The cover of this book says The Memory Painter is "a taut thriller and a timeless love story spanning six continents and 10,000 years...a riveting debut novel unlike any you've ever read." Well, I wasn't riveted. I almost quit on it. I went to the website goodreads.com to see what other readers might be saying. There appears to be lots of enthusiastic endorsements from others who have an advanced reader's copy of the book. One reviewer, however, echoed some of my criticisms, but finished by saying the last one hundred pages were more compelling. So back I went to finish the book.
Sorry, still no feeling of being riveted (or compelled.) The characters felt flat, the memory/time travel cum reincarnation cum vengeful rivalry premise felt contrived, convoluted and sometimes confusing. There is a huge dependence on author orchestrated coincidences strung together with weak dialogue. For a book that supposedly deals with the possibility of deep, timeless interweaving of lives, the result is a thin fabrication.
The cover also notes the book will be coming out April 28, 2015. Check out other reviews at www.goodreads.com to see if you might want to give this a try in spite of my reaction to the book.
P.J. O'Rourke advises "Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
Let Galesburg Public Library staff and friends guide you in finding those books.
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