Overview
A New York City cop investigates a mysterious disease called False Memory Syndrome, in which people spontaneously begin to remember lives they never lived. A neuroscientist in Chicago is developing a memory-preservation device for early-onset dementia patients. The two threads converge in a way that is best not spoiled here.
Crouch's craft is in setup and pace. He does not linger. Chapters are short, cliffhangers are earned, characters are just deep enough to matter. This is not literary science fiction; it is popular science fiction at its highest craft. If you read The Martian, if you read Dark Matter, if you enjoy a good film thriller. This book is for you.
It is not perfect. The prose does not stand out. Some plot beats depend on characters making choices that seem thin under scrutiny. And the ending, which is genuinely moving, works better on first read than on second. But as a Saturday-afternoon experience. Read straight through, over five or six hours. Recursion is nearly unbeatable.
