Paramour Book I: Moneta

Paramour #1

by George Bachman

After a false criminal accusation destroys Moneta's life, her daughter Blondie follows her into an underground world of mnemonic thieves who steal high value intelligence from the memories of the rich and powerful...

Genres: Science Fiction

339 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2024

Reviews

[Isaiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read a full review check it out here.

I was fascinated from the start. I highly recommend reading the book description though, some of the things that didn't work for me were in that and would have prepared me if I had read it.

Overall, really interesting unreliable narrator and science mash-up.

[Dan Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 <==> 4 stars

Enjoyment-rating-wise, I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars throughout the book, wound up on a 3 in the last chapter, and then upgraded to 4 out of respect for the excellent bits.

WARNING: contains speculative spoilers.

Prelude of two indistinct parts: Blondie lies dying, and her memories spin and sputter, and - honestly - we don't get to hear much more about that. But we do get a synopsis of a lot of the story in the prelude, which, for me, made the start of the story confusing. Story: The reader is taken backwards and forwards between two narrower periods at either end of a fixed roughly 20-year span (about 2011-2033). It messily, I felt, tracks the mid-to-late teenage years of Moneta (aka Ava and others) and her daughter Cliopatra with an 'i' (but call her Blondie) and - I'm guessing - their metaphorical trans-generational trauma link made concrete - I think - by the SF aspect of the story: mnemonic encoding tech. The story catches up with the prelude around 40% in and does not resolve; you must read the sequel for that. But neither does it fall off a cliff, although I would have liked more of an answer to the suspense in the prelude. It's generally a cool idea, though.

For me, the book took about 35% - quite a lot! - to get going, but when it did, it went well. Then I felt it slowed towards the end, not exactly in a good way though it didn't meander into irrelevance either. The great and the good: wonderful character development, excellent observation of humanity, and plausible characters and interactions. The not-so-great: a - really! - lot of exposition at the expense of plot; I don't mind slow, concise, incisive and emotionally moving, but this was a bit more of the 'I can see it coming in slow-motion' variety; it's karma, really; one of my books gets the same treatment, from reviewers so now I know how my readers feel. :-). Odd technical details appeared at random places and didn't seem that relevant to the story or to add much (I got that they were there to develop the character and show us how smart she was, but they seemed out of character with the rest of the writing, kind of parachuted in - maybe more author's voice than character's?). I had to concentrate hard to decipher the story though definitely not so hard I lost interest.

Overall, I felt this was a diamond in the rough; just a bit more diamond than rough, to be clear. The author seems hugely talented, but the book is a little undercooked. I would definitely recommend it if you are a patient reader who does not skim, enjoys people and details, and isn't looking for a lot of SF gadgets and explosions. I won't not be reading book 2, but I won't be rushing to either.

[Charles Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told mainly from two POVs twenty years apart, the title character's trouble relationship with her family breaks down when they refuse to believe her after she suffers a traumatic event. This drives her into the arms of a friend who uses advanced mnemonic technology to show her what they think of her and introduce her into an underground of surfers, who live inside each other's linked memories and sometimes steal from them to sell to the highest bidder.

When, twenty years later, having left that life, Moneta suffers another trauma and disappears, her daughter, Blondie, accidentally discovers her past while searching for her. Determined to bring her back, Blondie follows her mother's footsteps into the underground.

Well done well, though I am usually not a fan of books multiple main POVs. A well bit world which takes some time to build before starting to bring Blondie closer to her quarry.

For those who love this type of writing, worthwhile, intriguing sci-fi.

[Tabatha Shipley · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I Did Like:
+The concept of memory science (I’m making that term up to avoid spoilers but it works) is fun. There’s a lot to play around with in that concept regarding consequences and side effects.
+The story takes an interesting turn when it becomes clear there’s some secrets in one character’s past.

Who Should Read This One:
-Readers who like heavy Scifi may appreciate this one for its complexity.

My Rating: 2 Stars
Reviews are subjective and not everyone will feel this way but, for me, the alternating timelines didn’t work. It prevented me from connecting with any characters or the story.

For Full Review: https://alltherightreads.com/2024/09/...

[Katinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following a violent attack, Blondie lies near death. But she is not the main character in this tale: her mother Moneta is. The majority of this tale flows across two different timelines. One where Moneta is younger, and one involving her daughter Blondie at the same age. There is a parallel in these two storylines as much of Blondie’s life seems to mirror Moneta’s. Both seem to have the same interests, and they seem to often make the same mistakes.

I read a review copy of this book, and parts of this story I found to be very interesting. I enjoyed the characterizations, and the parallels between the two timelines. But I also have to warn readers that I do need to include some trigger warnings for this book. There are some incidents involving violent and descriptive sexual assault on a near-adult minor. There are some traumatic events in this story that could trigger PTSD for some readers. And there are also abusive relationships within this book.

I did enjoy much of the characterization and parts of the story, but I feel like there was too much in-depth description of the science (or made up science for this story) within the book that went far beyond my ability to comprehend. And in my opinion, these instances often dragged on for too long, causing me to want to skim over them as I was not really understanding why so much time was being spent on these specific conversations. While I do recognize that parts of them were essential to the story, I believe that shortening or condensing certain conversations would have held more fully held my interest rather than causing me to want to skim through them.

Overall, while I did have some issues with parts of the story, I did enjoy others and was often interested in what was going on, even if I didn't always understand it. Would I be interested in reading the next book in this series? Probably. I believe the second book will likely clear up some of the questions that the answers were never revealed in this book, and hopefully would explain what actually led up to the opening scene. (I have an idea about that, but I have no idea if my guess is correct, or if there are other questions that I don’t even know to ask yet.)

So while I think that some will find the technical discussions involving memory and the brain fascinating, I think that for the rest of us, if you can get past the sections that seemed to slow down my interest, and can get past the trigger warning issues within this tale, then I believe you will probably enjoy this story. It is definitely an interesting concept, even if I think some parts could have used a bit more development and refining before publication.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks for George Bachman for sending me an early copy of this book, so that I can review it.

I read a lot of books and I don’t brag about it. I don’t do it to win some kind of award or get recognition, but I do think I deserve some kind of cash prize for getting the Paramour. Normally when reading a book this bad, my goal is to give it a chance (usually 100 pages or half the book, whichever comes first) and then quit if it’s painful. I want to keep getting free books through Library Thing though, so I forced myself to finish this book.

Back in the day, when I was trying to write things, people would constantly repeat the cliché “show, don’t tell.” I believe good writers do that, not-so-good writers (like myself) lean more towards telling and not showing, and Bachman—with this book—did neither. If I had to guess, I would say the author has never read a book before and therefore doesn’t necessarily understand how to tell a story in a coherent manner. I would also guess, unlikely as this seems, that he has never had a conversation with another human being in real life, cause the dialogue in this book is just awful. After reading the 360+ pages, I don’t have even a gram of feeling towards any of the characters. In fact, I don’t feel like I got to know any of them. They’re all one-dimensional robots who lack any kind of inner life or growth throughout the book.

Something I realized towards the end of the book, and maybe an excuse for the author, is that it was possibly originally written in another language (though nothing says that) and then translated using Google. As if this weren’t bad enough, I would be willing to bet that there was either no editor at all or it was edited by someone who didn’t even read it. There were so many misspellings, sentences that didn’t make any sense, words out of place, commas added in random places, and too much other stuff to mention.

I will say that there was one night where I read about 25 pages while pretty drunk, and that wasn’t so bad.

[Amys Bookshelf Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Bachman writes a grand tale with Paramour

In Paramour, the reader is introduced to Blondie, a woman who is suffering from an act of violence that left her for dead, but things aren't always as they seem. Blondie's mind seems to be playing tricks on her, and its focus is on her mother. Paramour is part of the Moneta series, and this is volume one. The word Paramour means that he or she is someone's lover. Usually, this term is used in legal situations. I am a fan of George Bachman and was very excited to read this book. I've only read one other of his books, and I liked that one as well. I know that there will be another book in this series, and I can't wait to read that one as well. This book is a very unpredictable story, my favorite kind! Both thrilling and intriguing, all the way to the end. I really enjoyed the story, and its twists. How do you know you can trust your memories, when your mind is playing tricks on you, and what lengths would you go to, in order to find out the truth. In Paramour, Blondie goes to the extremes to figure out what is truth and what is fantasy. Paramour is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book also write a review.

[Robin Ginther-Venneri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: Paramour Book I: Moneta (Book 1 of 2: Paramour) by George Bachman

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 Stars)

Blondie Simpson, near death after a violent incident, revisits her past and discovers a false memory of her mother assaulting her. As she tries to fix the damage caused, she uncovers her own past as a mnemonic thief. The search for her mother leads her into a perilous world of deception. 🕵️‍♀️🧠
An unpredictable, thrilling read that explores the limits of memory and reality.
#BookReview #SciFi #Thriller #MustRead

Next book in the series
Paramour Book II: Blondie
Book 2 of 2: Paramour

[Jeff Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sci-fi story. Fascinating memory surfing concept. Well written, but some may not agree with two timelines, real science that may be too deep, and incidents of sexual violence. I’d say give it a try if you’re uncertain, like I said, it’s a good story.

[Georgia Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blondie Simpson makes a terrible mistake that ruins her mother's life and drives Moneta underground. Searching for her to bring her back and set things right, Blondie discovers she was once a mnemonic thief, who stole valuable memories and sold them on the black market, leaving a trail through her victims' minds. Blondie finds and joins Moneta's old gang and begins tracing her career through these trace memories. A long set up but worth it once it starts to pay off.

[Eric Willeforde · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slowish buildup combining hard science fiction and a story of trauma and, one hopes, eventual healing, tackling an incredibly thorny theme. Fully realized characters.