If Black Mirror served as a surrogate for Groundhog's Day and Back to the Future, Recursion would be that test tube baby.

This one starts out with a bang, or more like a plunk, as the story opens with a woman jumping from a building to her death, but not before she utters the words "My son has been erased." to Detective Barry Sutton.

What follows is two storylines, one where Barry searches for the meaning behind the woman's final words and one where researcher Helena Smith is developing a means to preserve the memories of Alzheimer's patients, such as her own mother.

"...what do you cling to, moment to moment, if memories can simply change. What, then, is real? And if the answer is nothing, where does that leave us?"

Sci-Fi has never been my thing, not even sorta kinda, until I came across Crouch's Dark Matter. He has a way of mixing the sci-fi and thriller genres in a way that makes it accessible to science impaired people like myself.

I found the first half of this book unputdownable...and then my unmethodical brain reared its head leaving me with a permanent perplexed expression.

All of the back and forth and forth and back and back and back and forth and back and forth and forth of the timeline was difficult to follow and often tedious at times. While I understand that it was part of the plot, I still think it could have been handled in a more reader-friendly manner.

Overall I enjoyed this book, not as much as Dark Matter, but certainly enough to continue my mediocre attempt to branch out into this new frontier, with Crouch in the lead.


I received an ARC from Crown Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

A series of duds can leave one craving a quality read and for me Crouch has always been the author to deliver just that. Even before he became properly popular, he always knew how to tell an entertaining story. Crouch is a cross genre writer and his latest ventures tend to veer toward science fiction. In Recursion, his most complex work to date, he tackles time travel and does a terrific job of it too. Now the thing is, time travel has always been dizzying for me (the subject, not the actual thing, although it stands to reason…), something about it just completely discombobulates and disorients my (presumably very) linear brain. I’ve watched the movies, I’ve read the books, I’ve read up on it, but still…it just defies logic in such a complicated way. And having that been said, if I was to (literary) time travel, I’d want Crouch in the pilot seat as it were. He just made it work in this story. Sure, it was dizzying at times, most unconventional motion travel is, but it was so well tethered to reality by such very respectably explained logic and more importantly it was so terrifically anchored down by a really great story…that it just really worked. And when it finally started to overwhelm me, Crouch came in with an awesome save that was the last section of the story and from then on it just barreled toward a feasible resolution and when it arrived the ending was just…wow. So yeah. I wanted a quality read and this was it, above and beyond. The plot of this book is very much along the themes of the dangers of technology outpacing those who control it in both sophistication and application concepts. So it’s a very timely subject and one I often contemplate. If the modern world was given a radical, life altering technology what are the odds of it being used for good? Very slim, I believe. Very slim, the book proves. And so when a genius inventor’s genius invention gets misappropriated and turned into something infinitely more dangerous than a memory retrieval machine, the inventor will do whatever it takes to prevent it. No matter what it takes, no matter how long or how devastating that journey will be. But she won’t be alone for all of it, so it’s actually also a love story, a very epic love story in fact (most epic of all Crouch’s work thus far) and not even remotely cheesy. Throw all those elements together and you get a suspense thriller turn science fiction with an apocalyptic threat that is exciting, compelling and even romantic. In a word, awesome. Very entertaining, original and smart…beauty of a read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

DNF: I was hoping to love this book because I LOVED Dark Matter but I couldnt even get through this book.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. This book is fascinating. It follows two timelines while telling a story about FMS, which stands for False Memory Syndrome. This story is about so much more than just the two timelines though. It asks the question of what or which memories would we change if we had the chance to go back in time to erase and recreate. This book is one that can be reread time and again, bringing about different thoughts. This story goes deep in the area of what is truly ethical if this technology existed. Blake Crouch keeps getting better and better. I enjoyed this book so much and I highly recommend it.

I could not put down this book! So many twists and turns. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. If You liked Dark Matter you will love Recursion. A thriller with a love story!! So good! Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read this early. Blake Crouch is one of my favorite authors!

Loved it, great characters and idea. very well written book, although some of the science behind the story was very in depth, crouch found a way to write it that mad it easy to understand and turned out brilliant.

I think I'm biased when it comes to Mr. Crouch, but I'm giving Recursion 5 stars. Was I really confused at times? Yes. But I was confused while reading Dark Matter and I gave it 5 stars too. I'd compare this book to the way I felt when I read The Martian by Andy Weir. A little overwhelmed with all the details, but loving every minute of it and not able to put it down for a second.

Amazing ideas and a great new twist on an old scifi theme. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the writing, character and plot development were superb. I am purposely avoiding details as to not spoil the surprise of the books premise.

The second half, not so much. New storylines based on theme were started and ended quickly and it felt very scattered and not nearly as cohesive as the first half. The ending was good and wrapped things up as well as you can in the world Crouch created but I would have enjoyed a more cohesive story line throughout without the shotgut of plotlines that was the second half.

This is a bizarrely brilliant little science-thriller, I'd call it. It science fiction thriller? It's excellent executed.and really written perfectly for TV. You really feel the connections and the reincursions as Barry and Helena do and it infuriates you and worries you each and every time. Another great one from Crouch. Can't wait for the show. :)

Fantastic story told from the point of views of our two main characters, a scientist and cop. The scientist is working on preserving memories in Alzheimer's patients while she inadvertently discovers a way to cognitively time travel. Meanwhile, the cop stumbles upon a hotel in New York that is using technology to create alternative memory lines. This book was a real page-turner and I read it in one sitting.

Let me just start by saying Blake Crouch's mind-bending, time-twisty books are hard on my brain. This newest story was easier to follow than Dark Matter (for me at least). Helena is a very likeable character, and Barry grows on you. As the story progressed, my empathy for Helena's situation, for the struggle to fix a situation spiraling out of control grew.

[There is an element of 50 First Dates (the sci-fi edition) going on, where every cycle Helena has to reeducate Barry on the situation. Then another reset puts them back to square one. (hide spoiler)]

I think this book is a great addition to the Crouch collection for those who love his writing.

Thanks as always to #NetGalley, the publisher and Blake Crouch for the opportunity to read an Uncorrected Proof copy of "Recursion", in return for an honest review.

"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. (Saint Augustine). After reading Recursion, I no long quite know that time is!

Helena has spent her entire academic life in pursuit of a way to preserve her mother's memories (and the memories of all Alzheimer's and dementia patients by extension). Barry is a New York policeman who tragically lost his daughter to a random hit-and-run and then lost his marriage in the aftermath.

Marcus Slade offers Helena the opportunity to see her dreams come true - no matter the cost - but in secret; Barry witnesses one night the suicide of a woman who is stricken with False Memory Syndrome (FMS). Helena at first resists, wondering if the application that Marcus wishes to use her creation for is the same as her ideals; Barry discovers the Memory Hotel, and is sent back into his past - to minutes before his daughter's death.

Thus begins an absolutely staggering, mind-boggling tale of re-written memories, and the consequences of changing the past. Imagine if you could actually return to a time before Hitler instigated his "Final Solution" and save the millions he exterminated.... what would the consequences be? Imagine if every country in the world somehow obtained the ability to go back and change the past - and ensure the destruction of humanity... These are some of the questions asked in the course of this masterpiece (in my humble opinion). The science may be confusing at times, but the story is well worth sticking with.

There I will leave my review, because of the possibility of spoilers. But I will say that this is a lengthy, sometimes slightly confusing, masterful tale of 'time travel'. And I heartily recommend it.

Thank you for allowing me to preview this title. Great book! I look forward to sharing this title with may of our library's readers. Thanks again!

A dark, sci-fi thriller that had my mind bending in many directions!

From the author of Dark Matter , which has been on my reading list for some time, but still haven't read it yet.

Would you like a do-over of your life? Hmm, that seems like a loaded question and it is! This was quite an edge of your seat, genre crossover that had me needing answers and quick.

A brilliant neuroscientist Helena Smith, has developed technology that will redefine how we think about time and memory. Playing with time and timelines is where she is headed and some seedy people just might want a piece of this technology. "Pandora's box has been flung open."

I really enjoyed this fast read, although it took some "work" on my part. A lot happens and moves quite quickly- think Evelyn Hardcastle meets time machine. Lets talk equations, science, timelines, and memory loopy de loops. If you have the patience, this is an entertaining, far-out puzzle to enjoy.

Interested? Step right in, buckle up, place the helmet on and lets mess with time!

n a world where False Memory Syndrome is slowly becoming an outbreak, Detective Barry Sutton watches a woman kill herself, driven mad by her memories of another life. What horrible secrets will Barry uncover when he follows her back trail?

Blake Crouch has been a favorite of mine for a few years, first because of the Wayward Pines series, then Dark Matter. When I saw Recursion was up on Netgalley, it was a no-brainer.

One of my favorite late night topics when I was in college, still easily capable of staying up until the small hours on a daily basis, was whether or not time travel might be possible in an altered state of consciousness, going back to an earlier point in your own timeline. What would you do if you could go back in time and change a pivotal event in your life? We've all asked ourselves that question, sometimes multiple times a day. But how often do you ask yourself about the repercussions around you, the ripples spreading throughout the pond? That's the well Blake Crouch draws from in Recursion.

In the early goings, Detective Sutton lifts up rocks and sees the bugs scattering, revealing a vast enterprise built on accessing memories and shifting people back in time. Can the man himself be tempted by what time travel has to offer?

Duh, of course he is! While it seems great at first, the book quickly becomes race after race against time, trying to outrun and undo the consequences of unfettered time travel. I've given this an easy five but it's not quite a perfect sf thriller. My only gripe is that Helena and Barry fall in love too easily. Insta-love, as the kids used to call it. Also, it leans on an episode of The Outer Limits just a tad.

Anyway, apart from that, this one is balls to the wall. Once the memory chair plans are leaked, things quickly become a shit storm of ultimate proportions. Barry and Helena spend timeline after timeline trying to set things right, only to be disappointed, only to learn, finally, that the best way to save the world is to leave it alone.

Blake Crouch has made an art out of taking an interesting sci-fi hook and wrapping an engaging thriller around in. Recursion may be his best one yet. Five out of five stars.

I can't even talk about this book. I have no words. So confusing at first but then also like, holy crap. WHAT IN THE F IS GOING ON. I remember feeling like this in Dark Matter so I shouldn't have been surprised to have a similar feeling. It was very good. Very compelling. Highly recommend it if you liked Dark Matter.

A cutting-edge scientist is given the option to work on her memory capture device with the help of an unlimited budget from a billionaire angel investor. What comes of this agreement changes the world, but far from the initial stated goals of the device and experiment.

I truly enjoyed Recursion, it is an excellent blend of thriller and sci-fi - and a much stronger book (in my opinion) than Dark Matter. This book is much more plot based than focused on character development, and for the type of story we're reading, that is what needs to happen. I loved the sweep of the story from correcting individual life choices with the device to assessing global impact from these changes.

The book is divided into multiple parts, with some stronger than others - however, that ending was exactly what was needed.

I received the arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I heard there was a new Blake Crouch, I was SUPER excited to read it. Dark Matter was the first book I read by him and I loved it. This one was definitely a page-turner but I had a hard time with some of it.

Barry Sutton is a detective who has dealt with significant loss in his life. Upon receiving a dispatch about a woman threatening to jump from a building, Barry arrives at the scene with the intention of talking her down. The woman claims to have FMS--False Memory Syndrome. She remembers a whole other life that doesn't fit with the one that she's currently living in and is devastated and confused by her loss.

Helena Smith is a scientist who is working on building a chair that allows people to preserve memories. Her mother's memory is slowly deteriorating and Helena is trying everything she can to find a way to reverse the damage. Helena is approached by a charming philanthropist, Marcus Slade, who wants to fund her research. He has a greater knowledge of both her and her research than she expects--just enough to make her worry.

As this new technology is let out into the world, the effects become devastatingly apparent, as do the motivations of the people behind it. There's an exploration into what humans are capable of, both good and bad, and whether mankind could handle having such extreme power over the past. My favourite part was the contemplating the ethics behind such technology.

Overall, this was a page-turner. I couldn't wait to get back to it and see what would happen next. There was a lot of scientific theory that I frankly didn't understand, but I could look past it. My main issue was with the last 1/4 of the book--I started to lose interest when it became repetitive. I understand why it had to be that way for the end to happen, but it was too drawn out for me. I also had a hard time connecting to some of the character relationships--they didn't seem plausible (not listing them as I'm trying to not include spoilers!).

Even though it wasn't my favourite book, I would still be just as excited to read the next Blake Crouch as I was to pick up this one! His creativity is mind-bending.

Recursion by Blake Crouch. If I could take back time....takes on a whole new meaning in this dark and scary scifi/thriller from Mr. Crouch. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Whew! Give me a moment while I try to write a synopsis for this wild ride of a book. This is the story of Barry, who is dealing with a mysterious phenomenon called False Memory Syndrome. Barry and others experience full memories of a complete life that they never lived. Or did they? It is also the story of Helena, a neuroscientist who has devoted her life to building a machine that will help save her mother, who has Alzheimer's. Her goal was to create something that would preserve memories, but what she creates has the potential to do much more. When Helena and Barry meet, they are faced with life-threatening questions about the nature of time and reality and must face the future consequences of what happens when you go back in time and change things in the past.

I love to read stories that mess with time, and this one was reminiscent of other books that I love with similar concepts. 11/22/63 and Life after Life came to mind while I was reading. I also loved Dark Matter with all its multiverse, time bending craziness, so I was very excited to jump into Recursion. So excited that I sat down and read the whole book in one day! My poor brain!! Just like with Dark Matter, this book messes with your head. I was doing mental gymnastics just to try to follow it all. I'm not sure that I totally understood all the scientific talk, but I think you just have to go with it in a book like this. Hang on and go along for the ride, and don't stress too much about trying to make logical sense of it all. Because I'm not sure it is even possible to make logical sense of it anyway. That's what makes it so entertaining!

This book is filled with action and suspense, along with a bit of a love story, and plenty of mind boggling scientific discussion. I do think that in the midst of all the action, the character development suffers a little. I wanted to know more about Helena and Barry and feel more connected to them. But at the same time, I also just wanted the plot to keep moving so that I could find out what happened next! So maybe I can't have everything I want. The ending did leave me a tad frustrated, and I may have wanted to say some not nice words when I finished. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good time travel story!

Thank you to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book to review. All of the thoughts above are my own. Recursion won't be published until June, but I would recommend that you go ahead and preorder it or request it from the library now!