Dark Matter
By Blake Crouch
- Release Date: 2016-07-26
- Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! • NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV+
A “mind-blowing” (Entertainment Weekly) speculative thriller about an ordinary man who awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew—from the author of Upgrade, Recursion, and the Wayward Pines trilogy
“Are you happy with your life?”
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the kidnapper knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man he’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”
In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this life or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how will Jason make it back to the family he loves?
From the bestselling author Blake Crouch, Dark Matter is a mind-bending thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.
Reviews
Most gripping book I’ve ever read
5By SabbanatI loved every second of this book, the intensity and emotion. The descriptions of every scene and setting. The relationships. It’s very realGot me back into reading
5By butthole kittyI haven’t sat down and read a book in years. I read the sample of this and just couldn’t get myself to put it down! From beginning to end, it’s full of twists and turns.A Hastily Done Concept
3By HAJS29An exhilarating concept that fell flat due to the author’s will to keep the story concise. Dark Matter left me with more questions than answers as I turned the last page of this short but sweet sci-fi thriller. While the concept of the multiverse as well as the exploration of different versions of Chicago was a page turner, the ending left me dissatisfied. I did not feel a sense of closure in regards to the characters’ fates. Not to mention, the theory behind the multiverse and how to travel between it was left rather vague. I was especially dissatisfied with the character of Amanda. Firstly, her motive felt rather dry, leaving behind her world to travel the multiverse with Jason1 simply because she witnessed injustice. In my opinion, that does not warrant leaving behind everything you know. And, to add insult to injury, she just left the story rather lazily, simply leaving in the night while Jason1 was sleeping to venture the multiverse. Moreover, the extent to which Daniela and Charlie simply believe Jason1’s story about how he was replaced and thrust into the multiverse felt rather lazy. As if the author just wanted to wrap things up quickly, despite the fact that Daniela’s and Charlie’s awareness of Jason2’s deceit was foreshadowed earlier in the book. Finally, the conclusion left things open ended, as the reunited family went to explore the multiverse for a new home, not lazy, just dissatisfying for me. In all, while the writing was intriguing and the concept thought provoking, the shortness of the story was what hindered it, if it was elaborated on more meticulously I feel as though it would’ve greatly improved it. A missed opportunity, though worth the read.Good story
4By ShameirIt was very good! Slow, but very good.Mind Bending
4By ChisiCerebral & full of physics theory that makes great philosophical arguments about the “road not taken” & the “what if’s” of life. Has enough action and suspense to keep you reading. The downside is that it has a predictable ending. Still an entertaining read.It’s been done better
2By The_BazileThe main character’s decisions annoyed me, and I almost dropped it a few times. In a universe of infinite possibilities, he chooses to do the same thing over and over again and run out of resources. Hard to sympathize with a fool. Read the Midnight Library by Matt Haig for a similar concept but better execution.GREAT STORY
5By Bojon wrightExcellent. I finished it almost all at once. Gripping.Take a Trip Through the Multiverse
5By spider2367It was a SciFi thriller, a love story, and a reminder to step back and appreciate the life you are probably taking for granted. I actually teared up at the end and that hasn’t happened since The Only Good Indians.phenomenal
5By mixta007amazing story with all manner of existential dilemmas thrown in about identity, love, quantum entanglement, and all on a can’t catch your breath wild ride through infinityLOVE!
5By adip2017Full 5 here because this was just epic, no other words better describe it. I was impressed with every aspect of this novel. The premise really pushes you to think about life down to your smallest choices and those resulting effects and really what is scarier than that. This was so fun to read and the ending was just everything I wanted. 10/10 recommend!Real fun ride with a unique and well-executed story
5By filmguyryanThis novel tears off from Page 1. You’re simply hanging on for the ride. It is legitimately one of those books that you cannot put down, flipping page by page until you realize that it is morning. The premise is unique and interesting, at least it was for me. This could’ve gone sideways fast with what amounts to a convoluted thought experiment, however the author manages to wrap some interesting characters and backstory around the riddle that is multiple parallel universes. All the while the reader is barreling toward the inevitable conclusion, one that you should’ve seen coming, but somehow were distracted from like sleight of hand.Even better than the show!
5By Steve KansasExcellent read!Read only the sample and I NEED MORE!
4By Julia, The GreatExciting and packed with action. And that was only in the first 120 pages! I definitely plan on reading the book next & judging by the sample, I can already recommend! Brilliant!Wow wow wow!
5By mrs.muenchThis is the type of book that just sticks with you, hours and days after finishing. Imagining yourself in their shoes and dealing with multiverses! Definitely my favorite read so far this year!Sci-fi meditation on choice
5By Austin BayA sci-fi meditation on how there's a multitude of choices that can lead to different paths in life.❤️
5By sammy_1019My favorite book in the world 🥺 I will be thinking about it for a long timeIncredibly executed
5By AliceChinnyI literally read this in a couple days, couldn’t put it down. Compelling, strange, yet somehow relatable. I’m a sucker for all things parallel-universe and this didn’t disappoint. My new favorite book.Mindless drivel, but charming in its own right
3By asunderBNSLet me start by first saying that this story is quite unlike anything I've ever experienced before. There's quite literally nothing out there that quite compares to this novel, and I don't exactly mean that in a good way. Without revealing any spoilers, there's about 150-200 pages that are, respectfully, utter nonsense. The author often breaks paragraphs for one-liners that seem like they're trying to be suspenseful, but really just take up more space than they need to. There's a huge lack of brevity in this work, overexplanation that's pretty unnecessary and sometimes just plain weird or creepy. (The choice between sleep or water being sexy? Being horny for building?) Another review called it "a book that wants to be a screenplay" and I absolutely agree. This story was made to be a movie or limited series and doesn't play as well in text as it could as a cinematic work. The author describes Dark Matter as a "love story," and I can certainly agree on some level. Jason Dessen is charming, albeit stupid for a Physics professor. His dedication to reuniting with his wife and son is admirable, and even though there were so many moments where I could feel my feet dragging through the text, I wanted him to succeed, and that's what kept me reading. At times, though, I pulled the book down from my face and audibly said, "This is so stupid," which brings me to my final point: suspension of disbelief. Fiction, especially genre fiction, requires you to buy-in in order to enjoy yourself. Dark Matter breaks that suspension on several occasions, and every time it happened, I wanted to stop reading. The romance was the only thing tugging me along, because it was the only thing that was justified well enough. If you haven't read this book, don't start. Just watch the movie when it inevitably comes out, it'll be a better use of your time in the end.Dark matter
5By michal2023Amazing! Keeps you guessing and fascinated.
