Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Macmillan (2016), Edition: Main Market Ed., 352 pages
Description
A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy. "Are you happy with your life?" Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason'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. Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member gendeg
Blake Crouch’s much hyped Dark Matter (publishing bidding war, six-figure deal, Sony movie option) is a well engineered thriller and page turner with a narrative style that’s built for a screenplay. The staccato, one-line paragraphs keep your eye moving along down the page, but for someone used
In an oblique way, it put in mind of James Salter’s novel Light Years, a book about marriage. The characters ruminate about regret and the impossibility of do-overs: “For whatever we do, even whatever we do not do prevents us from doing its opposite. Acts demolish their alternatives, that is the paradox.” In life, one of the hardest things to grapple with is not the life we lead, but the life (or lives) we didn’t lead—the paths not taken, life’s missed opportunities, squandered potential, the grief over the one-that-got-away. In classical stories and myths, the people that look back meet horrible fates (think about Lot’s wife, Orpheus and Eurydice). Cautionary tales of regret. In essence, it’s not the life we lead that’s hard to grapple with, but the lives we never did.
Jason Dessen is a middle aged physics professor living in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and son. His ordinary life is comfortable and filled with love from his wife and kid, but it’s mediocre and tinged poignantly with regret. As his friend tells him over drinks: “Jason, you would’ve changed the world if you’d decided to go that path. If you’d stuck with it. Instead, you’re teaching undergrad physics to future doctors and patent lawyers.”Jason responds: “We can’t all be superstars like you, Ryan.” Ryan quips back: “Not if you give up.”
Jason ruminates on that after he leaves his friend. The truth stings but Jason has no time to wallow in self-pity. He’s accosted outside the bar and kidnapped at gunpoint by a man in a geisha mask. In a tense scene, he’s brought to an abandoned site and injected with a drugs. The world he wakes up to is the same but different. In this world, he has no loving wife and son.
The stunning revelation (spoiler alert): this is not his world. It’s not a leap of imagination to figure out what’s going on here. Physics is Jason’s world and once upon a time, he used to be the ingenue of quantum mechanics field. It doesn’t take much for the reader or Jason to realize that he’s woken up to an alternative reality. Now Jason has to figure out how to make his way back to his own world and back to his family. Forget time travel; the hip science fiction trope to plunder is that of the multiverse. (I wonder if Crouch has read physicist Brian Greene’s The Hidden Reality, which fleshes out the nine theories of parallel universes. More likely, he read the Dummies Guide.)
Still, fascinating. I sat up when this plot driver was finally fleshed out, but the sad fact is that Crouch blusters through it all. The science behind this beautifully complex theory is only lightly touched upon and quickly gets buried in layers of predictable trite thriller tropes. There are also a few silly, convenient turns that do a disservice to the very real theory of multiverses. . In particular, there’s a part where Jason decides that his emotional state is the key to determining how to find to find his correct world again among an endless corridor of infinite choices. Easy way to narrow down the odds. This might be considered brilliant science fiction—if I were twelve years old and had been held back a grade.
Dark Matter explores the hefty, dense themes of reality and identity—all packaged in the cotton candy lightness of a beach read thriller. It’s a decent few hours of reading, entertaining, but nothing special if you’re a regular reader or watcher of science fiction; the multiverse universe is a popular conceit and others have done it better. 1.5 stars for the writing (simplistic, less than YA level); 3 stars for the story (thrilling conceit, hackneyed execution, too many convenient reprieves).
Show More
to more literary formats and syntax, it was jarring and off-putting. Still, I couldn’t put this novel down—I’ll give it that. The high-concept science fiction premise was just too irresistible. In an oblique way, it put in mind of James Salter’s novel Light Years, a book about marriage. The characters ruminate about regret and the impossibility of do-overs: “For whatever we do, even whatever we do not do prevents us from doing its opposite. Acts demolish their alternatives, that is the paradox.” In life, one of the hardest things to grapple with is not the life we lead, but the life (or lives) we didn’t lead—the paths not taken, life’s missed opportunities, squandered potential, the grief over the one-that-got-away. In classical stories and myths, the people that look back meet horrible fates (think about Lot’s wife, Orpheus and Eurydice). Cautionary tales of regret. In essence, it’s not the life we lead that’s hard to grapple with, but the lives we never did.
Jason Dessen is a middle aged physics professor living in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and son. His ordinary life is comfortable and filled with love from his wife and kid, but it’s mediocre and tinged poignantly with regret. As his friend tells him over drinks: “Jason, you would’ve changed the world if you’d decided to go that path. If you’d stuck with it. Instead, you’re teaching undergrad physics to future doctors and patent lawyers.”Jason responds: “We can’t all be superstars like you, Ryan.” Ryan quips back: “Not if you give up.”
Jason ruminates on that after he leaves his friend. The truth stings but Jason has no time to wallow in self-pity. He’s accosted outside the bar and kidnapped at gunpoint by a man in a geisha mask. In a tense scene, he’s brought to an abandoned site and injected with a drugs. The world he wakes up to is the same but different. In this world, he has no loving wife and son.
The stunning revelation (spoiler alert): this is not his world. It’s not a leap of imagination to figure out what’s going on here. Physics is Jason’s world and once upon a time, he used to be the ingenue of quantum mechanics field. It doesn’t take much for the reader or Jason to realize that he’s woken up to an alternative reality. Now Jason has to figure out how to make his way back to his own world and back to his family. Forget time travel; the hip science fiction trope to plunder is that of the multiverse. (I wonder if Crouch has read physicist Brian Greene’s The Hidden Reality, which fleshes out the nine theories of parallel universes. More likely, he read the Dummies Guide.)
Still, fascinating. I sat up when this plot driver was finally fleshed out, but the sad fact is that Crouch blusters through it all. The science behind this beautifully complex theory is only lightly touched upon and quickly gets buried in layers of predictable trite thriller tropes. There are also a few silly, convenient turns that do a disservice to the very real theory of multiverses. . In particular, there’s a part where Jason decides that his emotional state is the key to determining how to find to find his correct world again among an endless corridor of infinite choices. Easy way to narrow down the odds. This might be considered brilliant science fiction—if I were twelve years old and had been held back a grade.
Dark Matter explores the hefty, dense themes of reality and identity—all packaged in the cotton candy lightness of a beach read thriller. It’s a decent few hours of reading, entertaining, but nothing special if you’re a regular reader or watcher of science fiction; the multiverse universe is a popular conceit and others have done it better. 1.5 stars for the writing (simplistic, less than YA level); 3 stars for the story (thrilling conceit, hackneyed execution, too many convenient reprieves).
Show Less
LibraryThing member jnwelch
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch is a speedy page turner with intriguing scientific and philosophical underpinnings. Think back on decisions in your life that have helped make you who you are. What if there were other universes, with other yous that had made different decisions? What if you lost touch
One night he decides to help an arrogant, successful colleague celebrate a prize win, and leaving the bar he gets dragged into a different life, where everyone around him thinks he's quite a different person than he experiences internally. Soon he is on the run, trying to get back to his wife and son against challenging odds.
“We all live day to day completely oblivious to the fact that we’re a part of a much larger and stranger reality than we can possible imagine.
Imagine you’re a fish, swimming in a pond. You can move forward and back, side to side, but never up out of the water. If someone were standing beside the pond, watching you, you’d have no idea they were there. To you, that little pond is an entire universe. Now imagine that someone reaches down and lifts you out of the pond. You see that what you thought was the entire world is only a small pool. You see other ponds. Trees. The sky above. You realize you’re a part of a much larger and more mysterious reality than you had ever dreamed of.”
If you're like me, this will not only be a fast and enjoyable read, but one that will make you think about your own life and the decisions you've made along the way. What if you'd made different choices? And what if the mulitiverse really exists, as many scientists advocate? From a Scientific American article:
"There is not one universe—there is a multiverse. In Scientific American articles and books such as Brian Greene’s latest, The Hidden Reality, leading scientists have spoken of a super-Copernican revolution. In this view, not only is our planet one among many, but even our entire universe is insignificant on the cosmic scale of things. It is just one of countless universes, each doing its own thing."
Fascinating, right?
Show More
with "your" world, the one full of "your" decisions, and ended up in another? That's the challenge faced by Jason Dessen, a 35 or so year old physics professor at a Chicago college. Brilliant at quantum physics, he seemed destined for greatness until his artist girlfriend got pregnant and they married and had a child.One night he decides to help an arrogant, successful colleague celebrate a prize win, and leaving the bar he gets dragged into a different life, where everyone around him thinks he's quite a different person than he experiences internally. Soon he is on the run, trying to get back to his wife and son against challenging odds.
“We all live day to day completely oblivious to the fact that we’re a part of a much larger and stranger reality than we can possible imagine.
Imagine you’re a fish, swimming in a pond. You can move forward and back, side to side, but never up out of the water. If someone were standing beside the pond, watching you, you’d have no idea they were there. To you, that little pond is an entire universe. Now imagine that someone reaches down and lifts you out of the pond. You see that what you thought was the entire world is only a small pool. You see other ponds. Trees. The sky above. You realize you’re a part of a much larger and more mysterious reality than you had ever dreamed of.”
If you're like me, this will not only be a fast and enjoyable read, but one that will make you think about your own life and the decisions you've made along the way. What if you'd made different choices? And what if the mulitiverse really exists, as many scientists advocate? From a Scientific American article:
"There is not one universe—there is a multiverse. In Scientific American articles and books such as Brian Greene’s latest, The Hidden Reality, leading scientists have spoken of a super-Copernican revolution. In this view, not only is our planet one among many, but even our entire universe is insignificant on the cosmic scale of things. It is just one of countless universes, each doing its own thing."
Fascinating, right?
Show Less
LibraryThing member weird_O
Jason Dessen is a physics professor at a small college in Chicago. His wife dispatches him to a reception for his grad-school roommate, Ryan, who has won a prestigious physics award, the Pavia.* Pulled aside by the honoree, Jason is reminded that he—Jason—was universally seen as destined to earn
That taunt rattles Jason, stirring up his insecurities, making him question—yet again—his self-worth, his contentment, his career-path choice. And it serves as the linchpin of this bizarre (ok, not bizarre for science-fiction) tale.
As he leaves the party, Jason is abducted at gunpoint and taken to an abandoned industrial site, relieved of his clothes, wallet, keys, and cell phone. Injected with drugs, he passes out. Coming to, he finds himself in a spotless, brightly lighted room, where a man named Leighton Vance welcomes him as an admired, long-lost colleague. While Vance is solicitous about Jason's well-being, he's displeased that Jason does NOT know him or anyone else in the place. Neither does he know anything about this brilliant work he's expected to continue. Worse, Vance is keeping him prisoner, preventing him from returning to his wife and son. He's terrified about what they are thinking of his failure to return, about what his abductor might have done to them. Given a bathroom break, Jason squeezes through a tiny window and takes off, Vance and posse of armed guards in hot pursuit. Eluding them at last, he makes his way home. Daniela and Charlie aren't there, and the house is different. As if it's occupied by just one guy, not a family. Next stop, a hospital ER. There he gets food and a good night's sleep. He learns that whatever chemicals are still in his system can't be identified and that efforts to contact Daniela Dessen have failed. She apparently doesn't exist. Neither does Charlie.
Jason again takes flight. Settled in a seedy hotel, he analyzes his predicament. The key, he tells himself, is to start small.
Focus on solving problems you can answer…. I have to separate myself from the fear, the paranoia, the terror, and simply attack this problem as if I were in a lab—one small question at a time….Why weren't Daniela and Charlie at our house last night?...No, that's still too big, too complex. Narrow the field of data….So this is where I'll start: Where is Daniela?...The sketches I saw last night on the walls of the house that isn't my house—they were created by Daniela Vargas. She had signed them using her maiden name. Why?...Then I return to the phone book and thumb through to the V's, stopping at the only entry for Daniela Vargas. I rip out the entire page and dial her number.
I'll leave you hanging there, but move on to the scientific jumping off point underlying Jason Dessen's enterprise. Accept, if you will, that he's recaptured by a Vance thug, returned to the lab, and there shown a twelve-foot cube the color of gunmetal.
My work in my late twenties involved a box much like this one. Only it was a one-inch cube designed to put a macroscopic object into superposition.
Into what we physicists sometimes call, in what passes for humor among scientists, cat state.
As in Schrodinger's cat, the famous thought experiment.
Imagine a cat, a vial of poison, and a radioactive source in a sealed box. If an internal sensor registers radioactivity, like an atom decaying, the vial is broken, releasing a poison that kills the cat. The atom has an equal chance of decaying or not decaying.
It's an ingenious way of linking an outcome in the classical world, our world, to a quantum-level event.
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests a crazy thing: before the box is opened, before observation occurs, the atom exists in superposition—an undetermined state of both decaying and not decaying. Which means, in turn, that the cat is both alive and dead.
And only when the box is opened, and an observation made, does the wave function collapse into one of two states.
In other words, we only see one of the possible outcomes.
For instance, a dead cat.
And that becomes our reality.
But then things get really weird.
Is there another world, just as real as the one we know, where we opened the box and found a purring, living cat instead?
The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says yes.
That when we open the box, there's a branch.
One universe where we discover a dead cat.
One where we discover a live one.
And it's the act of our observing the cat that kills it—or lets it live.
And then it gets mind-fuckingly weird….
So now you can clearly see where this story is going, right? I couldn't either. But it was great fun following along to the resolution. This is a rip-snorter that author Blake Crouch has created, a compelling page-turner. Both thumbs up for this'n.
*Fun Fact: in [Dark Matter], the prestigious physics award is named the Pavia Prize. In the Acknowledgements, Crouch thanks his "genius editor, Julian Pavia, who pushed me as hard as I've ever been pushed and made this book better on every page."
Show More
this award, not Ryan. But Jason set aside his research aspirations to marry Daniela and share in raising their son, Charlie. That taunt rattles Jason, stirring up his insecurities, making him question—yet again—his self-worth, his contentment, his career-path choice. And it serves as the linchpin of this bizarre (ok, not bizarre for science-fiction) tale.
As he leaves the party, Jason is abducted at gunpoint and taken to an abandoned industrial site, relieved of his clothes, wallet, keys, and cell phone. Injected with drugs, he passes out. Coming to, he finds himself in a spotless, brightly lighted room, where a man named Leighton Vance welcomes him as an admired, long-lost colleague. While Vance is solicitous about Jason's well-being, he's displeased that Jason does NOT know him or anyone else in the place. Neither does he know anything about this brilliant work he's expected to continue. Worse, Vance is keeping him prisoner, preventing him from returning to his wife and son. He's terrified about what they are thinking of his failure to return, about what his abductor might have done to them. Given a bathroom break, Jason squeezes through a tiny window and takes off, Vance and posse of armed guards in hot pursuit. Eluding them at last, he makes his way home. Daniela and Charlie aren't there, and the house is different. As if it's occupied by just one guy, not a family. Next stop, a hospital ER. There he gets food and a good night's sleep. He learns that whatever chemicals are still in his system can't be identified and that efforts to contact Daniela Dessen have failed. She apparently doesn't exist. Neither does Charlie.
Jason again takes flight. Settled in a seedy hotel, he analyzes his predicament. The key, he tells himself, is to start small.
Focus on solving problems you can answer…. I have to separate myself from the fear, the paranoia, the terror, and simply attack this problem as if I were in a lab—one small question at a time….Why weren't Daniela and Charlie at our house last night?...No, that's still too big, too complex. Narrow the field of data….So this is where I'll start: Where is Daniela?...The sketches I saw last night on the walls of the house that isn't my house—they were created by Daniela Vargas. She had signed them using her maiden name. Why?...Then I return to the phone book and thumb through to the V's, stopping at the only entry for Daniela Vargas. I rip out the entire page and dial her number.
I'll leave you hanging there, but move on to the scientific jumping off point underlying Jason Dessen's enterprise. Accept, if you will, that he's recaptured by a Vance thug, returned to the lab, and there shown a twelve-foot cube the color of gunmetal.
My work in my late twenties involved a box much like this one. Only it was a one-inch cube designed to put a macroscopic object into superposition.
Into what we physicists sometimes call, in what passes for humor among scientists, cat state.
As in Schrodinger's cat, the famous thought experiment.
Imagine a cat, a vial of poison, and a radioactive source in a sealed box. If an internal sensor registers radioactivity, like an atom decaying, the vial is broken, releasing a poison that kills the cat. The atom has an equal chance of decaying or not decaying.
It's an ingenious way of linking an outcome in the classical world, our world, to a quantum-level event.
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests a crazy thing: before the box is opened, before observation occurs, the atom exists in superposition—an undetermined state of both decaying and not decaying. Which means, in turn, that the cat is both alive and dead.
And only when the box is opened, and an observation made, does the wave function collapse into one of two states.
In other words, we only see one of the possible outcomes.
For instance, a dead cat.
And that becomes our reality.
But then things get really weird.
Is there another world, just as real as the one we know, where we opened the box and found a purring, living cat instead?
The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says yes.
That when we open the box, there's a branch.
One universe where we discover a dead cat.
One where we discover a live one.
And it's the act of our observing the cat that kills it—or lets it live.
And then it gets mind-fuckingly weird….
So now you can clearly see where this story is going, right? I couldn't either. But it was great fun following along to the resolution. This is a rip-snorter that author Blake Crouch has created, a compelling page-turner. Both thumbs up for this'n.
*Fun Fact: in [Dark Matter], the prestigious physics award is named the Pavia Prize. In the Acknowledgements, Crouch thanks his "genius editor, Julian Pavia, who pushed me as hard as I've ever been pushed and made this book better on every page."
Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
From now, if I need an example of a novel written exclusively for male audiences, this is what I’ll think of.
I suppose you could call it a science-fiction thriller. The problem is it brings up plot questions, but doesn’t answer them.
The story is about a guy with a wonderful satisfying life,
So pages and pages go on of this guy wondering what happened, where he is, why things have changed. And I’m yelling at the book “it’s an alternate timeline, idiot! Haven’t you seen a single episode of Star Trek? Or The Twilight Zone? Donnie Darko? Sliding Doors? It’s a Wonderful Life?” This isn’t a foreign concept. It’s like people in zombie movies never using the “Z word”. Being genre blind, either as character or author, doesn’t disguise the concept as original.
And that’s the thing–I’ve seen all those movies mentioned above, and so has the discerning science-fiction audience. I already know every concept and plot point in this sort of story. I knew this guy was going to find his wife, freak out that it’s not her, she’d freak out on him, someone from the alt universe would help him for no reason, and so on. There is some cleverness halfway through in regard to where it takes the idea of all the other alt timeline. But it doesn’t make the main character any more likable.
Speaking of which, this book is pretty misogynist. Or at least not forward-thinking. The guy’s wife is a huge factor in what drives the story goal. Except she’s not really a player in the story. She has all positive personality traits and never makes a mistake, like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She’s the ball being tossed back and forth, the prize to be won. This is why I say this was clearly written for men.
It’s like Taken combined with Community‘s “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode. The premise is capitalizing on the “defend my family so I can justify violence” power fantasy that is trending, like John Wick or anything involving Gerard Butler or Denzel Washington, although none of them have a science fiction twist like this does. Too bad that playing ignorant of its legacy couldn’t save it.
I suppose you could call it a science-fiction thriller. The problem is it brings up plot questions, but doesn’t answer them.
The story is about a guy with a wonderful satisfying life,
Show More
just that he chose family over becoming a famous scientist. Then he’s kidnapped in an odd way, taken to a strange building, and knocked out. He wakes up in a hospital/laboratory where he’s being lauded by a bunch of people who seem to know him, but he doesn’t. So instead of sticking around to ask some questions, get reoriented, and learn what’s going on, he takes the idiot ball and breaks out of the lab into a world he doesn’t know with no allies or money.So pages and pages go on of this guy wondering what happened, where he is, why things have changed. And I’m yelling at the book “it’s an alternate timeline, idiot! Haven’t you seen a single episode of Star Trek? Or The Twilight Zone? Donnie Darko? Sliding Doors? It’s a Wonderful Life?” This isn’t a foreign concept. It’s like people in zombie movies never using the “Z word”. Being genre blind, either as character or author, doesn’t disguise the concept as original.
And that’s the thing–I’ve seen all those movies mentioned above, and so has the discerning science-fiction audience. I already know every concept and plot point in this sort of story. I knew this guy was going to find his wife, freak out that it’s not her, she’d freak out on him, someone from the alt universe would help him for no reason, and so on. There is some cleverness halfway through in regard to where it takes the idea of all the other alt timeline. But it doesn’t make the main character any more likable.
Speaking of which, this book is pretty misogynist. Or at least not forward-thinking. The guy’s wife is a huge factor in what drives the story goal. Except she’s not really a player in the story. She has all positive personality traits and never makes a mistake, like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She’s the ball being tossed back and forth, the prize to be won. This is why I say this was clearly written for men.
It’s like Taken combined with Community‘s “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode. The premise is capitalizing on the “defend my family so I can justify violence” power fantasy that is trending, like John Wick or anything involving Gerard Butler or Denzel Washington, although none of them have a science fiction twist like this does. Too bad that playing ignorant of its legacy couldn’t save it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ChelleBearss
This was absolutely thrilling! Sci-fi isn't really my go to genre and I would have never thought a thriller about quantum physics and alternate reality would be so thrilling and enjoyable. This was a five star read for me and I highly recommend it!
5🌟
5🌟
LibraryThing member seasonsoflove
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.
In Dark Matter, Crouch looks at the questions that one might ask about a life lived. How do the choices we've made, big and small, truly impact us? What
Jason Dessen has woken up in a life that is not his own. Instead of his family, he has a prestigious science award and a highly advanced research laboratory. He's living the road not taken, and all he wants is to get back home.
How he's ended up in the lab, who has brought him there, and how he'll try to get back home are all amazing twists and turns that I do not want to spoil for you. What I will say is this is a book that will make you think, entertain you, and surprise you. I highly recommend it.
In Dark Matter, Crouch looks at the questions that one might ask about a life lived. How do the choices we've made, big and small, truly impact us? What
Show More
would have happened had you taken that job? Married that person--or not married them? Turned left instead of right?Jason Dessen has woken up in a life that is not his own. Instead of his family, he has a prestigious science award and a highly advanced research laboratory. He's living the road not taken, and all he wants is to get back home.
How he's ended up in the lab, who has brought him there, and how he'll try to get back home are all amazing twists and turns that I do not want to spoil for you. What I will say is this is a book that will make you think, entertain you, and surprise you. I highly recommend it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amysisson
In this sci-fi thriller, Jason is a physics professor who hasn't really fulfilled his potential, but who has a nice life with his wife Daniela and their teenaged son Charlie. His life is turned upside-down one evening when he's kidnapped at gunpoint and drugged, then wakes up in a world where he
This novel is fast-paced, and although it doesn't really break new ground, the resolution felt kind of unique and interesting to me, so the book redeemed itself for me in the last few chapters. There is one writing quirk I quite dislike, however; any time the author wants to emphasize something, he does so in a series of choppy, single-sentence paragraphs, like this:
We order cocktails.
Then wine.
A thousand small plates that just keep coming.
We catch a hard, beautiful glow off the booze, and our conversation stays very much in the moment.
How the food is.
How good it feels to be inside and warm.
Neither of us mentions the box even once.
Amanda says I look like a lumberjack.
This literally goes on for 18 straight "paragraphs." The author uses this style both for supposed emotional moments, and for physics explanations. Although I'm sure it's not intended as such, I find it a bit condescending, as if the author doesn't trust the reader to pay attention to this part because it's important!.
This would make a good beach read, at any rate.
Show More
never married his wife but had an amazing career as an award-winner physicist. Meanwhile, the Jason who invented the parallel-universe-jumping machine has taken over the original (to us) Jason's life.This novel is fast-paced, and although it doesn't really break new ground, the resolution felt kind of unique and interesting to me, so the book redeemed itself for me in the last few chapters. There is one writing quirk I quite dislike, however; any time the author wants to emphasize something, he does so in a series of choppy, single-sentence paragraphs, like this:
We order cocktails.
Then wine.
A thousand small plates that just keep coming.
We catch a hard, beautiful glow off the booze, and our conversation stays very much in the moment.
How the food is.
How good it feels to be inside and warm.
Neither of us mentions the box even once.
Amanda says I look like a lumberjack.
This literally goes on for 18 straight "paragraphs." The author uses this style both for supposed emotional moments, and for physics explanations. Although I'm sure it's not intended as such, I find it a bit condescending, as if the author doesn't trust the reader to pay attention to this part because it's important!.
This would make a good beach read, at any rate.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
While returning home from a celebratory drink with an old student who has been awarded a prestigious science award, Jason Dessen is abducted and forced at gunpoint to drive to an abandoned warehouse by a masked assailant. Fearing the worst he is injected with a mystery substance and is surprised
This is a very readable and exciting thriller of the “what if…?” variety. Using quantum theory to gain access to a multiverse of your life where each choice you make creates a different version of you. What would you do if you have the chance to live a life that you could have had? The scientific principles are handled in a very accessible way and the story is driven on ramping the tension up as it goes until the final climactic scenes. Some decent action scenes also help to keep the pace at a speedy clip and you can tell that this as written with a movie adaptation in mind. But don’t let that put you off as it’s still a pretty good read.
Show More
when he wakes up on a gurney surrounded by strange people he’s never met before but who all seem to know him. It soon becomes apparent that he has awoken in an alternate version of his world where instead of marrying his pregnant girlfriend and starting a family he chose to continue his scientific research instead. All he wants now is to return to the family he’s lost.This is a very readable and exciting thriller of the “what if…?” variety. Using quantum theory to gain access to a multiverse of your life where each choice you make creates a different version of you. What would you do if you have the chance to live a life that you could have had? The scientific principles are handled in a very accessible way and the story is driven on ramping the tension up as it goes until the final climactic scenes. Some decent action scenes also help to keep the pace at a speedy clip and you can tell that this as written with a movie adaptation in mind. But don’t let that put you off as it’s still a pretty good read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member villemezbrown
The start of the book is a bit slow, especially if you've heard spoilers about the central concept, but the second half really sizzles as the author plays around with the ramifications of the concept. This would be a really good episode of Black Mirror or Twilight Zone. As I read, I got stuck on
Show More
imagining Steven Yeun (Glenn from Walking Dead) playing the lead. Show Less
LibraryThing member datrappert
The first chapter of this book is about as mysterious and suspenseful as a book can be. Can the rest of it deliver on this promise?
The answer is almost a complete "yes". The author depicts the consequences of a terrible invention that allows a person to enter into any of the multiverse of alternate
The heart of the story boils down to a love story of a man for his wife and son and in coming to accept both the consequences and beauty of the decisions we make and their outcomes. The book--which you will want to read in one sitting--rarely stumbles as it rushes headlong to an intense, unforgettable conclusion. Not just five stars--FIVE BIG STARS.
The answer is almost a complete "yes". The author depicts the consequences of a terrible invention that allows a person to enter into any of the multiverse of alternate
Show More
existences that quantum theory postulates are created at every decision point in our lives. I won't give away the book's central plot point, because that would spoil the brilliance of how the author slowly reveals the truth to the reader. Given the complexity of the whole idea, it is a wonder he pulls it off. If a time travel novel has to tread carefully around a few paradoxes, this book is like walking blindfolded through an infinite minefield of them. (Or perhaps "mindfield" is more accurate.)The heart of the story boils down to a love story of a man for his wife and son and in coming to accept both the consequences and beauty of the decisions we make and their outcomes. The book--which you will want to read in one sitting--rarely stumbles as it rushes headlong to an intense, unforgettable conclusion. Not just five stars--FIVE BIG STARS.
Show Less
LibraryThing member shelbycassie
I so enjoyed this book! I could not put it down. I have often wondered about alternative universes going at the same time as the one I am in. This book gave me the chills on some of the ideas. What if? Another friend of mine is listening on audio and is really enjoying it as well. Very good modern
Show More
Sci Fi. Show Less
LibraryThing member indygo88
Jason Desson is a physics professor at a small Chicago university. He's married to a beautiful woman and they have a teenage son. He's more or less happy, but when his ex-roommate wins a prestigious physics award, he can't help but be a little envious & wonder if perhaps it could've been he himself
I'd heard so much hype about this book and really hadn't seen a single negative review until I actually searched for one. And I have to admit that I wasn't disappointed. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop. I loved that this was set in Chicago. Though dissimilar in a lot of ways, there were also some similarities to The Time Traveler's Wife, and I think that's another reason this book pulled me in so completely. Though the idea of parallel universes is mind bending for me, it's also fascinating, despite the fact that I struggle to make sense of some things.
The writing style and overall magnetic quality of the plot make this a fast read. I highly recommend this one.
Show More
who could have won the award & fame had he not settled into marriage & parenthood so soon. Out of nowhere, he's attacked, knocked unconscious, and wakes up in an unfamiliar world. From that point on, the story becomes a sci-fi thriller that pulls the reader in until the very last page.I'd heard so much hype about this book and really hadn't seen a single negative review until I actually searched for one. And I have to admit that I wasn't disappointed. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop. I loved that this was set in Chicago. Though dissimilar in a lot of ways, there were also some similarities to The Time Traveler's Wife, and I think that's another reason this book pulled me in so completely. Though the idea of parallel universes is mind bending for me, it's also fascinating, despite the fact that I struggle to make sense of some things.
The writing style and overall magnetic quality of the plot make this a fast read. I highly recommend this one.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ctpress
I liked the Wayward Pines-sci-fi-trilogy - I liked this sci-fi-thriller even more. No wonder it was a popular one in 2016 and this could also very likely be adapted as a movie.
A man’s desperate attempt go get back to his wife and son and the life as he knew it, before he got kidnapped and ended
A delightful, suspenseful and mindboggling story. If you’re into time-travelling and/or alternate universes this is for you. There’s seveeral twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. What an imagination Blake Crouch has.
A man’s desperate attempt go get back to his wife and son and the life as he knew it, before he got kidnapped and ended
Show More
up in an alternate universe. A delightful, suspenseful and mindboggling story. If you’re into time-travelling and/or alternate universes this is for you. There’s seveeral twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. What an imagination Blake Crouch has.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
What a ride! I couldn't put this one down. What starts off as a simple family scene takes a sharp left turn and a man is left desperate to get back to his normal life. I won't spoil a thing, but it's a dark plot that left me reeling. I loved it!
LibraryThing member mahsdad
Jason was a wunderkind physicist, who's life went a different direction when he had to marry an artist and started a family. He's happy with the choices he made, teaching, raising a son, typical non-descript life. One night after meeting an old (more successful) friend in a bar, Jason is kidnapped,
But things aren't exactly right. He's not the Jason they think he is.
This is a really excellent sci-fi thriller that I highly recommend and don't want to spoil too much. Trust me. I'll just say that it took a couple turns that took things in a completely different direction from where I thought things were going. Usually, there might be one big turn in a story, but this one had several, to great effect.
"Whole Foods smells like the hippie I dated before Daniela - a tincture of fresh produce, ground coffee and essential oils."
9/10
S: 10/13/16 - F: 10/18/16 (6 Days)
Show More
tied up and drugged in an abandoned industrial building. He wakes up in a medical faclity surrounded by people congratulating him on his success and welcoming him back. How long was he gone? 14 months!But things aren't exactly right. He's not the Jason they think he is.
This is a really excellent sci-fi thriller that I highly recommend and don't want to spoil too much. Trust me. I'll just say that it took a couple turns that took things in a completely different direction from where I thought things were going. Usually, there might be one big turn in a story, but this one had several, to great effect.
"Whole Foods smells like the hippie I dated before Daniela - a tincture of fresh produce, ground coffee and essential oils."
9/10
S: 10/13/16 - F: 10/18/16 (6 Days)
Show Less
LibraryThing member darrow
I read this book in 2 days, which I never do. All the while I was thinking “The science is wrong. Decoherence doesn’t need a conscious observer”, “The so-called super-intelligent protagonist is an idiot. I knew what was going on by chapter 3. Why doesn’t he?”, “Too much drinking and
Despite the above, I enjoyed it. I cared about the characters. It is very well written. Some say the ending is lame. I couldn’t think of a better way to end it.
Show More
getting drunk. Is the author an alcoholic?”, “Not ANOTHER sex scene (yawn)”.Despite the above, I enjoyed it. I cared about the characters. It is very well written. Some say the ending is lame. I couldn’t think of a better way to end it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Neftzger
I have a difficult time rating this book. It started out very strong and engaging, and I loved the premise. However, about 25% of the way into the book the plot felt a lot looser and less well-formed. This may have been the author's intended manner of showing how the hero was lost and struggling,
Note: I received a free ARC of the title in exchange for an honest review.
Show More
but it became a struggle for me to finish the book. There were some great elements in the story, and I know that a lot of readers enjoy adventure tales similar to this one, but I didn't feel that the solution was equally balanced with the problem that set the story in motion (staying cryptic so I don't have any spoilers in this review). In other words, the set-up was far superior to the resolution in the plot and the story arc didn't move smoothly for me.Note: I received a free ARC of the title in exchange for an honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member grumpydan
Blake Crouch always seems to amaze me and with his latest novel, I was simply, okay, not simply but overwhelmed with a story that was fascinating from beginning to end. I never saw the twists coming, which made it all that much better. In Dark Matter, Jason Dessen is abducted on his way home from
Show More
getting ice cream and ends up in a world that his not his. Or is it one bad nightmare? Back as the story progresses, Jason realizes not only this is not a dream, but he will do anything to get back to wife and son. This is a sci-if story of love, regret, possibilities and reality that only Crouch can deliver. Hold on to your seat because once you start reading you are in for one heck of a ride! Show Less
LibraryThing member RBeffa
This story cannot be talked about other than in scant details because it would spoil both the reading experience and the author's construction. So I'll say what I can. Jason Dessen, our protagonist, is a college professor who has a happy good marriage of 15 years to Daniela Vargas, an artist but
This is the first page-turning can't put it down stay up far into the night read that I have had in quite a while. It caught me off guard and caught me up. The book is primarily a thriller, a type of story I only read rarely, but it crosses genres bringing in a mystery story (which is revealed more or less before the half-way point), science and science fiction. The science fictional part here isn't a new idea, but the way it is presented seems pretty innovative. I don't buy it, which isn't necessarily the author's fault, and the story in a number of places read to me like I was having movie scenes described to me, which is probably why this doesn't have an extra half star. This does really feel like it was written to be a movie and I'll be very surprised if we don't see Dark Matter the Movie as a big blockbuster in a couple years. Can Matt Damon pull off 39? We'll see ...
I don't think the science fiction element is a deal killer for thriller readers, but it is a big part of the story. I can recommend this to folks who like exciting science fiction and Bourne Supremacy type thrillers. I'm glad to have read this although there were a few story elements that dissatisfied me (and that I can't talk about without a reveal.)
I received an advanced reading copy of this book for review through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for a review.
Show More
now stay at home mom, and a 14 year old son Charlie. You can tell they are a happy family with a good but not perfect union, but one they are comfortable with. Both Jason and Daniela gave up budding careers when Daniela discovered they were going to have a child, decided to marry and their life went a different way than it could have. Jason was a fast rising star in the world of physics when this happened, but he stepped aside and now his college roommate Ryan is taking the honors that could have been his. Jason stops off at a gathering to celebrate with his old college buddy and he and the reader are taken for a ride.This is the first page-turning can't put it down stay up far into the night read that I have had in quite a while. It caught me off guard and caught me up. The book is primarily a thriller, a type of story I only read rarely, but it crosses genres bringing in a mystery story (which is revealed more or less before the half-way point), science and science fiction. The science fictional part here isn't a new idea, but the way it is presented seems pretty innovative. I don't buy it, which isn't necessarily the author's fault, and the story in a number of places read to me like I was having movie scenes described to me, which is probably why this doesn't have an extra half star. This does really feel like it was written to be a movie and I'll be very surprised if we don't see Dark Matter the Movie as a big blockbuster in a couple years. Can Matt Damon pull off 39? We'll see ...
I don't think the science fiction element is a deal killer for thriller readers, but it is a big part of the story. I can recommend this to folks who like exciting science fiction and Bourne Supremacy type thrillers. I'm glad to have read this although there were a few story elements that dissatisfied me (and that I can't talk about without a reveal.)
I received an advanced reading copy of this book for review through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for a review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member caitemaire
Someone said this book is rather strange and yes, your point is what?
it is a rather strange book but a very very good book. someone else said that this book was one of those "can't put it down, page-turners that you read late into the night and that's absolutely true! highly recommended!
don't even
it is a rather strange book but a very very good book. someone else said that this book was one of those "can't put it down, page-turners that you read late into the night and that's absolutely true! highly recommended!
don't even
Show More
have to be a fan of physics or dark matter or the Multiverse to enjoy this. Show Less
LibraryThing member mcasassa
First Blake Crouch book I have read, but definitely not the last!!! Mr. Crouch knows how to write a good story!! The science in this book was very realistic, i can almost see it happening.
LibraryThing member capewood
Very good. I don't know the author so I didn't know what to expect. The story concerns Jason, who teaches physics at a small college in Chicago, his wife Daniela and their 15-year-old son Charlie. Jason seems to have a pleasant life. One day he gets kidnapped and drugged by a stranger. When he
Show More
wakes up he finds himself in another universe, one very much like his own, but a one where he didn't marry Daniela 15 years ago but continued in his career of high powered physics research. A world in which he invented a device, a box, which can carry you to an alternate universe. He had been kidnapped by the real Jason (Jason2) from this alternate universe who planned to replace Jason1 in Jason1's world. As Jason1 attempts to get back to his own world he learns about the effects and regrets of decisions made and not made. The theory behind the box is that each time one of makes a decision, a new universe is born. If you're a regular science fiction reader you'll be familiar with this concept. As he wanders through the universes, some so close to his own, but wrong, some so far apart he's lucky to get out alive, he gradually comes to realize that the way back to his own universe is through his feelings about the decisions he made to create his universe. When he gets home he finds that Jason2 has taken over his family. What must he do to get his family back? In the meanwhile, he isn't the only Jason to arrive. As he made decisions in the box, more universes were created, creating more Jasons who, affected by their decisions, weren't quite him. As I mentioned, the alternate universe story isn't very original, but I thought Crouch's use of the device was novel. The story isn't really about the science behind it (which is barely discussed) but Jason's journey to come to accept, and be content with, the decisions he made. I only have two minor complaints. When I finished the book, I couldn't remember why it was called "Dark Matter". I'm also not sure I liked the ending, although I'm sure I couldn't think of a better one. Show Less
LibraryThing member leaseylease
I usually love books by this author, but I found this one a bit strange. The "science" got a little too detailed for my liking, but the overall story was good. The ending felt rushed and the middle seemed to drag on, however. If you like science fiction/action, you'll probably like it.
LibraryThing member Ed_Gosney
Blake Crouch, the author of the Wayward Pines series of books, presents us with his newest thriller, Dark Matter, a roller coaster of an adventure with so many curves and dips that you won’t want it to end.
Jason Dessen is a college physics professor who had the potential to be the tops in his
Once you start this book you won’t want to stop until you get to the end. And then you’ll be sorry that the ride is over. If you love fast-paced thrillers, you need to read Dark Matter.
Jason Dessen is a college physics professor who had the potential to be the tops in his
Show More
field, but instead he chose a path that gave him a son and a wife, both of whom he loves very much. But when he goes to meet an old college buddy at his neighborhood bar, he’s abducted on the way home and wakes up in a world in which his family doesn’t exist, and he’s at the top of his field. But the lure of this successful life doesn’t hold the same attraction for Jason as his family does, and he makes the decision to find his wife and son, no matter what it takes. Once you start this book you won’t want to stop until you get to the end. And then you’ll be sorry that the ride is over. If you love fast-paced thrillers, you need to read Dark Matter.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Randall.Hansen
This book will have your head spinning -- in a good way. It's a science fiction thriller about a talented physicist who chooses marriage and family to teach basic physics classes at a second-tier college over a life devoted to the science and a crazy idea he had that could change our understanding
Show More
of life... until one evening when his entire world is turned upside down. Do we live in a world of multiple dimensions -- and multiple versions of ourselves based on all the choices we have made? Something the character labels the multiverse. Confused? Hooked? It''s a great read -- and a wild ride. Show Less
Awards
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2023)
NPR: Books We Love (2016)
The A.V. Club best books (2016)
Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List (Selection — 2017)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-08
ISBN
1447297563 / 9781447297567
Local notes
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.
Goldsboro book of the month club (September 16). Limited edition (500) with sprayed edges.
Goldsboro book of the month club (September 16). Limited edition (500) with sprayed edges.