After he fails to prevent her suicide, Barry investigates FMS, leading him to a strange Hotel Memory, operated by business magnate Marcus Slade, who captures him.

Slade forcibly sends Barry back in time to the night his daughter Meghan died in a hit-and-run accident 11 years prior.

In 2007, Helena Smith, a neuroscientist focusing on Alzheimer's research, works on a "memory chair" designed to replay past experiences.

As their paths converge, Barry and Helena unite to thwart Slade and prevent the misuse of the memory chair technology.

Despite their efforts, each attempt to solve the crisis and eliminate false memories fails, while Helena's health deteriorates and she dies.

"[3] In a review of the book in The New York Times, American author Victor LaValle described Recursion as "a heady campfire tale of a novel built for summer reading".

[4] Novels like Recursion tend to be dismissed for similar reasons, but LaValle opined, "I believe they capture the disquiet of millions; they broadcast at an anxious frequency.