I read Recursion by Blake Crouch
It was chosen as a 'comparable' for Shattered, a De-Extinct Zoo mystery, because of the moral question of how far we should go to bend scientific discovery for our entertainment.
Jurassic Park (1990; Michael Crichton) was the first pick for comps for Shattered (2026). Of course. I would have also added Extinction (2024) by Douglas Preston.
Just FYI, Preston and his writing partner Lincoln Child are my writing idols for science-based thrillers. But I published my De-Extinction series first—Unmasked, 2023. BTW, the eBook is free on pretty much every online platform except Amazon 🙄.
Recursion is a sci-fi thriller that explores the loss of memory in Alzheimer’s and the creation of a chair (a dedicated scientist) to map those memories and allow the Alzheimer's sufferer to re-experience what was lost.
The inventor, though, can’t fulfill this promise within the input of money, and is visited by a backer who promises financial support, because he knows the potential of these memories: stored memories can transport a person to the past. Or, at least, a new branch of the past.
This allows the traveler a redo for a tragic mistake or to become rich beyond the dreams of avarice, because they retain those other, future memories—so buy Apple at 10 and become a billionaire in 15 years.
The problem is the original scientist doesn’t see those history-bending implications until too late.
A second protagonist (a New York City cop) is still dealing with the grief of his daughter’s death ten years earlier and the dissolution of his marriage because of it. He begins to look into a phenomenon called False Memory Syndrome and finds out about the chair and the ability to relive the past and stop things like the tragic death of his daughter.
The problem is, creating a new branch in the past sort of messes with EVERYONE’S past, and suicides skyrocket.
But it gets worse, and worse, and worse. Groundhog Day (1993) is a sweet movie about making yourself a better person because the main character has to relive that one day over and over. Reliving the past over and over in Recursion becomes Apocalyptic.
Much of the story/plot is about trying to stop the chair from being created, but then the bad guy just goes back in time and recreates it, and everything still falls apart.
I recommend the book, but the middle slows considerably. The beginning might be slow for some, but I love the sciency stuff, so I was good. The end? I couldn’t put the book down. I read for two straight hours to finish it.
And the ending is a redemption that’s truly earned.
Like Jurassic Park (1993)—the movie this time—Recursion, and my De-Extinct Zoo series, it all comes down to that quote by Ian Malcolm:
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
The De-Extinct Zoo Mystery series:
“Smart, twisty, science‑driven suspense.”
