I dislike science fiction and fantasy. Blake Crouch makes a liar out of me when I say that, though. Case in point: his novel RECURSION. It's science fiction. But once I began reading this book, I never wanted to put it down.

Seeking to help her mother's dementia, Helena invents a technology that lets people preserve their memories. In doing so, she accidentally makes it possible for people to actually go back to reexperience their memories and redo their lives. But what seems like a good thing, she learns, really isn't.

One bad effect of this accidental technology is False Memory Syndrome (FMS). After Barry, a New York City detective, decides to look into FMS, he meets Helena, and together they work to eradicate the technology.

The title of this book is RECURSION because that is exactly what Helena's and Barry's work entails. Again and again and again they return to a memory and relive their lives, hoping they can do it right this time.

The reason I don't like science fiction and fantasy is that I find it just plain ridiculous, usually. But RECURSION and the other Blake Crouch books I read, DARK MATTER and PINES, are intelligent science fiction while also can't-put-it-down books.