Paromjit's Reviews > Recursion

Blake Crouch's latest science fiction thriller is a complex mind messing of a thought provoking read. It is intense, time shifting and asks profound questions of identity, memory, and what it is that makes us human. Just be prepared to find yourself buffeted all over the place. I understand that the novel is going to be filmed, and I am not surprised by this, this is a twisted story that just fizzes with energy and vitality. NYPD police officer Barry Sutton tries but fails to prevent a woman leaping off a skyscraper. Despairing and distraught, she spoke of false memory syndrome (FMS) with their vibrant and visceral memories and how her son has been erased, but he had never existed. Is FMS a contagion? A deeply troubled Barry, with his own past traumas, sets out on a journey to investigate.

Helena Smith is a brilliant neuroscientist carry out cutting edge technology research on memories. A well intentioned woman, her mother is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which drives Helena's ambition and work on a memory chair, where she can record memories and re-implant them. Her project receives a huge boost when a rich philanthropist injects it with the necessary financial resources, but does he have a darker hidden agenda? Barry and Helena drive the narrative until their paths connect. What are the repercussions of having our memories manipulated and replaced? Is it a worthy desire to replace our painful memories? How does this impact our sense of who we are?

Crouch writes a hard hitting, insane, ground shaking thriller, well constructed, full of tension and suspense, that rockets around all over the place with it's ideas and concepts. It certainly holds the reader's attention with ease, although I admit to enjoying Dark Matter more, there are times when this feels slightly more clunky on occasions. Strap yourself in for one hell of a thrill ride, movingly touching on some crucial issues, with its overt agenda of making you think. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.