About this book:

Maya, a podcaster, returns to her childhood home at Blackthorn Ridge following her mother’s death. She discovers a shoebox filled with old videotapes and a cryptic note from her mother: "Tapes. For M. Remember if you can." This unearths a repressed memory of a red summer and a deeper mystery surrounding her mother’s connection to the Blackthorn Clinic, a local "memory care" facility built on the site of an old sanatorium. Her investigation leads her to believe the clinic, under the leadership of Dr. Hale and influential board members like Robert Garrity, has been systematically altering or erasing patients' memories, including her own and potentially her mother's.

As Maya delves into the tapes, she uncovers unsettling footage: a younger version of herself at the clinic with Dr. Hale, her mother appearing terrified at an orchard picnic where Garrity's distinctive ring is visible, and redacted "Project Morpheus" files detailing trauma interruption methodologies. She enlists the help of her estranged brother, Eli, who has been quietly maintaining the house and its hidden secrets, including a tunnel connecting their cellar to the clinic's storage. She also gains cautious support from Ben Carroway, a local carpenter with a history of quiet complicity with the clinic, and Sheriff Lila Crane, who reveals her sister, Chloe, was one of the many "missing persons" connected to Blackthorn.

The team discovers Frank, a former clinic technician, left behind meticulous records and tapes documenting the clinic's practices, showing patients in placid, vacant states after "memory recalibration" sessions. Eli, initially resistant, ultimately chooses to assist Maya, revealing his own deep-seated knowledge of the clinic's infrastructure and his reluctant role in maintaining its physical plant. Together, they formulate a plan to expose the clinic during its "Pioneers of Memory" symposium. Eli's expertise allows them to access the auditorium through ventilation shafts and rig the projector and sound system, while Lila creates a diversion to draw security away.

During the symposium, Maya publicly screens Frank's tapes, exposing Dr. Hale, Garrity, and other town officials for widespread medical fraud, coercion, and obstruction of justice. The immediate aftermath is chaotic, leading to arrests and a full-scale investigation. Maya, Eli, Ben, and Lila escape before the chaos escalates. Back at the house, Eli decides to reinforce, but not seal, the tunnel, choosing to make the past visible rather than buried. Maya, finding a hidden childhood drawing from Amy Crane (Lila's missing sister) with the words "Don't forget me," winds the long-stopped mantel clock, symbolizing a collective choice to confront and remember the difficult truths of Blackthorn Ridge.