FATAL MEMORIES

The invention of a medical device that can cure mental illness but has frightening side effects fuels this promising if unwieldy debut novel that straddles the line between thriller and love story. The device, known as a MEG and built by Boston doctor Anne Powell, has yet to be approved for sale in the United States. Undeterred, Russian physicians at the Pavlov Institute purchase one, and Powell heads to Moscow to oversee its use. Initial tests on Russian patients are encouraging, but unbeknownst to Powell, officials at the institute have smuggled in a special guinea pig: a schizophrenic political candidate with authoritarian tendencies curiously reminiscent of those of his grandfather, Josef Stalin. Meanwhile, Powell has her own personal troubles. As a result of exposure to the MEG's lasers, she keeps having disturbing dreams that seem to transport her to a past life in Russia 500 years ago, where she is in love with a man who bears a striking resemblance to one of her colleagues, the dashingly handsome researcher Volodya Verkhov. Lange, a doctor and producer of women's health education programs, ably crafts a complicated tale rich in Russian history and peopled by a large cast of characters, though it may disappoint some readers expecting more intrigue around the MEG and Stalin's descendant and less love story between Powell and Verkhov. Agent, Scott Hoffman at PMA. 10-city author tour. (Mar. 15)