Dark Matter

Jason Dessen once looked set for a brilliant career in physics, but when his son Charlie was born he chose family instead. Now he teaches at a small college in Chicago, makes dinner with his wife Daniela, an artist who also set her ambitions aside, and tells himself he has no regrets. One autumn evening, walking home, he is forced into a car by a masked man who asks him a strange question: is he happy with his life?

He wakes up in a laboratory surrounded by people who are thrilled to see him. In this Chicago he never married Daniela, never had Charlie, and became famous for building something extraordinary: a box that opens onto other versions of reality. Helped by a therapist named Amanda, Jason escapes into that box and begins searching an endless corridor of worlds for the one he lost. Each door opens on a different Chicago, some only slightly changed and some frightening, and slowly he understands who took his place at home, and why.

Short chapters and constant cliffhangers make it very hard to put down. Around 368 pages. Adapted by Crouch himself as a television series for Apple TV+ in 2024.