Book Review: Blake Crouch's "Dark Matter"

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There was so much hype about this book when it was released two years ago that I immediately added it to my book wish list.  Last week I found it on Amazon for Kindle on sale for $1.99!!!  On publication of this post, it is still on sale.  

“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.

This book was different from anything that I have read in a really, really long time.  That alone made me love it.  The main character was likeable and believable in the midst of an unbelievable situation.  The story was well-written and just twisty enough to keep you reading at warp speed to see what would happen next. 

Science fiction is not my #1 go to. This book is very heavy on the science, but it is explained in a way that makes it interesting.  It also really makes you think about all the recent advances in science and what could be coming in the future! 

My two favorite quotes from the book: 

"Until everything topples, we have no idea what we actually have, how precariously and perfectly it all hangs together"  

This is a great point in the book and makes you take a look at your own life and what is important to you. 

"F. Scott Fitzgerald line: Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."

Well, because fall.  

I gave this book ***** 5 stars.  I read it in about 48 hours, and with my busy life, that is fast! I recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi, a fast-paced-twisty-how-is-this-going-to-end type of book, or just for something different.  

Happy reading! 

Sherry (aka Bibliomane)