Pacy, dystopian, murder ... what's not to like?!
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The Blurb:
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.YOU CAN PRESERVE A HANDFUL OF SPECIAL MEMORIES FOR EVER.WHICH ONES WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
True death is a thing of the past. Now you can spend the rest of eternity re-living your happiest memories: that first kiss, falling in love, the birth of your children, enjoyed on loop for ever and ever.
Isobel is a Heaven Architect, and she helps dying people create afterlives from these memories. So when she falls for Jarek, one of her terminal - and married - clients, she knows that while she cannot save him, she can create the most beautiful of heavens, just for him.
But when Jarek's wife is found dead, Isobel uncovers a darker side of the world she works within, and she can trust no one with what she finds...
The Memory Chamber is a thrilling and original story which vaults the reader into a world that is terrifyingly close to our own, where we can avoid everything we fear - even death itself. But can we ever escape the truth?
The Review
Either I'm getting soft in my old age and going to make a name for myself as an overly generous reviewer, or I'm going through a blissful period where I just happen to be reading some really great new books. I'm pretty sure its the latter, so don't go un-trusting my judgement just yet!
This slightly futuristic and sort-of dystopian style book is based on the premise that when you die, your consciousness can be distilled into an electronic synthesis, where you can relive all of your favourite memories again and again, like some sort of after-death Utopia.
I just love books like this, that get you to imagine a world that you feel we could be currently only one big scientific discovery away from. It was such a great concept and was incredibly though provoking, especially in respect to the ethical quandries it presented.
I especially liked the question of whether you should need to give permission to be in someone's artificial heaven. After all, while they are alive you dont get a say in how they choose to remember you, or how often they replay their memories of time with you, so why should this be any different? Ok... but what if that person had attacked you and they wanted to be able to relive that again and again in their memories after they died - would you want to give your permission then? It really opened you up to this idea that as science advances, we never seem prepared for the ethical quandries that come hand in hand with these advancements.
I thought that the central character was flawed and realistic, although it was quite frustrating that we were given tantalising glimpses into her personality as a perfectionist and control freak, but that never developed into anything more, or any description of why she had become that way. Also, there was a slight lull in activity in the middle that I found frustrating, but apart from that it was a really pacy thriller and I raced through it.
I'm putting dibs on this to be optioned for a hollywood film - it just has the sort of story that would do really well played out on the big screen. It had enough pace, really interesting characters and a strong narrative that would lend itself to a big budget blockbuster. So, as with all of these things - make sure you read the book first - it's always better!
Big thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this preview copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Memory Chamber is published on 22nd February 2018 by Quercus Books
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