Currently Reading: The Hypnotist by M J Rose

I am doing something a little bit out of the norm for me. I am reading the third book in a series first. Normally I am very much a stickler for reading a series in order, but I am assured that I will not notice it. We'll see I guess. Given that the Publisher's Weekly review says "special agent Lucian Glass of the FBI's Art Crime Team continues to pursue Malachai Samuels of the Phoenix Foundation as well as the list of Memory Tools (deep meditation aids that help people access past-life memories) that Malachai covets." I am not convinced.

So here's the blurb for The Hypnotist:

An FBI agent, tormented by a death he wasn't able to prevent, a crime he's never been able to solve and a love he's never forgotten, discovers that his true conflict resides not in his past, but in a…Past Life.

Haunted by a twenty-year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.

Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to 19th century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: the theft of a 1,500 year old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

International bestselling author M. J. Rose's The Hypnotist is her most mesmerizing novel yet. An adventure, a love story, a clash of cultures, a spiritual quest, it is above all a thrilling capstone to her unique Reincarnation novels, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist.

Very early in the novel there are several famous paintings that are mentioned and that form part of what appears to be quite a complex plot. I am starting to see what role this particular thread of the plot will play, but I could be completely mistaken. I thought I might try to find some pictures of those paintings to share.

The first is View of the Sea at Scheveningen by Vincent Van Gogh.

The second is Beach at Pourville by Claude Monet:

The third is Portrait of a Lady by Gustav Klimt

I couldn't find the name of the fourth painting but it is described as pink roses, so I am hoping it is this one

The final painting mentioned is View of St Tropez by Matisse. I couldn't find an image or a mention of that painting so instead I am sharing View of Collioure.

In the book, the View of St Tropez is described in the following way:

The exuberant brushstrokes, which appeared so primitive up close, created a luminous beach scene when viewed from a few feet away. It was brighter and louder than the Monet - there was more joy in this painting, less contemplation.

This short trailer talks about the whole series. The more I think of it, the more I think I probably have started at the beginning of the series!