Recursion – Blake Crouch

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Pages: 336
Release Date: June 11, 2019

Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

 

When you start a Blake Crouch novel, you know you’re in for a wild ride that will alter the way you think about time, space, memory, etc. Recursion is no exception. I read the synopsis and requested it immediately.

Recursion follows Helena and Barry as they embark on a life altering mission that will change time and memory. Readers should go into Crouch’s book with little to no information to feel the full effects of Crouch’s writing.

What makes Recursion work as a novel rooted in science is that the science featured is believable. Crouch’s writing leads readers to believe what is being said without question. There wasn’t a moment I questioned the validity of what was being presented or felt the need to fact check.

Recursion’s pace for the beginning of the novel is on the slower side as Crouch sets up the various pieces that will come into play later in the novel. Though the pace is slower, the story doesn’t suffer. It’s interesting and intriguing as it starts to prod your understanding of memory and time. The second half of the novel is explosive in its revelations and action sequences.

And, one final note, I cannot wait to see the Netflix adaptation of this by Shonda Rhimes and others!

Overall, Recursion is another incredible Crouch novel that I’d recommend to anyone. With great characters and a mind-bending plot, Recursion should shoot to the top of your TBR.

“We are homesick most for the places we have never known.”
-Carson McCullers

*** I received an ARC via Netgalley for an honest review.

 

Have you read Recursion? What did you think?