina have a modern counterpart, too?

What of the ancient and dangerous treasure that Julius and Sabina may be fated to protect for all time? What iconoclastic memories might be released by “the Memory Stones” if they were found in modern times, and fell into the right –or wrong—hands?

MJ Rose is an international best-selling author, and no wonder! This bold, masterfully-crafted 451 page book is a page-turner, but no quick read. You will not want to miss a word. You will find yourself turning back, in wonder and delight (at least, I did) to confirm and recheck details, and then to pause and ponder.

It’s worth the time. In my opinion, The Reincarnationist is a thought-provoking masterpiece that is going to be talked about! I found it absolutely gripping.

Rowena Cherry,
author of Insufficient Mating Net, Forced Mate, Mating Net.