Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

I actually started reading Recursion a month or so ago and forgot to add it to my currently-reading shelf. Upon initially beginning the title, Blake Crouch totally pulled me in and grabbed my attention similarly to Dark Matter, another of his science fiction thrillers.
Recursion begins with Barry Sutton, a New York City officer, is faced with the task of helping a woman who has "false memory syndrome". False Memory Syndrome has plagued the world and we readers are initially set to believe we've wandered in on some sort of dystopian world where no one can trust their memories, once so vivid, with the reality that's around them.

Enter neuroscientist Helena Smith who's life work has been devoted to mapping memory and how to capture those memories. This work is inspired by her mother who is suffering with Alzheimer's disease. On the brink of a break through, her work is halted by lack of funding until she is offered the opportunity to work with a limitless budget to complete her memory chair.

Recursion shifts between the Helena narrative and the Barry story in different times for most of the novel. What's so gripping about this novel is the neck-breaking speed at which things develop. There's the before the memory chair and after. This chair is so powerful that it shifts reality as we know it. I really don't want to give much away but it really is intriguing to read the story unfurl. 

So why the 3-star rating?

The reason for the 3-star rating is because it got a little too cliche. What I mean by cliche is the time-machine vibe that creeps up in the end. Sure the story is still captivating but watching the characters try to get right what was done wrong over and over became exhausting. I am so sorry to those who think I was not vague enough but there really is more to Recursion to devour than what I've grazed upon.

Because I don't want to potentially ruin anymore of Recursionfor those planning to read Blake Crouch's latest, I'll end my review here and advise that this read was a good read. Crouch is an awesome Sci-Fi writer that doesn't make novices in that genre feel like morons. The plot is fast moving and engrossing if my memory does serve me right... ***

Copy provided by Crown Publishing via Netgalley