Determined to help her amnesiac patients recover their lives, Boston psychiatrist Cristina Silva is achieving near-miraculous results by prescribing Recognate, a revolutionary new memory-recovery drug now in trials. She understands her patientsâ suffering better than most, because sheâs lost her memories, too. Desperate to become herself again, she pops the same experimental drug she prescribes to her patients. And, like them, she remembers a little more each day.
Until one of her patients, a successful accountant, jumps from an eight-story window to his death. And as Cristinaâs memories return, with them come violent visions and an incessant voice in her head. Maybe the drug isnât safe after all. But discontinuing it would mean forgetting everything sheâs recalled and losing herself.
Then an enigmatic, possibly dangerous man appears at Cristinaâs bus stop. He seems to know more about her life than she does and says she holds a secret that puts her life in danger. Perilously balanced between an unknown past and a terrifying future, if she wants to survive, Cristina must stay on the medication and unlock those memories before itâs too lateâeven if the adverse effects of the drug could destroy her.
Joel Shulkin, MD, is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and United States Air Force veteran with a masterâs in public health. Having been lucky enough to be mentored by the legendary Michael Palmer, his short stories have appeared in various print and online journals, and he has won several national and local writing awards for fiction and poetry. He lives in Florida with his wife and twin daughters.
Madeleine Lambert is an Earphones Award winning narrator who graduated with honors from Duke University with majors in theater studies and English and who received her MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. In addition to her voiceover work, she has performed on stage in Steel Magnolias, A Christmas Carol, Anne Boleyn, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.