Book Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

Pre-Order on Amazon! $13.99 Kindle | $24.50 Audible | $17.70 Hardcover

Comes Out: June 11, 2019
Pages: 336
My Copy Came From: NetGalley and the Publisher
Read Via: Kindle
My Like Level: Just under 4 stars, well OK 4 stars. I’m having a hard time rating this one…
Genre: Technothriller, Science Fiction, Suspense Thriller, Love Story

Amazon Book Summary:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.

“An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian

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?

Advance praise for Recursion

“Blake Crouch has invented his own brand of page-turner—fearlessly genre-bending, consistently surprising, and determined to explode the boundaries of what a thriller can be.”—Karin Slaughter,#1 internationallybestselling author of Pieces of Her

“Brilliant. Crouch’s innovative novels never fail to grip!”—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl

“A masterful mind-bender of a novel. Crouch brilliantly infuses his story with dire repercussions and unexpected moral upheaval, and leaves you wondering what you would do if you had the chance to turn back the clock.”—Mark Sullivan, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Private series and author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

My Thoughts:

Holy Ambition Batman! Blake, Blake, Blake! This book is an epic tale that took my breath away. Thank goodness it was told in four parts. That helped me make a bit of sense of it all, but only a little. My mind whirled reading this, and while the technical elements bored me a bit, and certainly confused the heck out of me, I really enjoyed it. There is a love story at the heart of the book, but you don’t really know it until the second half. Part of me wishes it was alluded to earlier in the book to establish a sense that Helena and Barry were to be star crossed lovers later. I do know some things need to be left for later in order to get the story moving though. A small voice inside of me is yelling to say that I do think Blake may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew with this one. Because while I really enjoyed it, it was very confusing at times. It got a bit overwhelming to my limited brain and I wound up skimming parts so I wouldn’t go cross-eyed. It also felt a bit repetitive at times, but that makes sense because the book is called Recursion. Hence things keep recurring. Ha! I cannot fathom how Shonda Rhimes and Mr. Crouch will adapt this into a movie for Netflix? I definitely think that it deserves a limited series at the very least. I would hate it to become a regular series however because I think that would then lead to multiple off book seasons. Crouches Wayward Pines trilogy suffered when it was adapted for TV because they changed up the story to allow for a second season. But to tell this full story, they will need more than the time a feature length film allows. Aside from the timeless love story, Recursions best parts are when it all begins to fall apart. The book turns into a downward spiraling, groundhogs/doomsday scenario. I LOVED this whole section as I am an end of days book fanatic. These chapters had me flipping the pages so fast in order to see what was coming next. Blake is one of my favorite authors and ranks up there with Sir Stephen King. I will read whatever he writes forever!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Recursion in exchange for any honest review. 🙂