Name: Dark Matter
Rating: 4.116027531956735 (1017 reviews)
ISBN: 9781101904220

Blake Crouch

A science-fiction thriller in which an ordinary man is kidnapped, knocked unconscious, and awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew.

A Novel

Dark Matter

Kavi priya

Natalie Sypeck 

madina

"Your father said to me one night—never forget it—that pure research is life-consuming. He said…” For a moment, and to my surprise, emotion overtakes her. Her eyes mist, and she shakes her head like she always does when she’s about to cry. At the last second, she rallies, pushes through. “He said, ‘Daniela, on my deathbed I would rather have memories of you than of a cold, sterile lab.’ ” 

I look at Charlie, catch him rolling his eyes as he sketches. 

Probably embarrassed by our display of parental melodrama. 

I stare into the cabinet and wait for the ache in my throat to go away.

I sit in bed watching the daylight fade over Chicago.

Whatever storm system brought the rain last night has blown out, and in its wake, the sky is clear and the trees have turned and there’s a stunning quality to the light as it moves toward evening—polarized and golden—that I can only describe as loss.

Ashlyn Barrett

For anyone who has wondered what their life might look like at the end of the road not taken.

No one tells you it’s all about to change and maybe that's what makes tragedy so tragic. Not just what happens, but how it happens: a sucker punch that comes at you out of nowhere, when you're least expecting it. No time to flinch or brace.

Aian Borboev

Bárbara Borba

This book will live in my mind for a while.

Tim Pendry

I have not seen the Apple TV series deliberately so that I can assess 'Dark Matter' on its merits but I shall do so eventually. The book is a solid and imaginative science fiction thriller with a nice twist two thirds of the way through that sustains the momentum to the very end. Yes, it has unanswered plot holes that you could drive a TARDIS through but Blake Crouch makes you not care for three reasons - he writes clearly in that clean American populist way, he creates incident continuously and tells his story straight without post-modern irony or 'knowingness'. The core of the story is a machine and a drug that can take a person into alternate universes that split off but only in real time. It is not space or time travel although the debt to H G Wells' seminal science fiction novel is very clear. Each universe is one that splits on a choice in the past. The humanity of the novel lies in the attempt of Jason Dessen to return to his 'home universe' and rescue his wife Daniela and son Charlie from an alternate Jason [2] who has built the machine in another part of the multiverse and then travelled to take over Jason's life as more fulfilling. This is another variation on a common trope of popular American culture - male terror of losing family to chance or malice and the belief that anything can and should be done to recover the 'home'. Maybe it is displaced fear of the most likely cause of loss in actuality - a woman's decision. If there is a flaw in the book, it is a necessary one. The obsessional drive of the Jasons to particular ends (no spoilers offered here to explain that further) means that Jason 1 ('our' Jason) comes across as more than a little over the top in his drives, often as self-absorbed and more than once rather stupid. We have to identify with this flawed obsessive for this story to work and so accept a rather cardboard Daniela and Charlie. If there was one person I found myself caring about it was not our hero but the unlucky Amanda who gets trapped into travelling with Jason and leaves him en route. It is probably just me but I had to admit that the temptation was there just to split with the kind and intelligent Amanda in a tolerable alternate reality and not risk hellish destruction or despair, trusting to the author's determination to give us the ending we readers want. There is not much more to say except that this novel, while not a masterpiece by any description, gives Michael Crichton a run for his money in the scifi thriller genre. It is constantly engaging and manages to surprise sometimes even if we know how it must end.

The first half of the book started of strong. The second half got a little chaotic for me 

Ana Perez-Andriano

'Are you happy in your life?'Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he wakes to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before the 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 physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.Is it this world or the other that's the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined - one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.From the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human - a relentlessly surprising thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.

Very interesting plot. Just very short book.

Will Bishop

& audiobook ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maria

Very interesting book. I found the last quarter a bit implausible as far as how many versions of himself were there with him - it seems like it would be almost infinite. I also got the ick when he described Jason and Daniela’s sex life - not needed for the story. Same as recursion I wanted more just straight exciting science action and got a lot more romance (this was more warranted in this book tho to maintain his humanity)

Paige Paul

A well-paced, contemplative science fiction thriller!

Kevin Cole

A wonderful dramatic history about “how can i solve this?”

Guilherme Pereira

What an insane concept to read about. It really makes you question if the life you have led is the right path for you & if you had a choice to choose a new life… would you? Would it be worth it ? Is the road / path not taken the right one all along or is that just something we have to accept knowing we did ? 

I loved this book I definitely wish I could have seen the world Charlie chooses at the end but so fucking good! And I wish we had a side quest about Amanda’s life honestly… I hope she chose a good path for herself ! 

Brianna Hickey 

What an insane concept to read about. It really makes you question if the life you have led is the right path for you & if you had a choice to choose a new life… would you? Would it be worth it ? Is the road / path not taken the right one all along or is that just something we have to accept knowing we did ? 

I loved this book I definitely wish I could have seen the world Charlie chooses at the end but so fucking good! And I wish we had a side quest about Amanda’s life honestly… I hope she chose a good path for herself ! 

Zachary Roberts

I’m not a huge sci-fi lover but this book was good. I listened to it with my husband and multiple times our jaws dropped or we had to pause just to process what had happened. I personally think there were some plot holes, but maybe I’m just slow to understand all the complexities. Idk 

Jillian Roberts

I found this book to be both entertaining and thought provoking. I was fascinated by the way it explores the idea that every decision we make creates a different version of our life—and ourselves. The concept of infinite multiverses is both intriguing and terrifying, especially when you consider that there could be countless other “you’s” out there living completely different lives.

Baylea Fancher

Good book! Was interesting and I liked how it ended. Definitely not the biggest fan of sci-fi all the time but this was really good.

Mehul Sharma

absolutely incredible. one of those books that will stick with you for a long time 

Sophia Rico

Great book, a page turner, could not stop thinking about it. Although the new cover, promoting Apple TV+, kinda spoiled the first 2 chapters for me, I immediately knew what has happened just by looking at that cover. Still it was a great read.

Hooman Askari

I went through so many emotions with this one. It genuinely shocked me at certain points, made me anxious at others, and pushed me anger as well. Honestly, I love anything involving a multiverse, so it did what it had to do. This book had a great plot but also gifted me with an existential crisis so… yay. The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is because the pacing was slightly off during the first half of the book. However, overall, I was not familiar with your game Mr. Crouch, and will be read in more from you in the future.

Nik ✨

Holy crap what an amazing book! I feel like this book had it all, it was incredibly fast paced and had me guessing. Such a unique and really REALLY cool concept. Also very touching at some parts. I would recommend this book to everyone!! Can’t wait to watch the tv show

Kass

A little slow at times but had some twists i didnt expect! More relationship focused than scifi or thriller but definitely a lot of suspense. It was a page turner but didn't shake my world as much as I had expected it to considering it focusing on relationships and the multiverse.

Gloria

This was a fun read! It was entertaining to see all the alternate lives Jason, the main character, might have lived.

Mima

i haven't been this invested in a story in a long fucking time

'Brilliant. . . I think Blake Crouch just invented something new.' - Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series. From Blake Crouch, the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human – a relentlessly surprising thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of, perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Ready Player One. 'Are you happy in your life?' Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakes to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before the man he's never met smiles down at him and says, 'Welcome back.' 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 physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. Is it this world or the other that's the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined – one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

A Mind-Blowing Twisted Thriller

Gelaine Trinidad

A fun sci-fi thriller that uses the concept of quantum mechanics as an imperfect solution to big life questions: "Did I choose the right path for me? What would my life be like if I made different choices?" This existential question lingers in everyone's mind once in awhile. The author brings soul and life to this novel amidst all the scientific parts. It's a great balance of both. I can now see how this book was a precursor to his much more complex novel, Recursion. One can tell how much he's progressed and grown with his research on quantum mechanics by reading Recursion. Highly recommend both novels by Blake Crouch.

Ryan Mateyk

Wow I haven’t been this captivated by a book in a hot minute. The concept is terrifying: you wake up in a reality that is not your own and you need to try to find your way back to what you know, through infinite possible realities. Obviously it’s very speculative but the way Crouch explains the quantum mechanics behind his story makes everything make sense. It was thrilling, intense, the definition of a page turner. I loved this a lot.

Sohini Roy

** spoiler alert **
           really enjoyed the fast pacing of the story and the sequence of events and plot twists. my only things were:

1.) in the final world that charlie picks, are they still in chicago? do they change identities? versions of them must still be walking around so i wish i had some clarity on how that worked, even if it’s meant to be ambiguous

2.) this isn’t as important but somehow i felt like jason telling daniela and charlie about him literally being abducted into the multiverse went over too smoothly LOL like i get that they love each other but i expected there to be more conflict

still a really good read though, and leaves a lot of space for you to do your own thinking about the multiverse

Dark Matter A Novel

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