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Cover of Dark Matter

Dark Matter

by Blake Crouch

🌶️fade to black·spoiler

Why Read This?

A physics professor gets kidnapped into a parallel universe where he made different choices — and has to fight through infinite realities to get back to his family. Unputdownable

Synopsis

A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy. Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters. "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.

At a Glance

4.13 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️fade to black
Endingspoiler
PairingM/F
Romance Pacingestablished relationship
Energymedium

Top Tropes

established relationship

Mood

intensesuspensefulthrillingtenseemotional

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

4.13 ★

Page Count

342 pages

Published

2016

Primary Genre

Sci-fi

Pairing

M/F

POV

First Person

Romance Pacing

Established Relationship

Cliffhanger

spoiler

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Single Narrator

Narrator

Jon Lindstrom

Narrator Count

Single

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

Mood & Vibe

Mood

Writing Style

punchycinematicsuspensefulimmersiveraw

Story Pacing

fast

Emotional Weight

heavy

Energy Required

medium

Vibes

mind-bending multiverse thriller that asks what you would sacrifice for the life you never chose

Characters

FMC Archetype

N/A

MMC Archetype

scholar/intellectualreluctant hero

Relationship Dynamics

established relationship

Spice Details 🌶️

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Spice Level 1

Spice Style

None

Getting Steamy

None

Bringing the Heat

None
Browse more books by spice level →
kidnappingviolencedeathmurdergun violencebloodbody horrorconfinementpanic attacks
Browse books by content warning →

World & Setting

World Type

contemporary

Primary Setting

Chicago, multiple parallel universes

Fantasy Creatures

Representation

N/A

Reading Context

Emotional Payoff

Best Time of Year

anytime

When & Where to Read

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