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Seduction: A Novel of Suspense
Seduction: A Novel of Suspense
Seduction: A Novel of Suspense
Audiobook13 hours

Seduction: A Novel of Suspense

Written by M. J. Rose

Narrated by Phil Gigante

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

A gothic tale about Victor Hugo’s long-buried secrets and the power of a love that never dies…

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo’s beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, still grieving, Hugo initiated hundreds of séances from his home on the Isle of Jersey in order to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the devil himself. Hugo’s transcriptions of these conversations have all been published.

Or so it has been believed…

Recovering from a great loss, mythologist Jac L’Etoile thinks that throwing herself into work will distract her from her grief. In the hopes of uncovering a secret about the island’s mysterious Celtic roots, she arrives on Jersey and is greeted by ghostly 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—transcripts of Hugo’s lost conversations with someone he called the Shadow of the Sepulcher. Central to his heritage, these are the papers his grandfather died trying to find. Neither Jac nor Theo anticipate that the mystery surrounding Victor Hugo will threaten their sanity and put their very lives at stake.

Seduction is a historically evocative and atmospheric tale of suspense with a spellbinding ghost story at its heart, written by one of America’s most gifted and imaginative novelists. Awakening a mystery that spans centuries, this multilayered gothic tale brings a time, a place and a cast of desperate characters brilliantly to life.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 7, 2013
ISBN9781455869435
Seduction: A Novel of Suspense
Author

M. J. Rose

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall St. Journal bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother's favorite books before she was allowed. Her work has appeared in many magazines including Oprah Magazine and The Adventurine and she has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Time, USA Today and on The Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors - Authorbuzz.com. Rose is also the co-founder of 1001DarkNights.com and TheBlueBoxPress.com. The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose's novels in the Reincarnationist series.

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Reviews for Seduction

Rating: 3.9153846153846152 out of 5 stars
4/5

65 ratings14 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seduction by M.J. Rose is a novel about reincarnation, love, and mythology, wrapped in a blanket of historical fiction. Built upon the real-life experiences of Victor Hugo and his experience with seances and speaking with spirits, the novel switches between the modern-day story of Jac as she travels to uncover Druid mysteries and Hugo's letters to Francine, one of his mistress's servants. Jac is attempting to immerse herself in finding answers to Druid myths in order to overcome the grief she feels at having lost her lover and miscarried their child. She is invited to the Isle of Jersey by Theo, a long-lost boyfriend from her days at Blixer Rath, a clinic to treat mental illness and troubled youth. Together, they attempt to piece together Hugo's references to his encounters with spirits, to include Lucifer, and their connection to the Druid ruins found on the Isle. In the end, both storylines are connected through the concept of reincarnation, and all parties are left satisfied with the answers this connection provides.Rose does a magnificent job of building all of the characters and the setting. I normally don't enjoy stories that jumps from one era to another. Rose, however, makes it seem natural and easy. I felt that the addition of the 'third' storyline, that of the Druid priest, was introduced rather haphazardly and not as developed as the other two. This turned out to be even more disappointing later on, when the connection of the priest became such a focal point and the impetus of two of the characters' histories and personal relations. Jac's own revelation of her past lives was extremely rushed. I would have preferred to see that developed more. At the end, Hugo's own storyline seemed excessive, and the book would have worked just as well, if not better, without it altogether. His seduction by Lucifer himself and the promises of bringing his daughter back from the dead would have made a good book on its own without the addition of the Druid's or Jac's backstory.The book kept me in suspense, hoping to find out the connections and if Jac herself were a reincarnation of someone. Certain scenes, such as the one where the Shadow of the Sepulcher (Lucifer) entices Hugo in am almost sensual way, were evocative in a way I haven't experienced in a book in quite some time. Overall, this is a solid recommendation to read this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seduction brings back the complicated character Jac d'Etoile from The Book of Lost Fragrances. Jac is from a long line of perfumers and has a very refined sense of smell but what she really sniffs out are myths which she profile in her series of books and shows as a mythologist. She is invited to the Isle of Jersey in Britain by an old friend who has found a diary of Victor Hugo's and he thinks that it might lead to secrets that could go all the way back to the Druids.This book weaves the past, the very past and the present together in a delightful way. It marries real people with fictional seamlessly. Ms. Rose is incredibly adept at creating different moods for different times; it's part of her magic as a writer. Reading one of her books is more experience than act. I find that because of the spell she weaves it takes me a bit to return to reality when I stop reading.Jac is a very complex woman - obviously experiencing events from the past but refusing to accept what is right in front of her. She stays rooted in the present as she solves the mysteries of the past.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What appealed to me about this novel from M.J. Rose entitled Seduction: A Novel of Suspense was the premise that it was about Victor Hugo (arguably one of France's greatest literary heroes), who began holding seances from his house to communicate with the dead ten years after suffering the loss of his daughter. It is true that in 1853 he was introduced to the practice of table tapping, and Hugo claimed to receive communication from many spirits, including some famous ones such as: Shakespeare and Voltaire. I've always been fascinated by periods in history - particularly after WWI - when seances were a popular means to communicate with the dead.Interwoven between Hugo's story is the modern day tale of Jac, Celtic expert interested in investigating the origin of Celtic ruins and renowned for her sense of smell.While Seduction can be read as a stand alone gothic historical novel, much reference was made to previous books (I'm assuming to The Book of Lost Fragrances, which was extremely popular) therefore if I had my time again I would probably start earlier in the series.And now to the final review. All the elements were there for me to fall in love with, but I always seemed to be held back a little. Whether it was because I hadn't read the series from the beginning, or because I wanted more from Hugo's story, or the two elderly sisters set in the present time, I'm unclear.Nevertheless, Seduction: A Novel of Suspense is doing very well and is certainly a buzz book right now.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seduction, written by M. J. Rose, came up when I did a catalogue search for Victor Hugo at my local library. Victor Hugo is a first-person point of view in numerous chapters--among other POVs-- in this novel written with the theme of reincarnation running throughout the plot. The historical chapters in Hugo’s voice take place while he was in a self-imposed exile (early 1850s) on the isle of Jersey before moving to the channel island of Guernsey and writing Les Miserable. It is in Jersey where Hugo and his family hosted séances, hoping to make contact with Hugo’s deceased daughter, Leopoline, who had drown years earlier at the age of nineteen. I’d heard about Hugo’s interest in Spiritualism from other sources while doing a bit of research on him and wanted to learn more. Also, seeing that M. J. Rose wrote about reincarnation I thought I’d like to explore that concept/theory in a novel—the details on the other parts and POVs in the novel I’ll leave to the reviewers who’ve posted on this site before me. However, I will comment on the tale’s protagonist, Jac, to say that I found her, and the full cast of characters--many of whom were in dire need of healing--to be well-developed and rather interesting. And so, this brings me back to Victor Hugo and those interesting chapters written about his time on the isle of Jersey. As a reader, I found these so well-crafted that I felt transported, as if one of Victor Hugo’s guest, back to that time and place. There is also an insightful and subtle suggestion within the tale’s storyline about how a writer’s inspiration could likely be linked to a form of transference. M. J. Rose tells her readers in the “Afterword” in the back of the book of the “coincidence” on how, as an author, she was able to channel Hugo’s voice (hint, using pen and paper). Fascinating! Overall, this is an imaginative and intriguing book. Aside from a few minor off-putting things in the climax of the story, and other readers may disagree, I still found this to be one of the most compelling novels I’ve come across in a long, long time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    M.J. Rose continues to feed my fascination with reincarnation and history in this the fifth book in the Reincarnationist series. Combining the two once again into a novel that I think might be her best yet, Rose takes us this time into the world of seances.

    Victor Hugo, famed novelist of Les Miserables, among others, is a prominent character in Seduction. When he loses his daughter to drowning, ten years later he still finds that he has not moved past her loss. He begins participating in seances in the hope that he will speak to his daughter again and ends up communicating with a myriad of famous personas, including the Devil. In the book, he transcribes these communications nightly and his lost transcriptions are at the heart of the story. The quest to discover these communique with the dead is what leads protagonist Jac L'Etoile into a suspenseful situation.

    The shift from the present to the past and vice versa is an element that I have thoroughly enjoyed in books. However, not many write it as skillfully as Rose. The Reincarnationist series, and this book, are not only about the phenomenon of reincarnation. They are a thoughtful examination of how we human beings cope with loss and what we choose to believe about the after life. I think reincarnation is something that should be explored more extensively as a definite possibility. In writing these books, Rose is bringing reincarnation to the fore of people's minds, even if they do not believe, and I thank her for raising that awareness.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Every story begins with a tremble of anticipation. At the start we may have an idea of our point of arrival, but what lies before us and makes us shudder is the journey, for that is all discovery. "
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seduction by M.J. Rose is a novel about reincarnation, love, and mythology, wrapped in a blanket of historical fiction. Built upon the real-life experiences of Victor Hugo and his experience with seances and speaking with spirits, the novel switches between the modern-day story of Jac as she travels to uncover Druid mysteries and Hugo's letters to Francine, one of his mistress's servants. Jac is attempting to immerse herself in finding answers to Druid myths in order to overcome the grief she feels at having lost her lover and miscarried their child. She is invited to the Isle of Jersey by Theo, a long-lost boyfriend from her days at Blixer Rath, a clinic to treat mental illness and troubled youth. Together, they attempt to piece together Hugo's references to his encounters with spirits, to include Lucifer, and their connection to the Druid ruins found on the Isle. In the end, both storylines are connected through the concept of reincarnation, and all parties are left satisfied with the answers this connection provides.Rose does a magnificent job of building all of the characters and the setting. I normally don't enjoy stories that jumps from one era to another. Rose, however, makes it seem natural and easy. I felt that the addition of the 'third' storyline, that of the Druid priest, was introduced rather haphazardly and not as developed as the other two. This turned out to be even more disappointing later on, when the connection of the priest became such a focal point and the impetus of two of the characters' histories and personal relations. Jac's own revelation of her past lives was extremely rushed. I would have preferred to see that developed more. At the end, Hugo's own storyline seemed excessive, and the book would have worked just as well, if not better, without it altogether. His seduction by Lucifer himself and the promises of bringing his daughter back from the dead would have made a good book on its own without the addition of the Druid's or Jac's backstory.The book kept me in suspense, hoping to find out the connections and if Jac herself were a reincarnation of someone. Certain scenes, such as the one where the Shadow of the Sepulcher (Lucifer) entices Hugo in am almost sensual way, were evocative in a way I haven't experienced in a book in quite some time. Overall, this is a solid recommendation to read this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Must read. The language, the imagery, the characters - a delicious seduction of the senses making me want more books! What a marvelous concept for a story line and I thank my husband for finding M. J. Rose's books at the library.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This story actually starts in The Book of Lost Fragrances about Jac L’Etoile, a mythologist, and her family who were perfumers. Jac receives a letter from an acquaintance, Theo, from 17 years previous at a clinic that Jac was at as a young girl. Jac has had nightmares and dreams of things she cannot explain but does not believe in reincarnation. A mentor, Malachai, has tried to help her with these memories but Jac is still tortured with the memories that she can not explain.Malachai gives her a letter from Theo who is asking Jac to come to the Isle of Jersey, England to do some research on his property regarding the Druids, an iron age people that populated Europe. Malachai does not want her to go because he thinks she might be in danger and there are things about Theo that worry him.A part of the story involves Victor Hugo, a French poet, novelist, and dramatist, who lived on the Isle of Jersey after being exiled from France after he openly declared Napolean a traitor to France in 1855. Victor was a haunted man after the death of his beloved daughter Léopoldine who dies in a tragic accident. Victor is so distraught with his daughter's death that he starts to conduct seances with close friends and family. Victor has a mistress, Juliette and she has a woman who works for her, Fantine that Hugo befriends and becomes enchanted with. Fantine has her own demons to deal with as she lost a child and her lover has abandoned her and has no desire to carry on.In the story, Victor Hugo has written detailed accounts of Fantine and the seances, where one of the entity's that was called forth is The Shadow of Sepulcher. Victor is compelled to continue the seances as he has a firm belief in the spirit world.In present day Theo and Jac scour the caves around Jersey to find these fabled journels. Another story evolves from the dreams that Jac has been having about Owain, a Druid priest and his wife Gwenore and son Brice circa 56 BCE. As Theo and Jac try to find these journals of Victor's they come to realize that there is more to the story than they thought, past lives and reincarnation. Does scent play a part in past life regressions? What do these three stories have to do with the other?? Can't tell you that...you will have to read for yourself.This is a story partly based in history and partly the authors imagination. Ms. Rose combines these three stories of heartbreak, loss and love seamlessly in a suspenseful mystery that fans of M.J.Rose will love. It will help the reader to read The Book of Lost Fragrances because it sets up the characters and story line of Jac's family of perfumers. Whenever I read one of M.J.Rose's books I come away feeling like I have been immersed in the story right along with the characters and I do not want it to end. But all good things eventually come to an end, or do they???
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    M.J. Rose’s Seduction was so incredibly written that it kept me under its spell the entire time. Rose's writing is beautiful, like poetry, and incredibly evocative. Now when it comes down to trying to summarize the plot, I find it rather difficult to explain without losing so much of its essence. There are really three different plots unfolding throughout the book, but they are intricately interwoven. The first story line (chronologically-speaking, anyway) takes place in Celtic Britain on the eve of Roman invasion. Owain, a Druid priest living on what would later be called the island of Jersey, faces the ultimate test of his faith, one that will have repercussions well beyond his own lifetime.The second story line features famous author Victor Hugo, who lived on the island of Jersey in the 1850s and faced a spiritual and psychological battle on his own after the death of his beloved daughter. He left behind a record of that struggle, and over one hundred and fifty years later, Jac and Theo try to find it and make sense of it.Jac L’Etoile, who was featured in The Book of Lost Fragrances (which I have not read but definitely plan to) is at the heart of the third story line, and she is the tie that binds all of the stories together. Having experienced a troubled childhood, Jac always suffered from strange hallucinations. As a teen she was sent to a special treatment center where the staff practiced somewhat unorthodox treatment methods. Her therapist Malachai became a life-long mentor. He was a staunch believer in reincarnation, but Jac was never convinced that her hallucinations were the result of past-life flash-backs. She did, however, become fascinated by mythology, and as an adult, she built her career on it. She wrote a book and hosted a TV show where she tracked down the origins of myths. This myth-seeking leads her to the island of Jersey, which is deeply steeped in Celtic mythology, after receiving an invitation from Theo Gaspard, a friend from her days at the treatment. Will Jac lose herself in the memories of the past, or will she be able to harness her special gift and move forward in the present?Confused yet? I promise it will all make sense when you read the book. Many questions are raised here about memories, the ripple effect caused by one single event, past lives, and what makes us who we are.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book alternates between Victor Hugo's search to establish contact with his deceased daughter through a number of séances and the present day life of Jac L'Etoile. Jac works on a popular myth finders show, where she seeks to get to the heart of ancient myths and legends. After traveling to the Island of Jersey, she reunites with Theo, a boy she knew long ago from her stay in the mental institution. Together, they seek out Hugo's journal, one they believe is hidden in one of the caves islands.I have mixed feelings about this book. It was an intriguing and interesting story. However, it felt unfinished. It needed something more at the end. I also got a bit tired of Jac listing the scents she could smell. It became tedious and boring after a while. I do think this was a good book, it just had its share of flaws. Overall, not a bad read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seduction brings back the complicated character Jac d'Etoile from The Book of Lost Fragrances. Jac is from a long line of perfumers and has a very refined sense of smell but what she really sniffs out are myths which she profile in her series of books and shows as a mythologist. She is invited to the Isle of Jersey in Britain by an old friend who has found a diary of Victor Hugo's and he thinks that it might lead to secrets that could go all the way back to the Druids.This book weaves the past, the very past and the present together in a delightful way. It marries real people with fictional seamlessly. Ms. Rose is incredibly adept at creating different moods for different times; it's part of her magic as a writer. Reading one of her books is more experience than act. I find that because of the spell she weaves it takes me a bit to return to reality when I stop reading.Jac is a very complex woman - obviously experiencing events from the past but refusing to accept what is right in front of her. She stays rooted in the present as she solves the mysteries of the past.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4.0 out of 5 stars - "There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees." (Victor Hugo)This is a novel that inspired the researcher in me! I am a huge fan of author Victor Hugo so I was quite curious when reading the summary of the plot and wanted to see how he fit into this story of reincarnation and mythology. The book blends fact and fiction smoothly and the reader learns of Hugo's fascination with seances and his obsession with the spirit world.This is the second novel (follows The Book of Lost Fragrances) featuring Jac L'Etoile, a mythologist, who travels to Jersey, Channel Islands, Great Britain, to investigate sites that are thought to be from the time of the Celtic Druids. Despite her intentions, she is drawn into another mystery by an old acquaintance, Theo Gaspard, who is desperate to uncover information about Hugo's conversations with the spirits he claims visited him during the over 100 seances held at the house he lived in during his exile from his beloved Paris. The seances were Hugo's grieving attempts to contact his beloved daughter who had drowned, but Gaspard's grandfather believed Hugo had communed with the Shadow of the Sepulcher (Lucifer?) and wanted to find any manuscripts that detailed this. Theo, whose family still lives on the island, seems haunted and he is a very troubled soul. Jac agrees to accompany him on his search through the secret caves that may hold the answers.The narrative shifts back and forth in time and place from the 1850s to present day but is mostly set in Jersey. Jac, who doesn't believe in reincarnation, finds again that she has the ability to remember because scent is a trigger for her to experience certain happenings that seem to be from past lives. Not her own previous lives, but of those who lived there in ancient times.I enjoyed the blend of fact and fiction that made this a very interesting reading experience. I loved the descriptions of the island and all of the other details about the ruins, the caves, and fragrances. It may seem complicated as there are quite a few plot lines coming together, but it meshes quite satisfactorily in the end.Jac is an unusual character and I think it best if you read the previous book before this one so that her history is known; she has had a very troubled life and is very sensitive and it would help the reader understand her abilities a bit better. I hope there is another book featuring her.I would recommend this book to fans of mysteries, and anyone interested in the subjects of reincarnation, Druid activity, and Victor Hugo. I really enjoy historical fiction and, though I don't believe in reincarnation or the ability to commune with the dead, the topic was fascinating.ARC from publisher Simon and Schuster and Netgalley.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Much appreciation and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy of Seduction, which is probably one of the most haunting and evocative books I've ever read. The expected publication date for this title is May 7, 2013.As a big fan of the fantasy and historical fiction genres, I have to say I love it whenever I come across authors who experiment with ways to incorporate elements from both in their stories. Seduction definitely fits the bill. The book is not your typical historical novel in that much of it actually takes place in the present. Its plot also contains a pretty hefty paranormal component.Events in the book unfold through a couple different storylines. In the present day, mythologist Jac L'Etoile arrives on the Isle of Jersey--where famed novelist Victor Hugo once lived for several years during his time as a political exile--in the hopes of studying the island's Celtic history with her old friend Theo Gaspard. Interspersed through her story are chapters from Hugo's secret diary in which he chronicles his grief at the death of his daughter in a drowning accident, as well as his subsequent obsession with contacting her spirit by participating in hundreds of séances. These separate narratives are interwoven to form an intricate tale of mystery and suspense, linking together these characters and perspectives separated by more than a century and a half.What I love best about this novel is its unique and unusual blend of aspects from so many genres. Seduction is the latest in a series of books called The Reincarnationist, which centers around topics related to paranormal phenomena as well as spiritual themes like past lives and the idea of an immortal soul. At its heart, the book can be considered a mystery novel, with the aforementioned historical fiction and fantasy elements. But it also has a bit of horror in it too. Quite a few scenes unsettled me and sent chills down my spine, especially the ones involving Victor Hugo's séances and his encounters with a malevolent spirit implied to be the devil himself, called the Shadow of the Sepulcher. There's a spooky vibe throughout the whole book for sure, which are enhanced by the rich details the author gives of the old architecture and the ethereal beauty of the sea and caves on Jersey.So much seems to be going on in this novel. Maybe too much. Granted, it all comes together in the end, but the book started slow while it attempted to establish all the characters and the setting. It also made for a rather scattered reading experience trying to keep track of what's going on in the present as well as in the past, and things only get even more muddied with Jac's visions and the addition of a third side storyline partway through the novel.Not to mention, Jac's character has a pretty complicated history to think about as well. The book touches upon her psychological disorders and troubles with hallucinations, which is what led her to befriend Theo when they were teenagers being treated at a Swiss clinic together, but there is also so much about her past that doesn't seem to be explored much. To be fair, my guess is that a lot of this was probably covered in The Book of Lost Fragrances, the book that came before this one, in which Jac is also the main character. However, I did have to wonder if we really needed so much about her pining for her past lover. All the references to him and what they shared, heartbreaking as they were, felt a bit superfluous, since none of that had to do with the story at all.In any case, despite all that, Seduction can definitely be read as a standalone. If you're like me, you might even be tempted to pick up the previous book, to find out more about Jac L'Etoile who makes her living as a TV mythologist, but actually comes from a long line of famous French perfumers. In fact, her character's experience with making perfumes and identifying scents is what probably gave me a whole other level of appreciation for this book.Like I said, M.J. Rose is fantastic with the details she puts into describing the setting, but truly it's her description of scents and odors as a main storytelling device that really struck me. I've never thought much about smells in the books I read, until this one came along. It's very effective when used here, too. Since olfactory triggers can often make the mind conjure up very clear imagery and activate vivid memories, this makes it perfect for Seduction which deals so much with remembering and reliving past lives. Overall, I felt this novel was very cleverly written and put together, and that's just one of many reasons.