Dark Matter

About this book

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. Review "The most helter-skelter, race-to-the-finish-line thriller you'll read all year, with a clever, mind-boggling final twist."--The Guardian "Relatable and unnerving . . . makes its characters--and readers--wonder what life would have been like had they made different decisions."--USA Today "A portal into other dimensions of reality . . . you'll gulp it down in one afternoon, or more likely one night."--The New York Times Book Review "A mind-blowing sci-fi/suspense/love-story mash-up."--Entertainment Weekly "A fast, tasty read with a killer twist. It's a whole bag of barbecue chips . . . just sitting there waiting for you to devour in one long rush."--NPR "A dazzling book . . . [with] a mind-bending premise, a head-spinning plot that's dialogue-driven and adrenaline-fueled, and a gut-wrenching climax that gave me goose bumps."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Draws on questions and anxieties we all wrestle with in the dark hours . . . Crouch has invested [sci-fi motifs] with scientific plausibility, and more unusually, with emotional depth."--The Wall Street Journal "[A] mind-blowing speculative-science thriller that throws in an old-fashioned love story for good measure."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram "A pacy, action-driven SF thriller . . . terse prose, strong characterisation and clever twists make for a quick, smart, engrossing read."--Financial Times "A high-tension thriller . . . always engaging and frequently moving. A strong piece of summertime get-away reading, perfect for those times when the mind wanders to contemplate an alternate reality of endless vacation."--San Francisco Chronicle "A mind-bending odyssey of parallel worlds and causality [that] unfolds with all the suspense and strength of a more straightforward thriller, building up to a deliciously surreal climax...memorable and well-rounded characters add a big, beating heart to the tale."--New York Journal of Books "Brilliant. A book to remember. I think Blake Crouch just invented something new."--Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series "Exceptional. An exciting, ingeniously plotted adventure about love, regret, and quantum superposition. It's been a long time since a novel sucked me in and kept me turning pages the way this one did."--Andy Weir, New York Times bestselling author of The Martian "A masterful, truly original work of suspense. Crouch delivers laser-focused prose, a plot that melds science fiction and thriller to brilliant effect, and a touching, twisted love story that plays out in ways you'll never see coming. It all adds up to one hell of a ride."--Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger "Wow. I gulped down Dark Matter in one sitting and put it down awed and amazed by the ride. It's fast, smart, addictive--and the most creative, head-spinning novel I've read in ages. A truly remarkable thriller."--Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series "A mind-bending thriller of the first order, not merely a rollicking entertainment but a provocative investigation into the nature of second chances, all of it wrapped in a genius sci-fi package. I dare you to put it down, because I sure couldn't."--Justin Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of the Passage Trilogy. About the Author Blake Crouch is best known for the Wayward Pines trilogy, which has sold more than a million copies and was adapted into a prime-time event series on FOX. He lives in Colorado.