Book Review: Seduction
Book: Seduction
Author: M.J. Rose
Genre: Fiction/Mystery/Thriller
Summary: Grieving his daughter's death, Victor Hugo initiated seances from his home on the Isle of Jersey in order to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communicated with Plato, Shakespeare, Dante - and even the devil himself. Hugo's transcriptions of these conversations have all been published. Or so it has been believed. . . A hundred years later, recovering from her own great loss, mythologist Jac L'Etoile is invited to Jersey to uncover a secret about the island's mysterious Celtic roots. She's greeted by Neolithic monuments, medieval castles, and hidden caves. But the man who has invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, hopes she'll help him discover something quite different . . . something that will threaten their sanity and put their very lives at stake. - Atria, 2013
This was my first book by this author, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't realize that this was the second book of a series until I was about a third of the way through. That being said, it did well as a standalone novel. The plot was intriguing, the characters were okay, and the mystery was fine.
Jac is a woman who suffers from visions and hallucinations. She's staying with a psychiatrist who is helping her cope with them. When she finds a letter addressed to her from another patient and first crush, she goes to the Isle of Jersey in order to help him find a treasure he has been searching for. Little does she know that by going, she's risking her safety, and might just find out the reason why she's seeing hallucinations.
In the past, Victor Hugo is in self-imposed exile on the Isle of Jersey, mourning the loss of his daughter. In an effort to deal with his grief, he holds seances in his house and communicates with many spirits, hoping to one day speak to his daughter. But darker forces are waiting to speak to him too, and once one makes contact with Victor, his life begins to take a dangerous turn.
The plot is a relatively simple one. It's not overly complicated, but it does get a little difficult to understand and interpret once you really get into the thick of it. Is it suspenseful? A little - more so on Hugo's side than Jac's. It doesn't bleed over anything from the previous book in the series, and if there's a sequel, all of the plot threads in this one have been tied up. So, while you don't need to read the previous book, you should only read it if you want a deeper understanding of Jac and the people that surround her. I will say that Rose spends a little too much time having Jac thinking about her brother or her crush. It doesn't exactly detract from the plot, but it can be repetitive and slightly annoying.
As I said before, the characters were okay. None of them, even Hugo, were particularly charismatic or memorable. Jac is not necessarily a perfect character by any means, but she is a character who, I think, was trying to be a strong character, but in the end, looked weaker by comparison. Her first love had the composition of a tragic Bronte-esque character, but he wasn't as frustrating as he could've been. The psychiatrist was a typical archetype of a wise mentor/father figure. Victor Hugo was definitely the most interesting of the cast, as I've never read about him, so I was curious to see how Rose wrote his character. There was one disturbing part at the very end of his plot line that chilled me too.
The final twist was one I didn't see coming, but it was still presented in an unexciting way. Hints of it were given throughout the story so it doesn't come as a complete surprise.
Overall, it's an interesting read if these topics of mystery, history, and the supernatural appeal to you. If you only have a mild interest in these topics, I would skip this book.
I give Seduction a B+.
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