“Recursion” by Blake Crouch is a thrilling, sci-fi mystery about memory and time. Helena Smith is a brilliant scientist with a mother losing her memory to Alzheimer’s and dementia and is desperate to find a cure to preserve core memories so that she can keep her lucid enough for the rest of her life. She is bankrolled by an investor who sees the potential in her research in developing a chair that can preserve these memories.

Barry Sutton, a New York City detective, is struggling with his daughter’s sudden death, subsequent divorce, and then drifting off in nostalgia blaming himself for her death until one night he comes in contact with a sufferer of False Memory Syndrome (FMS). The affliction occurs when a new memory timeline is overlaid in the memory of present day with a life they have never before experienced.

Crouch weaves together the central characters in “Recursion” by recounting alternating days in the timeline between Helena and Barry until their stories converge into one. Stream of consciousness moving in and out of timelines is an effective tool Crouch uses to portray the many timelines and memories created.

The book was very engaging. I couldn’t put it down. The mystery behind the science and experiments Helena and her team perform draws you into this believable reality that could possibly exist. Questions about what is time and how memory is formed and affects its owner are all important questions addressed in the book.

I received this eBook free of charge from Crown Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

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