At the Risk of Recovery by Finn Adair Morgan

A mind-bending thriller in an eerily familiar future, At the Risk of Recovery by Finn Adair Morgan is a raw vision of psychological distortion, pharmaceutical dependence, and the twisted roots of evil.

Aran Moreau wakes up in the 24th century in a drug-shattered fog, completely lacking memories for the past few days, but his condition appears to be more than simple amnesia. The memories he does possess have apparently been rewritten or replaced, fracturing the reality of both his past and present. As he stumbles through the haze of an existence he barely recognizes, he begins to suspect that his lost time – or lost life – may have been spent doing terrible things. His lucid visions of gruesome violence seem too real to be imagined, and with the authorities hunting for a merciless serial killer, Aran dreads the dark and unimaginable connection.

The stream-of-consciousness style from an untrustworthy narrator lends a manic and uncertain energy to the prose, while the broad thematic explorations of everything from neurological irregularities and social deviance to the social responsibilities of government confirm that this chilling novel is far more than pulp fiction. However, despite being set two centuries in the future, the language, style, narrative detail, and exposition don’t always match such a far-flung setting. From idiomatic expressions and colloquial speech to television show formats and anachronistic technology, this novel frequently feels contemporary, rather than dystopian.

That said, the science fiction backdrop is less vital to the story than the protagonist’s mental unraveling, and on that front the novel succeeds, resulting in an original and provocative psychological thriller.