Many thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy. I wanted to thank them first, because after reading this book I have a little more faith again that Science Fiction 'as I know it' isn't dead. I started reading SF in 1970 or thereabouts; read great books, went to conventions, met with great authors. Until Fantasy seemed to take over. I have nothing against Fantasy, it's just not entirely my cup of tea.
Having said that, I am very happy to have read Recursion. A very well written, thought-provoking story, with a good balance between Science and Fiction, interesting characters and most of all, a story that sets you thinking.
What if... you just wanted to invent something to help the people you love? What if... someone else took your invention and turned it into something wicked? What if... you could go back in time and make things right again?
Time travel stories are very hard to write but Blake Crouch gives us a time travel story that actually works. I would not be surprised to see this book nominated for several prizes next year.

A while back I read quite a lot of good reviews about Dark Matter by this author. Having read and enjoyed that I was not going to miss the opportunity to read Recursion, his latest book. It starts with Barry Sutton, a detective from Robbery, who is call to a woman threatening to commit suicide. She tells him she has False Memory Syndrome and can no longer live with the fact she thinks she has had two different lives. Is it an infection/imagination or what? Interesting.

Then we meet Helena some 10 years earlier than Barry's event. She is researching memory and hopes to be able to help people with dementia. Is it possible that these two threads could be linked? Is FMS actually that or something planted/engineered If so how and will Barry try and find out more?

I quickly became completely engrossed in this tale. I liked the two main characters, Barry and Helena, a lot. Other characters were far more shadowy and, mostly, had little impact on the story. I found a couple of them mildly interesting however they never took flesh really.

This story plays with "memory" very well. If it is a subject that interests you that would be good. Rather like Dark Matter the book is quite disconcerting at times. It explores some fascinating concepts - memory, time, reality - but spookily. For me this spookiness worked well here in the main. Dark Matter had a very similar impact on me.

I found it both compelling and easy reading. I found the interplay of and between Barry and Helena's lives very good. Up to around 75% in I loved this book. It was dark, thought provoking and edgy. Quite a bit of the last 25% felt far more "action movie". The term isn't quite right but for now I can't come up with a better one. The end though - yes that worked. I'd happily read more from Blake Crouch and if edgy SciFi is you thing try this one out.

If you knew what was going to happen in the future what would you do?

No one can ever accuse this writer of not thinking outside the box, in fact I don't think he has a box at all.He has to be one of the most imaginative writers around.I was expecting this to be very imaginative with plenty going on and nothing obvious and I wasn't disappointed. I also knew it would get chaotic after reading Dark Matter and I wasn't wrong there either.I am very glad I don't do spoilers because I wouldn't know how to with this book even if I wanted to.All I can say is you have to suspend your belief and read this knowing anything is likely to happen.It is well written and quite a ride and well worth a read.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

This book locked me down for an entire day. I was really eager to read Dark Matter by Crouch, so I picked up a copy last week and was transfixed! Needless to say I was very pleased to have the opportunity to read the followup, Recursion. Cheers NetGalley.

Recursion follows two different narratives, New York cop Barry, and Neuroscientist Helena. Barry is investigating the suicide of a woman claiming to have two distinct sets of memories, and Helena is developing a technology that allows humans to preserve and relive their memories.

All across the country, people are waking up to lives different from the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him?

Barry’s search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey as he discovers that Helena’s work has yielded a terrifying gift–the ability not just to preserve memories but to remake them . . . at the risk of destroying what it means to be human.

I read both Dark Matter and Recursion in quick succession. Whilst they both are very different content wise, they are both incredible clever and engaging. I’m somewhat scientifically minded myself, and the concepts highlighted in this novel were incredibly interesting. I cannot think of any other books that have the same feel as Recursion, i’d happily welcome any suggestions in the comments. This book gets five out of five from me, and I hope Mr Crouch keeps them coming!

I think i was in the minority when i say i wasn't the biggest fan of Dark Matter, i liked it well enough but I just didn't connect with it.
Recursion however was a completely different story!

This was an exhilarating read with tonnes of suspense and a plot which leaves you unbelievably frustrated but in the best way.
The suspense and frustration built up throughout the story end in a truly satisfying way and leave you pondering the story for days afterwards.

Really, really enjoyed this book - highly recommend picking it up.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan MacMillan and Blake Crouch for my arc of Recursion in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis: The storyline splits between two characters. Helena Smith is a young scientist desperate to create a memory chair that will assist sufferers of Alzheimers like her mother. Barry Sutton is a New York police detective still grieving the death of his daughter when a Chance meeting causes him to begin investigated a new disease called False Memory Syndrome. What he discovers is that the woman wasn't alone, across the country people are waking up with two sets of memories, like they've lived two different lives. Barry discovers that Helena's research has led to a point where memories are not just preserved but remade.

I read Dark Matter last year and really enjoyed it and Recursion the second of Crouch's books that I've read, didn't disappoint. Like Dark Matter it opened up seemingly crazy concepts of time and space that became quickly plausible. Although I found it relatively slow to start with and got a bit lost in the switches of time and person I soon got to grips with it and then I couldn't put it down! It was a rollercoaster ride of science, politics, crime and love and an exploration of the human psyche and conscience.

I definitely think I've found my go to author when it comes to science fiction!

I adored Dark Matter and wasn’t convinced that the author could meet, let alone better it. Recursion looks at the mysteries of memory and reality. We end up in a kind of manic Groundhog Day of relived past experiences. Danger drives the story as we see an apocalyptic ending in sight each time. This becomes frustrating to the characters and, in its own way, to the reader as I couldn’t envisage any way in which the cycle of effort and failure could be solved. It happened and it was a most mind-stretching and satisfying experience. Another five stars from me.

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.

OMG This book is so Good. If you have read Dark Matter you know what you are in for and, if you haven't, why not? If this book isn't in my top 5 for the year (of 95 so far) I'll be very surprised.
So, people are starting to suffer from False Memory Syndrome and this is causing them to suffer mentally. Some are affected so badly that they take drastic action. The memories they have are of a life they have never lived but remember as if they had. This means that people they loved no longer love them, or sometimes don't even exist at all. If you never really married the guy, how could your child have been born? And it is a woman suffering just this that crosses Barry's path just before she jumps off a building to end her life. But what could be causing this and how is it spreading? Barry's interest is piqued and he starts to investigate.
Meanwhile, we follow Helen as she strives to prefect a memory technique that could help Alzheimer patients with the memory issues that go hand in hand with that horrible disease. One that her own mother suffers from, making it a very personal crusade. But, as with all new technologies, there is bad as well as good to come from it...
And that's all I can say about the plot apart from it really messed with my head! In a good way I hasten to add. It's so very well plotted and executed and had me spinning around so many times as I tried to wrap my head about what was going on, and on, and on...
For someone still quite new to the sci-fi genre, some of the technology described herein did take a bit to really sink in but, when I got there, it all made sense, so well described it all was.
Characters were excellent. I can't say too much due to the nature of the book and the things that happen along the way and the reasons behind those things. You'll get what I mean when you start reading, sorry if it doesn't make sense yet! But each of the main characters were very well described, easy to distinguish (within their storylines), and easy to connect to / emote with. I have a big soft spot for Barry for reasons that will become evident as you also get to know him (hopefully) and I also felt so much for Helen, again for obvious reasons which I also can't divulge here.
Pacing was perfect and I did like the way that it all sped up towards the end. This matched well with the frantic nature of what was happening and what the characters were trying to achieve. There was also no superfluous padding which meant that, overall, the story got on with itself very well.
Although not quite as good as Dark Matter for me, a brilliant book nonetheless and one I heartily recommend. I am eager to get on Audible when it's out so I can listen to it too. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.