The dead cannot speak, but they leave behind three “echoes” in their belongings.
Shen Yan can touch objects the dead handled in life and read the three most powerful memories they experienced before dying. But echoes are never entirely trustworthy: at least one of the three memories is false.
With this ability, Shen Yan becomes a special consultant to homicide detective Gu Mian. They search for clues in the dead's belongings, verify memories against physical evidence, and solve one case after another disguised as accidents, disappearances, and suicides.
That is, until investigator Xu Yan dies under mysterious circumstances.
All three echoes she left behind point to Shen Yan. Surveillance footage captures a man with his face. A pair of shoes pointing in opposite directions puts him at the center of suspicion. Even police records show that the real Shen Yan died three years ago.
As the investigation deepens, a survivor numbered “017,” a deleted basement level eighteen floors underground, an altered death record, and a mysterious archivist who keeps “completing” the dead's memories gradually come to light.
Shen Yan begins to realize that the lies in the echoes may not come from the dead.
Someone is exploiting people's desire for the truth to edit memories, replace identities, and even decide in advance who will be the next person to vanish from reality.
When all three memories can be proven, which one is false?
When every piece of evidence points to you, how can you prove that you are truly yourself?
I just opened the book, so please bear with me.