Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Source: Blogging for Books – I received this in exchange for an honest review. 
Publisher: Crown
Series: –
Edition: Hardcover, 342 Pages
Genre: Sci-fi Thriller
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository
Rating: 4.5/5

“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 science fiction lovers dream! Well it’s my dream…I’m in love with stories like this. I’ve watched so many moves going over time travel/different realities and I live for the thrill of seeing how horribly wrong it’s going to go. Dark Matter delivered.

I will admit that the concept isn’t new and I’ve seen it in other places, but the execution of it is really great. Blake Crouch gives us a man we really want to root for and sets everything on it’s head a few dozen times. I loved is visualization of Jason’s journey. It’s got a few different things going for it: there is plenty of action and heart stopping moments, there are characters you come to truly care about/root for, and there are a lot of little philosophical moments that make you think about all the possibilities of your life. I don’t usually find a lot of reason to turn my reflection inwards while reading sci-fi, at least not in a truly serioues way…but Dark Matter had me doing that. What would I do differently if I could? Where would I be if ‘x’ hadn’t happened? So on and so forth.

By now you can probably tell I’m being deliberately vague on what/who I did enjoy, and I’m seriously only doing that because it’s a thriller that lives off of surprise. I think if I give too much away it’ll dampen the emotional response, and I’d have done you a disservice. But I can tell you  other than the fact that I really enjoyed Jason’s character, is the fact that it’s a well written book. The writing is fresh and crisp, and while it’s fast paced it doesn’t trip over itself trying to get to the point sooner than it needs to. Crouch takes time to set up scenes and draw out emotions before really hitting the idea home.

Overall I am super pleased with this one, and I think sci-fi lovers will find it to be, at the very least, a really fun and entertaining read.