THE RECALL PARADOX

The secret origin of the viral plague of memory loss afflicting the world is revealed in this duology closer.

Picking up the action where The Memory Index (2022) left off and driving on with minimal recapping, Vaca sends his multiethnic group of four teenagers back to the secret laboratory in the Tennessee woods for more shared “knifing” into the memories of others, reclamation of repressed memories, fragmentary premonitions of future disasters, and clues that the secretive Memory Ghosts may not be the terrorist front they’re billed to be, not to mention shocking revelations that the massive Memory Frontier corporation, sole source of high-tech recording gadgets that purportedly preserve and restore memories deleted by the Memory Killer, has a nefarious secret agenda. Though an ingenious premise and period references to ’80s-era music add flavor to a plotline expertly boosted by short chapters and multiple narrators, the author not only loses control of his cast—trotting in four new rival memory knifers and a major villain to play scenes and then vanish abruptly—but rather than let the young folk take the lead in saving the world, he goes for multiple timely interventions by grown-ups to rescue them and do most of the heavy lifting to bring the tale to its conveniently tidied-up resolution.

A strong start peters out to a patchy, less-than-memorable finish.