Naturally, intrigue is high.
As the book shows, this offers the chance for some to rewrite their entire lives.
But in the wrong hands, it could destroy the world.
Credit: Jesse Giddings
The opportunity to explore a multi-genre universe in innovative ways is extremely exciting.
This is one of the highest-profile projects Rhimes has set up at Netflix since she signedher huge development deal.
EW also caught up with Crouch on the big adaptation news.
Crown
What will readers and viewers be in store for?
Check out the cover and excerpt below.Recursionpublishes on June 11, 2019, and isavailable for pre-order.
Barry asks as he steps into the elevator car.
When you get up there, take a right and go all the way down the hall.
More cops will be here in a minute.
Tell them I said to hang back until I give a signal.
When the doors finally part, he moves past a sign for a law firm.
Theres a light on here and there, but the floor stands mostly dark.
The hallway finally opens into a reception area thats paired with the largest office.
In the dim light, the details are all in shades of gray.
A sprawling mahogany desk buried under files and paperwork.
A circular table covered in notepads and mugs of cold, bitter-smelling coffee.
A wet bar stocked with expensive-looking bottles of scotch.
As Barry approaches the French doors, he silences his phone and removes his shoes.
Taking the handle, he eases the door open and slips out onto the terrace.
The surrounding skyscrapers of the Upper West Side look mystical in their luminous shrouds of fog.
He inches closer, the wet flagstones soaking through his socks.
She looks back at him, says, Another step and Im gone.
Im a detective in the Central Robbery Division of NYPD.
They sent someone from the Robbery?
I happened to be closest.
May I call you Ann?
Is there anyone I can call for you?
She shakes her head.
Im going to step over here so you dont have to keep straining your neck to look at me.
He glances once over the edge, his insides contracting.
All right, lets hear it, she says.
Arent you here to talk me off?
Give it your best shot.
He decided what he would say riding up in the elevator, recalling his suicide training.
Now, squarely in the moment, he feels less confident.
The only thing hes sure of is that his feet are freezing.
All she would have to do is push off.
He suspects shes walking herself through the motions, tiptoeing up to the thought of doing it.
Amassing that final head of steam.
He notices shes shivering.
May I give you my jacket?
Im pretty sure you dont want to come any closer, Detective.
Barry resists the urge to run.
Of course hes heard of False Memory Syndrome, but hes never known or met someone with the affliction.
Never breathed the same air.
He isnt sure he should attempt to grab her now.
Doesnt even want to be this close.
No, fuck that.
Thats the risk you take becoming a cop.
How long have you had it?
At first, I had no idea where I was.
Here and now, Im single, an investment banker, I live under my maiden name.
.she visibly braces herself against the emotionmemories of my other life in Vermont.
I was a mother to a nine-year-old boy named Sam.
I ran a landscaping business with my husband, Joe Behrman.
I was Ann Behrman.
We were as happy as anyone has a right to be.
What does it feel like?
Barry asks, taking a clandestine step closer.
What does what feel like?
Your false memories of this Vermont life.
I dont just remember my wedding.
I remember the fight over the design for the cake.
I remember the smallest details of our home.
Every moment of his birth.
The birthmark on his left cheek.
His first day of school and how he didnt want me to leave him.
But when I take a stab at picture Sam, hes in black and white.
Theres no color in his eyes.
I tell myself they were blue.
I only see black.
All my memories from that life are in shades of gray, like film noir stills.
They feel real, but theyre haunted, phantom memories.
I dont just remember my husband.
I remember the smell of his breath in the morning when he rolled over and faced me in bed.
Thats the stuff that kills me.
The tiniest, perfect details that make me know it happened.
What about this life?
Isnt it worth something to you?
Ive tried, for four long weeks.
I cant fake it anymore.
Tears carve trails through her eyeliner.
My son never existed.
Do you get that?
Hes just a beautiful misfire in my brain.
Barry ventures another step toward her, but she catches him this time.
Dont come any closer.
You are not alone.
I am very fucking alone.
Ive only known you a few minutes, and I will be devastated if you do this.
Think about the people in your life who love you.
Think how theyll feel.
I tracked Joe down, Ann says.
He was living in a mansion out on Long Island.
He acted like he didnt recognize me, but I know he did.
He had a whole other life.
He was marriedI dont know to who.
I dont know if he had kids.
He acted likeIwas crazy.
Im sorry, Ann.
This hurts too much.
Look, Ive been where you are.
Ive wanted to end everything.
And Im standing here right now telling you Im glad I didnt.
Im glad I had the strength to ride it out.
This low point isnt the book of your life.
Its just a chapter.
What happened to you?
I lost my daughter.
Life has broken my heart too.
Ann looks at the incandescent skyline.
Do you have photos of her?
Do you still talk with people about her?
At least she once existed.
There is simply nothing he can say to that.
Ann looks down through her legs again.
She kicks off one of her pumps.
Then sends the other one plummeting after it.
She had clinical depression.
I know he blamed himself.
It sounds silly and desperate, but I hoped hed show up here tonight and save me.
Like he failed to do for her.
At first, I thought you might be him, but he never wore cologne.
She smileswistfulthen adds, Im thirsty.
He looks back at Ann.
Would you bring it to me out here?
I cant leave you.
Her hands are shaking now, and he registers a sudden resolve in her eyes.
She looks at Barry.
This isnt your fault, she says.
It was always going to end this way.
Ann, no
My son has been erased.
And with a casual grace, she eases herself off the edge.
Copyright 2019 by Blake Crouch.
Published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
