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JM Mystery-thriller #1
Past Imperfect
A car accident in California, a deadly assault in Provence, and two boys thirty years apart left struggling for their lives.
The stage is set for one of the most electrifying and intriguing thrillers of all time. Dominic Fornier is the detective who finds himself at the heart of the investigation. A simple provincial case that becomes one of the largest and most important in criminal history; the case of a lifetime, but one that seems impossible to win.
Fornier’s only hope is to try to prove a link between the two boys...the final missing key that will expose the killer.
A chilling journey through forensic, medical and psychiatric evidence between France, America and London; a breathless paperchase of clues extracted from a young boy's psyche; revenge, blackmail and political corruption behind a trial that captures a nation...and a desperate race against time to catch a murderer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks.
The stage is set for one of the most electrifying and intriguing thrillers of all time. Dominic Fornier is the detective who finds himself at the heart of the investigation. A simple provincial case that becomes one of the largest and most important in criminal history; the case of a lifetime, but one that seems impossible to win.
Fornier’s only hope is to try to prove a link between the two boys...the final missing key that will expose the killer.
A chilling journey through forensic, medical and psychiatric evidence between France, America and London; a breathless paperchase of clues extracted from a young boy's psyche; revenge, blackmail and political corruption behind a trial that captures a nation...and a desperate race against time to catch a murderer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks.
627 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 4, 1999
211 people are currently reading
1110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
November 1, 2012
Exciting and different!
This is a very different book, cleverly combining a crime and legal thriller, family saga and love story. The main story focuses on a young boy brutally attacked in the French village of Taragnon with a secondary story of another boy in a California car accident. The link between these two boys is the crucial key as detective Dominic Fornier tries desperately to piece back details of a murder 30 years after the event.
The writing is dazzling and I found myself holding my breath through many of the scenes, particularly those delving into the young boy's fractured psyche as Dominic gets closer to the truth of what happened in a lonely, windswept wheat-field 30 years back. A bittersweet tale, sort of like The Lovely Bones meets Grisham at his best. Really, really liked this one. Impressed!
This is a very different book, cleverly combining a crime and legal thriller, family saga and love story. The main story focuses on a young boy brutally attacked in the French village of Taragnon with a secondary story of another boy in a California car accident. The link between these two boys is the crucial key as detective Dominic Fornier tries desperately to piece back details of a murder 30 years after the event.
The writing is dazzling and I found myself holding my breath through many of the scenes, particularly those delving into the young boy's fractured psyche as Dominic gets closer to the truth of what happened in a lonely, windswept wheat-field 30 years back. A bittersweet tale, sort of like The Lovely Bones meets Grisham at his best. Really, really liked this one. Impressed!
March 22, 2011
A very clever writer. His plots are full of twists and turns that come swiftly one after the other. In fact, towards the end of the book, they came a little too fast and I felt myself getting left behind. Hence the four star rating, not five. His attention to detail is breathtaking. Whether it's the way the legal system works in France, or medical information on characters' illnesses, he covers the subject thoroughly. The two central themes of the novel are a lengthy pursuit of justice, and past life regression. A murdered boy comes alive again in the memories of another boy thirty years later who experiences similiar trauma. Those memories provide the basis for the investigating officer of the murder to be able to re-open the case and pursue the man whom he had suspected all along.
Matthews is not only good at subject detail; he also draws interesting and complex characters. The murderer, a particularly loathsome paedophile, is especially well drawn, I thought. A ripping good read all round.
Matthews is not only good at subject detail; he also draws interesting and complex characters. The murderer, a particularly loathsome paedophile, is especially well drawn, I thought. A ripping good read all round.
September 16, 2012
One of my all time favourites!!
January 7, 2023
What should be a thrilling read - tragic events befalling two young boys thirty years apart and an obsessed detective trying to bring a murderer to justice - is so overstuffed with unnecessary detail and unnecessary backstory that it simply drowns under the weight. The writing style is also so cliche’d to become, at times, almost laughable. Give this one a miss.
October 17, 2018
This book was an odd reading experience for me. The story begins with the investigation of crimes involving young boys in two different countries, and I found myself confused as the story switched between the two investigations while introducing the personalities of the individual investigators.
Fairly quickly, however, the story settles down into the main plot, which revolves around the case of a young boy in France who was kidnapped and murdered by a pedophile. The pedophile escapes detection, and instead an innocent man is found guilty, imprisoned and eventually dies in a mental hospital.
30 years later, a young boy in England enters therapy to help him cope with the accidental death of his parents. In the course of that therapy, the therapists discover that he has memories that he never experienced, and they discover that these memories are those of the murdered French boy. The therapist responsible for uncovering these memories from a past life reaches out to a detective who was involved in the original case in France.
Faced with this information, the detective reflects back on certain occurrences during the original investigation and realizes that the system was rigged, allowing the pedophile, who is now an important member of the French government, to escape prosecution and subjecting an innocent man to a lifetime of imprisonment.
The rest of the story follows the therapist as she works to elicit clues from the past life memories of this child, without causing irrevocable harm to him in the process, and detective's re-investigation of the crime based on this new information.
This is a new edition of a book that was originally released in 1999, and thankfully it did not feel particularly dated at all. I enjoyed this book, but the pacing felt off to me--my copy of the ebook shows over 600 pages, and most thrillers/mysteries are more like 350 pages. Although the end of the book is exciting and difficult to put down, the middle of the book lagged, with too much of the day-to-day struggles faced by the detective. Although I never felt bored exactly, I definitely noticed how much time it was taking to read it, and that is not an experience I expect with a thriller.
All in all, I think this was an interesting approach to a mystery, and well-written--just a bit too long for me to recommend it without any reservations.
I received an advanced reading copy from the publishers via NetGalley. Thanks!
Fairly quickly, however, the story settles down into the main plot, which revolves around the case of a young boy in France who was kidnapped and murdered by a pedophile. The pedophile escapes detection, and instead an innocent man is found guilty, imprisoned and eventually dies in a mental hospital.
30 years later, a young boy in England enters therapy to help him cope with the accidental death of his parents. In the course of that therapy, the therapists discover that he has memories that he never experienced, and they discover that these memories are those of the murdered French boy. The therapist responsible for uncovering these memories from a past life reaches out to a detective who was involved in the original case in France.
Faced with this information, the detective reflects back on certain occurrences during the original investigation and realizes that the system was rigged, allowing the pedophile, who is now an important member of the French government, to escape prosecution and subjecting an innocent man to a lifetime of imprisonment.
The rest of the story follows the therapist as she works to elicit clues from the past life memories of this child, without causing irrevocable harm to him in the process, and detective's re-investigation of the crime based on this new information.
This is a new edition of a book that was originally released in 1999, and thankfully it did not feel particularly dated at all. I enjoyed this book, but the pacing felt off to me--my copy of the ebook shows over 600 pages, and most thrillers/mysteries are more like 350 pages. Although the end of the book is exciting and difficult to put down, the middle of the book lagged, with too much of the day-to-day struggles faced by the detective. Although I never felt bored exactly, I definitely noticed how much time it was taking to read it, and that is not an experience I expect with a thriller.
All in all, I think this was an interesting approach to a mystery, and well-written--just a bit too long for me to recommend it without any reservations.
I received an advanced reading copy from the publishers via NetGalley. Thanks!
January 29, 2010
Bought this in a bargain bookstore in London about ten years ago. I forgot where the bookstore was, but I never forgot how impressed I was with the book, and how I stupidly read it within one night even though I had to go to court the net day. I never learn.
"Past Imperfect" is a a solidly crafted and expertly told story about two boys from different areas that are mysteriously connected. Riveting from the very beginning, the book becomes more even more thrilling towards the end. A true page-turner.
"Past Imperfect" is a a solidly crafted and expertly told story about two boys from different areas that are mysteriously connected. Riveting from the very beginning, the book becomes more even more thrilling towards the end. A true page-turner.
January 15, 2015
Taken me some time to read this book. Not a fault of the author, but as a result of family issues. A fascinating weaving of the past with the present with the assistance of past life regression, something that has come in for much criticism in the recent past. Nevertheless, it makes for a taut and exciting thriller with its mixture of simple murder story, paedophiles and political corruption. To a retired English lawyer, the description of the alien French criminal justice system was eye opening.
July 29, 2011
Great atmospheric thriller. Have read other books by this author but none have lived up to this gripping debut.
July 29, 2011
Fascinating read of 2 stories in one with a great deal of detail on the use of information gleaned from regressions in different courts.
March 3, 2012
Took quite awhile for me to get completely into the story, but once I did it was very good. The author really wrapped things up nicely and most lingering questions were addressed. Good Read!
June 12, 2012
Really good book - Some characters I really liked and some I despised. I suppose that is as it should be in a book of this type. I liked reading about the Past Life Regression (PLR)
June 14, 2012
Long but different and interesting.
June 22, 2019
A crime book with more depth than many others. Well written with a good story that is not over reliant on action. Mainly set in France it was a refreshing look at the seedy side of the country, organised crime, corruption and paedophiles. Very often I find any reference to France boringly enthuses about the superiority of the culture. I loved how the murder was ultimately solved using past life regression.
The Kindle version annoyingly finished at 78% with the rest being given over to the first three chapters of other John Matthews books. There was a clue that this would be the case when the Epilogue started at 75%. Does anyone actually read the starts of other books?
The Kindle version annoyingly finished at 78% with the rest being given over to the first three chapters of other John Matthews books. There was a clue that this would be the case when the Epilogue started at 75%. Does anyone actually read the starts of other books?
February 21, 2019
Good Story, poor editing
The premise of the story was captivating and intense, and while I did want to learn the ending, I found that it seemed to get dragged out before coming to a not entirely satisfactory conclusion. The other thing I found hard to deal with was the abundance of typographical/grammatical/spelling errors in this Kindle edition that I read. These errors definitely diminished my enjoyment of an otherwise thrilling tale. I have to hope that the problem lies in this particular edition of the book.
The premise of the story was captivating and intense, and while I did want to learn the ending, I found that it seemed to get dragged out before coming to a not entirely satisfactory conclusion. The other thing I found hard to deal with was the abundance of typographical/grammatical/spelling errors in this Kindle edition that I read. These errors definitely diminished my enjoyment of an otherwise thrilling tale. I have to hope that the problem lies in this particular edition of the book.
October 14, 2018
Excellent book, the first book I've read by this Author and can't wait to read more. Great story line, the PLR angel was a great premise. The ending was perfect. A very long book which personally I enjoy, took a bit to get used to the writing style, but once I got used to it I liked the flow. I highly recommend this book.
May 6, 2019
Turgid
Gave it a go but by heck was it slow and tedious. When, however, the French accused started worrying about his neck and being hanged that did it for me. Until 1977 executions in France were by guillotine or firing squad and had been for a very long time. So I baled out which is very unusual for me.
Gave it a go but by heck was it slow and tedious. When, however, the French accused started worrying about his neck and being hanged that did it for me. Until 1977 executions in France were by guillotine or firing squad and had been for a very long time. So I baled out which is very unusual for me.
August 14, 2017
I'm reading the Kindle version which has 6 books together. The plot was moving at a good pace and then it felt as if he just wanted to finish writing the book, so it was all tied up really fast in the end.
October 4, 2018
Gets your attention immediately
Such depth of feelings and emotions made it hard to get out of the story. Such a great and heart felt story line. Will ne think about ot for quite awhile.
Such depth of feelings and emotions made it hard to get out of the story. Such a great and heart felt story line. Will ne think about ot for quite awhile.
December 27, 2018
Well-written page-turner
Beautifully written saga against the back drop of country France that spans our world and the one where loved ones cross over ... all wrapped up in a spine-tingling suspense tale of love, crime, and a cop's journey that spans 30 years. Highly recommend.
Beautifully written saga against the back drop of country France that spans our world and the one where loved ones cross over ... all wrapped up in a spine-tingling suspense tale of love, crime, and a cop's journey that spans 30 years. Highly recommend.
November 21, 2019
This book has grand aspirations but just didn’t work for me. It was Les Miserables mixed with psychological thriller. - there were too many different aspects, none of them done well. I didn’t care about any of the characters, there were many grammatical errors and it was just way too long.
February 3, 2021
This book is one of my favorite books ever.... clever, paced very well, griping... it also handles very sensitive and sometimes disturbing subjects with care. The character development is exceptional... I could write about this for ages but I don't want to give anything away.
October 30, 2017
Couldn’t get into it
November 19, 2018
Wonderfully written legal thriller! Full of that's and turns throughout. Very pleased with this author.
January 2, 2019
Can't get into this book.
October 24, 2020
Despite my skepticism about xenoglossy, I enjoyed the book, its setting in France, mostly, and the pace of the writing.
February 13, 2021
Excellent read!!
December 5, 2021
It took about 250 pages for the two stories to coincide…good book but it went on too long. (And I regularly read books of 700+ pages)
July 26, 2023
this was very good there was SO much detail!!! at times i thought the pacing was slow but i appreciated the detail because it helped me really understand what was happening
February 15, 2025
Great.read
Great.read.couldn't put it down. Felt.as though I was living in France. I got a little bit confused with some names because l can't speak french. Jeancolette Myles.
Great.read.couldn't put it down. Felt.as though I was living in France. I got a little bit confused with some names because l can't speak french. Jeancolette Myles.
March 7, 2017
An intriguing story that was complex and interesting and yet sad and exciting. I thought the book was going to be a tedious long story but the plot and the characters soon draw you into the book. A very good read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews