“Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch

Jason, an atomic physicist and a professor at a small university lives a happy life with his wife Daniela and son Charlie in the suburbs of Chicago. Jason and Daniela had given up their aspirations to build a family when they got accidentally pregnant. Jason gave up his intensive quantum research and Daniela her art career. One night, Jason is abducted at gun point by a masked man and drugged, only to wake up in a world where he is a renowned physicist, but is not married to Daniela.

The novel sets the possibility of parallel universes as the backdrop and explores human tendency of counterfactual thinking for events that have already occurred. Though the concept of multiverse presented an option to have a non-linear narrative, the novel keeps it simple with a linear narrative style. The novel portrays the concept of multiverse with unadorned simplicity to the extent that it is delightfully absurd at many places. There is a poignant love story beautifully interwoven in this techno-thriller. The novel is fast-paced with occasional dips and has a seamless narration throughout.

A simple yet engaging sci-fi novel with an interesting premise and near-perfect execution!