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Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Crown Publishing, 2016

ISBN-10: 1101904224

ISBN-13: 978-1101904220

Availabile: Hardcover, audio, Kindle edition

 

Blake Crouch has written several fine thrillers in the past decade, but it was the breakout success of his Wayward Pines Trilogy (Thomas & Mercer, 2012-2014), that alerted the world to this talented author (and original drummer of the Killer Thriller Band). M. Night Shyamalan’s television series, “Wayward Pines,” based on the trilogy, gave the writer the spotlight he has long deserved. Now he returns with a new novel, Dark Matter. 

 

“Are you happy with your life?” It’s a question many people would rather not consider: so many torment themselves with “what-ifs” and “might-have-beens”. Dark Matter answers those haunting hindsight questions in a resounding manner. Crouch gives his character a second chance, presenting him with choices that create an intense, mind-bending novel, enough so that readers might just consider themselves lucky and forget all about those roads not taken. To speak much of the plot would give away twists and turns that make Crouch’s story so thrilling. However, a little won’t hurt— much.

 

College professor Jason Dessen lives happily with his wife, Daniela, and their 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 receiving the accolade; he who could have changed the world. On his way home, a man in a geisha mask abducts Jason. Jason’s kidnapper seems to know many of the details of Jason’s life. The man asks him a question, and suddenly Jason’s world spins into chaos. Jason wakes up in a world where he never abandoned the quantum physics designs he toiled over prior to having a family, his wife never gave up her dream of becoming an artist, and life is no longer simple.

 

Though this is a well-worn premise, Crouch’s labyrinthine plot twists and gift for suspense make this a heroic treatment of the theory of a “do-over.” Just as readers believe the end is in sight, Crouch sends his readers back into the fray. This is the best kind of thriller: fast-paced and high concept, with unique twists on plot, and characters readers actually care about.  Already optioned for film, Dark Matter is poised to continue this author’s rise to the top. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on September 13, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Departure by A.G. Riddle

Departure by A.G. Riddle

HarperVoyager, 2015

ISBN-13: 978-0062431660

Available: Used hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible edition

 

Flight 305 from New York to London crashes in the English countryside, with half the plane in an icy lake. The survivors assemble to help save those they can and help everyone stay alive. Writer Harper Lane and venture capitalist Nick Stone are the protagonists, easy to root for as they seek to unravel the mystery into which they have been thrust. As passengers begin to fall ill to a deadly virus, it becomes clear that genetics expert Sabrina Schroeder and computer whiz Yul Tan, also passengers from Flight 305, are hiding something.

When Nick and a team venture out to find help, they discover they have crashed into a different time, years into the future.

That’s when the horror starts and the twists begin. What ensues makes this thriller one of the best reads of the year, and it has already been set into production by 20th  Century Fox for the following year. Recommended.

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on February 12, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: The Hunt by Tim Lebbon

 

 

 

 

 

The Hunt by T.J. Lebbon (Tim Lebbon)
Avon Books, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0008122904
Available: New and used paperback, Kindle edition

 

The transition from writing horror to thrillers sounds like it should be an easy move, yet very few authors have mastered the art of actually “thrilling” the reader from the first to the last without letting up.  Tim Lebbon has pretty much pulled it off in his first attempt. The Hunt is a definite departure form horror and fantasy. This is a different animal than the creature horror of last year’s The Silence, but in any genre, Lebbon proves he knows how to sustain pace and suspense.

The Hunt is run by the shadow group “Trail”. The members have many names, live invisibly from society, and are free from persecution as they provide the ultimate game for the super-rich, famous, and thrill-seeking.

The story begins when Chris Sheen returns home from a great run, breaking his own record, to find his wife and two daughters missing. A man warns him not to call the police; if he does, they’ll be butchered.

Meanwhile, Rose has been training to avenge the murders of her husband and children, as she is the lone survivor of the hunt.  Her mission options: escape the hunters and live while her family dies, or sacrifice herself to keep them alive.

Rose attempts to track down and eliminate the group, while Chris fights to avoid the hunters and stay alive long enough to save his family. Both work with separate motivations as they run, hike, and climb through Snowdonia.

To say The Hunt is fast-paced is like saying a Ferrari can break the speed limit. Lebbon’s writing has always been lean and tight; here, it moves and twists through a violent, exciting story with rarely a wasted word.

Avon has already signed him for a second thriller. Here’s to hoping there’s many more. Highly recommended.

 
 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on December 2, 2015 by , Reply
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