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Dark Matter: A Novel

“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.

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Published May 2, 2017

368 pages

Average rating: 7.72

1,761 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

jhwarren
Jan 29, 2025
8/10 stars
My first Blake Crouch read. Loved the book; great writing and excellent storytelling. The rating could have been even higher, but I found myself too frustrated with the main character taking so very long to realize his initial situation. This became a significant distraction until the 42% mark where he finally figures it out and we can start enjoying the story.
ajhughes19
Nov 13, 2022
8/10 stars
This book is an unexpected and exciting adventure through time and space. It provokes intrigue and curiosity about how worlds can be different with just one small change as well as how people become different humans with completely different personalities with just one different decision. The story is enticing all the way through and you simply want more when it's finished.
Agrumdpt
Aug 27, 2025
7/10 stars
I wish there was a bit more character development, but still a good story, quick read.
hideTurtle
Jul 23, 2025
8/10 stars
“No one tells you it's about to change, to be taken away. There's no proximity alert. No indication that you're standing on the precipice.” This is the second book by Blake Crouch that I have read and I was hooked from the beginning and yelling at the pages as I went. Somehow, he is able to blend intriguing SciFi and action with a tenderness and humanness that I never expect.
Kira The Book Dragon
May 30, 2025
6/10 stars
This was definitely a twisty thriller… I went into the book blind and kinda glad I did. Jason is such a predictably unpredictable character, so much so that part of his journey you kinda wanna roll your eyes and scream get on with the show. And eventually you do. The ending was a bit predictable but not as boring as predicting a story would be. I am left with a bunch of questions, which is kinda the running theme of the book. This is definitely Schrodinger's cat but in book form.

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