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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?

23% (view spoiler)[ I like the premise of the FMS (false memory syndrome) and the scientific aspect of the story. I especially liked when they talked about the Berenstein bears, and that it was really spelled Berenstain bears (maybe it is - spell check is telling me it is). Hmm, maybe I have FMS :) (hide spoiler)]

Sorry I’m late!!! Finishing up Books - hopefully start Sunday or Monday!

What do you think so far??

So far, I like it. I think the premise is awesome, and I'm liking the character development.

66% (view spoiler)[ I loved that the FMS is somehow breaking down reality. When Dale had his memory of his daughter dying, and then his daughter and his wife had their memories come back, and she actually felt herself die, that was weird. Also I love that DARPA is the government agency that finds the chair and starts trying to harness it for less evil purposes. We'll see how that turns out.

DARPA is definitely the right agency for it though. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. (hide spoiler)]

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RESTARTING JULY 23RD, 2021

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I just started this! It's interesting so far.

Me too, around 15 chapters in. It's fast.

Book One: (view spoiler)[I wasn't expecting the memory thing to turn into time travel. It made sense to some extent how the memory replaying would work, but time travel is more of a stretch. But I'm glad Barry got to save his daughter. (hide spoiler)]

THIS BOOK IS A MIND-BENDER!!! --Jen from Quebec :0)

At Chapter 70 (view spoiler)[ I agree, it is a mind-bender. I was fascinated initially with the FMS and time travel concept. I was glad that Barry sot to save his daughter and sad again at how it all turned out. But now, at the later part of the book, I am feeling as if it's getting too complicated or repetitive. I am kind of wishing that it resolved with fewer time travel loops.
I still like Crouch's writing and it's still a page-turner. Let's see how it ends. (hide spoiler)]

Book Two (view spoiler)[I like how the time travel results in the false memories at the moment it originally happened. I think that's been consistent, so it makes its own kind of sense. It's really hard to keep track of sometimes, though. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ I am not sure what I feel about the book. The 33-year loop thing became tiring after the first couple of times and I couldn't wait for the whole thing to end. If Crouch meant for the reader to feel that, to understand what Helena might be going through then it served the purpose. But I don't think that was the aim of it. I loved the first parts up until Helena and Barry met. But the rest became repetitive. (hide spoiler)]

Caroline wrote: "Book Two [spoilers removed]"

I agree. The scientific explanations seem consistent but it became hard to keep track of.

Books Three and Four
(view spoiler)[
I am definitely confused about what happened in the end of book three - how many timelines there were, and what their plan was, and how the SWAT team showed up. But I get the gist, which is that Helena got captured, and Barry most likely died.l

I'm also kind of confused about using the chair to go back before the point of a previous use. Did all the tragedies happen again the third time through? Or did they have to keep notes to prevent them all at the right time again?

This is a real page turner. I hope it makes sense by the end.
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Finished!
(view spoiler)[I think I liked the ending. On the one hand, going back in time to the first timeline to stop Slade from taking over the chair was a pretty obvious solution. On the other hand, it made sense to me how he had tricked Helena into believing that would just result in death. Kind of funny, though, that they never risked trying it again until he told them the answer.

I think one big disappointment was Helena and Barry's relationship. It was kind of a central part of the last half of the book, but the book didn't show us that many cute moments between them. I didn't really feel like rooting for their relationship.
(hide spoiler)]