The Confessions of Jonathan Flite

This is a great book I love sci fi particularly the concept of multiple universes and was attracted to the book because of this element in the story .I was not initially aware that this book is part of a planned 7 book series snd did not discover this until I was 90% of the way through and it began to dawn on me that there was no way that all the multiple threads of the book were going to be tied up satisfactorily by the end .I did find this frustrating as I’m a person who likes explanations but I suppose I will have to look for the next book and vomit for the long term !
The book is complicated but not impossible to follow ,I occasionally got some of the characters confused and needed to double my concentration.
The central characters Jonathon Flite and his mother were interesting quirky people well described and with lots of potential for further development in future books
The book zips along at a fast pace with some very exciting scenes such as the raid on the special unit housing troubled boys
I loved the concept of Jonathan holding memories of others who had lost their lives decades before and see the potential here for the 7 planned books in the series .I’m hoping that this special skill is explained more in future books as I was left feeling rather cross that I hadn’t discovered even a little piece of the puzzle by the end of the book

I read a copy on NetGalley Uk and having now read a good selection of books on this format icon my kindle I was expecting formatting errors as this is usual with early copies .I was however pleased to find the book beautifully formatted ,I particularly liked the circular image at the beginning of each chapter which remains on your retina as you move to the next page on your kindle and makes you feel like you were falling into the story .I don’t know if this was deliberate but found it fitted the circular imagery in the book rather satisfactorily

This was honestly pretty scary and haunting. I don’t really let horror get to me but this was one that actually spooked me but in a good way of course. I had lots of fun going through this and of course Matthew J Beier is someone ill keep on a watch out for in the future when it comes to these books!

I enjoyed reading this book much more than I thought I would, I couldnt put it down. It was such an interesting premise for a storyline and it delivered. This is exactly the type of sci-fi come horror book that I love

A teenage boy just might be at the center of two historical events: the disappearance of seven kids in the Moon Woods that was never solved and happened years before he was even born and the nuclear bombing of Geneva that happened in the boy's present life--being locked up in a juvenile detention center. He claims, and has claimed since he was very young, that he holds the memories of one of the kids who went missing. Does he have some sort of past-life connection; reincarnation? A psychiatrist writing a book on the unsolved case seeks to find out. Some pieces line up while others do not. But what makes it all the more pertinent is the boy's memories or visions of Geneva, seemingly just before the bomb exploded. The FBI has connected that bomb to a Catholic clergy member with a militant outlook and an open wound of the world turning its back on organized religion. This Catholic terrorist also has a connection to Victor Zobel, who is another key player at the center of these two historic events. Zobel was not only the founder of the cult that drew people away from churches but his stepdaughter was one of the seven missing kids.

Can you sing dun, dun, duuuuunnnnnn?!

This story is complex, webbed, tangled, layered, interwoven. You must pay attention not only to follow along but to catch the hints and clues. Each character is complex with their own little piece to add to the bigger puzzle. The timeline stretches from 2037 to way back in 1910! So, new and unknown-to-us tech is used as well as relics from our history books. Despite all this, I didn't struggle following along, I never got confused. In fact, I quite enjoyed tagging along and working to solve the mystery.

The writing was superb! Smart, individualistic, and flowed like a mountain stream. The characterization was believable. The plot, with all its twists, landslides, and explosions was absolutely gripping in every conceivable way. It was chilling, goosebump-inducing, and it had the little hairs on my arms and the back of my neck standing straight up. This story was a masterpiece from start to finish and Beier is an instant favorite from who I look forward to reading more.

This book was amazing! This is the story of Jonathan Flite, a teen who says that he has the memories of the Idle County Seven, a group of teenagers who disappeared eight years before Jonathan was born. Tormented by the memories, and more importantly that no one believes him, Jonathan occasionally lashes out. Unfortunately, during one of these episodes Jonathan kills his nurse. Sent to a mental hospital, Jonathan's story is suddenly taken seriously after a terrorists sets off a nuclear bomb destroying Geneva. Told in flashbacks, Jonathan relates the story of Molly Butler, one of the Idle County Seven, while trying to protect himself and those he loves from unseen enemies. Enemies that have something to do with the disappearance of the Idle County Seven.

I absolutely loved this book! Both stories were compelling. I didn't feel like one was just there to move the plot along. Beier's language is beautiful and manages to capture the feeling of tweenhood. His characters are complex, fascinating and ring true to life.

I would recommend this book to everyone who likes science fiction, mysteries and/or just plain good writing. I can't wait to read the next installment in the Jonathan Flite saga.

This book is amazing! I really had no idea what I was getting into and was blown away. I have no idea how this book snuck under the radar from me all these years. The story is top-notch. It really has a bit of everything. It's a thriller that has ghosts, cults, murder, and more. The characters are very well-written and even though there was kind of a lot to keep track of, the core group was easy to remember. After the first half, I went and sought out the next two books right away. There was no way I could let this story drop knowing there was so much more. The writing style is really fantastic and keeps you locked in. I can't wait to get into book 2 later today. This author is massively talented and I am so glad that I stumbled across their books.

I got a newsletter from Netgalley saying I should really get the Jonathan Flite books while they were still available, so I did and I'm really glad I did. I wasn't expecting much because I barely read the summary, trusting that if other Netgalley readers were making it a best-seller it must be worth it. Wow, the plot is twisted but the story-telling is very well done and all the strings of past present and future weave together without forming knots, everything flows into place flawlessly. I loved that the characters ranged so widely from kids looking out for ghosts to various kinds of doctors, people aging with or without sickness, most characters holding deep and painful memories that give them ground and volume to hold their spot in the story. Now this was a promising start, I'm excited to read the next ones!

Seven teenagers disappeared in 2010. No one knows what happened to them. Idle County can only say that they disappeared in the Moon Woods. A decade later a woman bears a baby which she named Jonathan. After turning seventeen years old he is committed to a Crescent Rehabilitation Center for troubled youth. His mother did this as he would violent outbursts and refusal to admit he’s lying. He knows what happed to the seven teenagers. He has memories that adults think are impossible for him to have. Three months after a nuclear terrorists attack in Geneva,, Switzerland, an ex-CIA psychiatrist, Dr. Lumens arrives at Crescent to interview Jonathan about the Idle County seven teenagers disappearance. He wants anything and everything Jonathan knows. As Jonathan tells what he knows, he reignites the same group of terrorists from Geneva deciding that Jonathan must stop telling about it or else.

The author weaves characters and and plots together". The stories paranormal elements are fascinating. The many shifts in perspective and time are disorienting at times. The story is engrossing. I kept wanting to know the answers to questions I had but did not answer in this book. I liked the mystery of the story even though it’s not solved in this book. I can’t wait to read the next one! This is a book that can be enjoyed by enjoyed by young
adults and adults.

I loved this book. Couldn’t put it down. Suspenseful all the way through! The characters were well developed - the mother really annoyed me. One of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read.

*Copy provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I don't exactly know how to classify this book, and personally don't care about it. Its brilliant plot speaks for itself.

Matthew Beier crafted a multi-genre sensational story that keeps you reading from page one, with low key discussions of science and religion, walking the verge of questioning what happens when we die and most importantly: what choices and actions impact our lives and others'. Masterfuly managing different time narrations and engrossing the reader in every character tale, Beier crafts a fast pace tale of wonder, ghosts and schemes, presenting you with and undeniable truth: you will be hooked until the end.

I had not realised that this was book one of a series when I began reading it. It is somewhat complex and travels between 2010 and 2034. At age seventeen, Jonathan Flite is sent to a facility for troubled wealthy children. His mother has had enough of his violent outbursts and what she sees as his continual lies. Jonathan swears that he has memories of seven children who went missing ten years before he was born.

His mother researches his stories and finds that they link to a cold case in Idle back in 2010. When Jonathan kills a nurse at the facility, he is transferred to a rehab centre where he will serve a life sentence.

Thomas Lumen enters the story and shows an interest in what Jonathan has to say about the missing children. But he isn’t the only one that wants to know just how much Jonathan knows. A group of terrorists are drawn into the mix, and things become very deadly for anyone close to Jonathan.

It is a strange and fascinating story aimed at a teenage audience, but I was hooked. I liked how the characters developed through the story. The core of them is still recognisable but changed with the years too. Not everything was as first thought, and I had an uneasy feeling about how things were developing. It will be fascinating to see where this is going in the coming series. It is an excellent introduction.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book that I have reviewed honestly.

Im not really sure how to describe what I loved about his book.. Except to say that I loved all of it!
This story has so many layers, its like we are peeling an onion.. The more layers we travel through, the closer we are getting to the truth.. The truth about what happened to the Idle County 7.. The only person who knows what happened to them other than their killer, is a boy named Jonathan Flite.. We follow him as he grows up.. He tells his mother that he has a bunch of people in his head.. Of course she doesn't believe him, and he is sent to a psychiatrist.. After an angry outburst that leads to Jonathan killing his nurse, he ends up in an institution.. Only one person on the outside seems to believe that he actually knows what happened to these missing teens.. Dr. Lumen.. He grew up in Idle county, whose claim to fame isn't only the missing kids.. Alot of strange things happen there.. Not only the people missing, but cults, murder, and even ghosts..
We get to see quite a few perspectives throughout this story, but mostly we follow Jonathan, and Molly.. Molly is one of the kids who went missing and we get to see through Jonathans eyes what happened in the time leading up to her going missing.. Jonathan and Mollys story sucked me in completely, and I can't wait to see what new things we are going to learn in the next book!

I was intrigued by the concept of this book, and it was definitely a doozy. Not one of those books that you can just idly read- you really need to pay attention, as it is very complex and layered and tangled, but brilliantly so. Despite the complexity of the story, which stretches from the not-so-distant past to the not-so=distant future, it was easy to follow along on the journey that Beier takes the reader, and I was engaged from start to finish

The Confessions of Jonathan Flite by Matthew J. Beer.
The Jonathan Flite Series Volume .
Jonathan Flite claims to have memories he can’t explain. Seven layers of them, to be exact, all belonging to a group of teenagers who disappeared from a place called Idle County in 2010—ten years before his birth. Seventeen years of anxiety, violent outbursts, and refusal to admit he is lying have landed him at Crescent Rehabilitation Center, a seaside juvenile center for rich kids, and nobody has ever dared to believe his memories might be real.
A very good read. 4*.

A big thank you to Netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and frank review.

I have never read a book like this before and I am so glad I requested it. Its not something I would ordinarily read but I am glad I die. I could not put it down from the start and read it in one sitting. It kept me in suspense and excitement throughout. I loved the characters and I loved to hate his mother. I have not read as good a thriller as this in a long long time.