You wake up in a world where you know noone, yet everyone knows you.  The last thing you remember was a masked kidnapper stabbing you with a strange substance.  When you visit your own wife, she claims to have never married you.  What would you do?

This is the situation Jason Dessen was put into in the novel Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.  Dark Matter explores theoretical concepts that make even the greatest scientists shiver.  Although classified as science fiction, this book can appeal to any reader that is in for an action-packed story with danger, heartbreak, and a lot of thinking.

Blake Crouch does an astounding job at portraying the main character, Jason.  The reader can see directly into his mind and thoughts.  Jason’s problems become your problems, and when Jason is in danger, you will feel equally terrified.

The author also does a great job at exploring complex ideas that only occur in sci-fi stories.  To regular sci-fi readers, these notions will spark your brain and leave you questioning life.  To an ordinary reader, these concepts may at first seem confusing.  This can negatively affect how the rest of the book is understood, causing the plot to be weakened and readers to lose interest.

If you are contemplating picking up this book, be ready to stretch your brain.  You can expect to be mesmerized by Crouch’s enthralling writing and this unique charm in describing Jason’s personality.

After completing the final page of this novel, I was not met with the feeling of completion and pride that usually besets me.  Instead, I was hit with an incredible sense of doubt and existential dread that still causes me to routinely question every decision I have made and will make.