Dark Matter

Who am I? Why am I him and not someone else? Speculative fiction and philosophy go together like crunchy peanut butter and apricot jam. But few books have pushed me into introspection as deeply as this one. 

What would I do if I woke up in a different world and a different life? What if this different life represented the road not taken? Would I accept it? Or fight as hard as possible to regain my “real” life? What if the only way back was to face a better version of myself?

One of my favorite things in the world is listening to a good audiobook, start to finish, on a long road trip. Having moved back and forth across the country more times than I care to count, I’ve done this a fair number of times, and my favorite memory by far is the experience I had when listening to this book for the first time.

I’ve enjoyed most of Blake Crouch’s books for their tight pacing and titillating, mind-candy premises (in Dark Matter, it’s a neat mechanic for hopping alternate realities), but what really hit me with this one in… show more.

I loved this book not only because Jason Dessen was a great main character to follow as he tried to figure out how he landed in an alternate version of his life but also because of the intimate portrayal of his marriage to Daniela.

All the science in this science-fiction thriller was written so people like me—who took low-level science courses in high school—could understand it without feeling like it was tedious to read. It was gripping to watch Jason face the impossible choice of how far he would go to get back to his family.

How good is it? I just decided to put it on my reread list. Parallel universes? The Multi-verse? Don’t get nervous. Even I was able wrap my mind around the leaps between them all.

This thriller packed within a sci-fi novel is a rollercoaster of a ride, quantum mechanics and all. No PhD required.

A family man is kidnapped by a mysterious individual and sent to an alternate timeline. Another time travel epic unfolding against the backdrop of a conspiracy, Dark Matter made my Favorite Reads of 2023 list. For very specific reasons. 

It is not a tour-de-force in character development or classic literature, but a very slick high-octane thriller written like a screenplay: the journey is visual, the progression linear, and the pacing intense.

It’s an ode to my screenwriting days and I love how Blake Crouch was able to combine two different mediums (the novel and the screenplay) to shape a… show more.

Dark Matter has a compelling premise: in the near future, someone creates a machine that mimics Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment—to potentially devastating consequences. But countering the story’s scientific plotline is the main character’s drive to reunite with his family (in multiple ways, which you’ll discover if you read it).

This mix of science and humanity resonated with me and influenced me when I wrote my book. The science in Dark Matter was handled well, with Crouch showing the science rather than stopping the story with pages of exposition.

Gripping, yet scary in its implications if this technology is ever created… show more.

Jason Desson has a happy life but harbors a few regrets. One night, on the way home from a local pub, he is abducted. He wakes up in a bizarre world, surrounded by strangers. Closely watched and fearing for his life, he escapes only to later discover he never married, and his son was never born. On the run from his abductors, he struggles to solve the mystery. Jason finds himself in a life-or-death struggle to return home, but that may not be possible in this strange world. Brilliantly plotted and mind-bending, I could not put it down. It will… show more.

Dark Matter is in the parallel universe group. It’s a fast-moving technothriller that takes you through a man’s discovery of ‘what if’ by jumping through different realities. It’s a page-turner and doesn’t take too much brainpower to process, as some great sci-fi does. It still makes you think, not only about our universe, but also about what happiness means. 

Dark Matter is another favorite of mine that mixes a thriller with science fiction and the result is a reader who can’t turn the pages fast enough. Blake comes from a thriller background so he uses pace and action so well in this book and the mix of sci-fi is just enough to make you believe but not so much that it’s like reading a text book. That touch of science without being overwhelming influenced my psychological explanations in my second thriller.

I read this in one sitting during my summer vacation last year. Crouch writes for the screen as well as writing for print, and it shows. His pacing is amazing and this book is a real thrill-ride of a science fiction tale set in the multiverse.

Unlike a lot of other science fiction, where the multiverse is just a background fact that informs the story, this novel really digs into the theoretical ideas behind it, and then uses that to ramp up the emotional stakes.

No spoilers, but the protagonist is a physicist who is drugged, kidnapped, and left in… show more.