★O’Brien, Cory. Two Truths and a Lie. Pantheon. Mar. 2025. 304p. ISBN 9780593687284. $28. SF

DEBUT During a dystopian climate apocalypse in a near-future Los Angeles, Orr Vue is visited by the police. Orr is in his sixties and in failing health. He has a memory augment protruding from his skull that is a remnant from his time in the military piloting combat drones. It now functions to help him collect and vet information, which has become the modern currency of this future world. After being questioned about the murder of the uber-wealthy Thomas Mahoney, Orr is then contacted by his widow to find the killer. Mahoney had recently joined a religious sect in which members’ memories are constantly wiped. As Orr proceeds to investigate, he finds out many surprising facts, including that he himself has memories of which he is not completely aware; his memories are then returned, to spectacular effect. VERDICT O’Brien’s (George Washington Is Cash Money) fiction debut is a highly intriguing vision of the near future that examines the role of memory in a functional aspect, which also underscores the utility of forgetting: “Funes the Memorious” by Jorge Luis Borges meets Total Recall by Philip K. Dick, with a wry narration that balances the grim reality.