Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Posted on 06/06/2023 by Lenn

Title: Dark Matter

Author: Blake Crouch

Publication Date: July 26, 2016

Number of Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi

Synopsis:

A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human–a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of. Continue reading →

Book Review: Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Posted on 05/19/2023 by Lenn

Title: Never Lie

Author: Freida McFadden

Publication Date: September 19, 2022

Number of Pages: 336

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Amazon

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Mystery

Synopsis:

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams.

But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Summer House by James Patterson & Brendan DuBois

Posted on 04/27/2023 by Lenn

Title: The Summer House

Author: James Patterson, Brendan DuBois

Publication Date: June 8, 2020

Number of Pages: 429

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Century

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Military

Synopsis:

For seven unsuspecting victims, death comes in the dark . . .

Once a luxurious getaway for a wealthy Southern family, the Summer House has long since fallen into disrepair. Its fall from grace is complete when it becomes the scene of a horrific mass murder.

Shocking evidence points to four Army Rangers recently returned from Afghanistan. The Army sends Major Jeremiah Cook, a war veteran and former NYPD cop, to investigate.

As Cook and his team struggle to put together pieces of evidence that just won’t fit, powerful forces rally against them to try to ensure that damning secrets are buried along with the victims. Continue reading →