Some are apocalyptic, some horrific, but the best are the somewhat normal landscapes that are just a little different. While certain supporting players come and go without much characterization and the situation gets way trippy for the protagonist near the end, Crouch does his best work in the middle chapters, as Jason and Amanda experiment opening different doors to various worlds.

Some of the science seems a bit too convenient in certain parts, as Jason navigates a corridor of infinite Earths to find his family again, yet the tome does tap into and utilize theories such as Schrödinger's cat to make it a thought-provoking read. Like Crouch’s Wayward Pines series, Dark Matter mines the shadier corners of science and humanity to move its story along, though it’s probably a little technobabbly for anybody who isn’t a hardcore Michael Crichton fan. He quickly finds an understanding ally named Amanda in this new world and goes on a mission to find the villainous alt-Jason who has taken over his idyllic (at least in hindsight) life. Jason finds out, in a nightmarish quantum-mechanics version of It’s a Wonderful Life: One night he’s attacked by a mysterious masked man and knocked out, later waking up in a strange alternate reality where he’s the creator of a box that allows people to travel the multiverse.

After an old college friend wins a major science award, Jason questions his own personal trajectory and where it would have headed had he focused on work instead of building a family. The hero is also the villain of Blake Crouch’s new sci-fi thriller Dark Matter, an intriguing book that makes its characters - and readers - wonder what life would have been like had they made different decisions.Ī physics professor at a local Chicago college, Jason Dessen leads a rather humdrum life with his art-teacher wife, Daniela, and teenage son, Charlie.

Dark matter book