{"id":8026,"date":"2016-06-27T10:21:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cemeterydanceonline.com\/?p=8026"},"modified":"2016-06-27T10:21:56","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:21:56","slug":"review-dark-matter-by-blake-crouch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-dark-matter-by-blake-crouch\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: &#039;Dark Matter&#039; by Blake Crouch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-Crouch\/dp\/1101904224\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1464977510&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dark+matter+blake+crouch\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-8027\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/darkmatter-198x300.jpg?resize=198%2C300\" alt=\"darkmatter\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" \/>Dark Matter\u00a0<\/em>by Blake Crouch<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Crown\u00a0(July 26, 2016)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>352\u00a0pages; $17.32\u00a0hardcover; $12.99 e-book<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0David Simms<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jason Dessen, Daniela, Charlie&#8212;&#8220;Are you happy with your life?&#8221; It&#8217;s a question humans lie about all the time. Some truly are content, but how many torment themselves with enough &#8220;what ifs&#8221; until anxiety rears its ugly head? When a choice is finally presented in this intense, mind-bending novel, readers might just forget about those roads not taken.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blake Crouch has written several fine thrillers in the past decade, but it wasn&#8217;t until the breakout success of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wayward Pines<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> trilogy last year that the world was alerted to this talented author (and original drummer of the kick-ass Killer Thriller band). M. Night Shyamalan&#8217;s television series gave the writer the spotlight he has long deserved. \u00a0Yet, it&#8217;s always, &#8220;what&#8217;s next?&#8221; for the author, and can you top this?<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dark Matter<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> answers both of the aforementioned questions in a resounding manner. To speak much of the plot would give away twists and turns that make a Crouch story so thrilling. However, a little won&#8217;t hurt&#8212;much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">College professor Jason Dessen lives happily with his wife Daniela and teenage son Charlie in Chicago where life is just fine. One night, he goes out to help his buddy celebrate winning an esteemed science award and is reminded that it could have been him who changes the world; later, he is surrounded by attractive grad students holding no strings. On the way home, a man in a geisha mask abducts him, seemingly knowing many details of Jason&#8217;s life. After he asks Jason the opening question&#8212;&#8220;Are you happy with your life?&#8221;&#8212;the world is spun into chaos. Jason wakes up in a world where he never abandoned the quantum physics designs he toiled over prior to having a family, where his wife never gave up her dream of becoming an artist, and life is no longer simple. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the Jason in this world has just switched places with the other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If this reads as simple, it&#8217;s anything but. Jason learns that the road back home has many paths, each of them contingent on a decision made or not made, environmental or societal change, or worse. To say more would spoil the story but just as readers believe the end is in sight, Crouch diverts down a side road previously unseen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the best kind of thriller&#8212;fast paced, high concept, unique twists on plot, and characters readers actually care about. \u00a0Already optioned for film, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dark Matter<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is poised to continue this author&#8217;s rise to the top.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highly recommended for any thriller fan.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dark Matter\u00a0by Blake Crouch Crown\u00a0(July 26, 2016) 352\u00a0pages; $17.32\u00a0hardcover; $12.99 e-book Reviewed by\u00a0David Simms Jason Dessen, Daniela, Charlie&#8212;&#8220;Are you happy with your life?&#8221; It&#8217;s a question humans lie about all the time. Some truly are content, but how many torment themselves with enough &#8220;what ifs&#8221; until anxiety rears its ugly head? When a choice is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-dark-matter-by-blake-crouch\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: &#039;Dark Matter&#039; by Blake Crouch&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[723,724,725,715,368,42,79],"class_list":["post-8026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-black-crouch","tag-crown","tag-dark-matter","tag-dave-simms","tag-david-simms","tag-featured","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: &#039;Dark Matter&#039; 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