'Dark Matter' by Blake Crouch
'Dark Matter' by Blake Crouch

Trying very hard to avoid spoilers here, so this review will be a bit vague…

The good

  • The first “big reveal” of the book, which establishes the basic premise, is a fun one, and something I’ve thought about often. It’s not unique, and has been explored in other stories, but it’s still entertaining and fun to discuss.
  • The second “big reveal,” which shows you one of the possible implications of the first big reveal, is even more fun, and a lot more unique to this book. It’s hilarious, absurd, terrifying, and a blast to discuss and think through. It allowed the book to finish on a high note.
  • Solid, clear, exciting action/suspense writing. It reads like a movie, and probably should be made into one.

The not so good

  • The ideas and structure of this story are nearly identical to one of Blake Crouch’s other books, Recursion. If you’ve already read that one, you’ll be able to guess the first “big reveal” almost from page one, so it’s quite anti-climactic, and feels a bit repetitive. Fortunately, the second “big reveal” is unique, and makes the story worth reading, but Blake Crouch does remind me of Dan Brown: I think they are both authors who are great at action/suspense writing, and wonderful to read the first time, but with each subsequent book, you realize they are following the same repetitive formula (albeit, a very successful and effective one) over and over again.

  • While the main character is intriguing and goes through some changes, almost everyone else in the book is flat, boring, and often, a stereotype/trope designed to drive the story forward. This book is all about the plot/premise, so don’t expect witty dialogs, fun banter between characters, or anything of that sort. Also, one character just vanishes from the plot entirely, which I found a bit odd.

Overall

Another very entertaining, albeit somewhat repetitive, Blake Crouch novel.

Rating: 4 stars