Blake Crouch

[4.25] Holy multiverse! Crouch’s sci-fi thriller offers exhilarating entertainment while subtly prodding readers to question the choices they’ve made in their lives. Isn’t there a touch of protagonist Jason in all of us as we occasionally ponder the paths we’ve chosen?

My one minor beef: Careening into many diverse worlds at breakneck speed induced a mild case of literary whiplash. But I quibble. “Dark Matter” is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

I watched a recent interview show more with Crouch when he touched on Everett’s many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. It suggests every thought we have and every choice we make creates a new world. The theory goes on to assert that all of these worlds still exist on a different plateau — and that they are every bit as real as the reality we experience in our “real” lives. Heavy stuff, indeed. Perhaps it’s time for a happy-go-lucky rom-com novel. show less

A random stranger recommended this book to me and for whatever reason, I decided to give it a go. I'm going to have to listen to random strangers more often!

I'm not normally a sci-fi reader, but this sci-fi thriller had me up late reading. I was totally engrossed in the story. It gets a little science-y but nothing too much. It's about a man, Jason, who gets caught in the multiverse. But it's also about relationships and what we want out of life and regret. It's a novel that's not just show more really fun, but it makes you think! show less

Um, amazing?! How is this the first book I am reading by this author? Blake Crouch sucks you into a world where memory isn’t set in stone and what you’re sure of may not be truth. A wonderful sci-fi set in an alternate reality.

Scientist Helena sets out to build a machine to help patients with Alzheimer’s (great current day connection), but soon her project sponsor has the plan turning sinister with human experimentation, trials that amount to torture, and results beyond what they had show more anticipated… or what she had anticipated. The way the author slowly unfolds this story is masterful. An amazing read.

Our other main player, Barry, is a cop, investigating one of the cases the CDC is now tracking where patients claim memories of an alternate life flood their mind and are so real they haunt them. How could you not mourn for a child you loved who no longer exists in your “current” timeline? For a husband who claims not to know you? So many great questions, and the rabbit hole just gets deeper and deeper. Lots of twists! Blake Crouch is definitely on my must-read list from here on out!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Recursion is a fast-paced science fiction thriller that’s absolutely mind-boggling. It makes the concepts of multiple timelines, reshaping the past, and altering memories seem factual and credible. It even slips in a little philosophizing about the very nature of reality including the role memory plays in it. And at the same time, it tells an emotionally moving story. I found myself getting so caught up in the characters, their families and the different ways they experience - and show more sometimes lose - their lives it was hard to let some go. I had my doubts this could be as good as Dark Matter but, if anything, it’s even better. show less