I had been telling people for years that I didn’t like this book. Recently when I asked a friend for a recommendation of something I could read when I ran, she suggested it and I again gave it a “meh, didn’t love it.” Imagine my surprise when I figured out I had not, in fact, read this book at all. (My sincerest apologies to Blake Crouch).
I conflated this book (cover on the left) with Geek Love (cover on the right), about a family of circus freaks, which I did read and did not especially like. It was published in 1989 buuuut I read it in 2016, and Geek Love came out in 2016 and they have similar fonts, so nearest I can tell that’s where the mash-up happened.
Brains are funny funny things. (And if you enjoyed this digression, you should check out my podcast, “Advice from the Cheerbrarian” where I digress and give advice and talk about books) And now, without further digression or self-promotion, onto the book!
My friend nailed this recommendation. It was excelling for running because I was riveted from the beginning. I did my first longer (7 mile) run while reading this book and it was perfect company. For the first hour and a half of it I had no idea what was happening so I was totally distracted from the feel of my feet on the pavement. Plus this book compelled me to lace up my shoes because I was eager to dive back into this tale.
Jason Desson is on his way home with ice cream for his family when he is accosted and forced by a mysterious stranger to drive to an abandoned location. What comes next is a science fiction tale about choices and the ripples that they create in the tapestry of our lives: a true multiversal “what if.” It’s a wild ride and I was very invested, finding myself gasping and even shouting at the characters to make better choices. Well don, sir.
What I found so sublime about this book was how surprising it was throughout so I’m annoyed, on behalf of everyone who hasn’t read it, about the new AppleTV show because some of the promo pics THAT THEY PAIRED WITH THE SPOTIFY BOOK COVER give away a super twist. Not cool, dudes.
Overall this is a fun book to read that takes the multiversal story to a new place which makes it a great book to discuss with others. For me this novel lands overall at a 4 instead of a 5 because the ending did not stick the landing. Crouch did a great job of twisting the story along in the first 3/4, but at the end he made the safer choices, rather than more interesting ones for his characters. Even so, I’m still recommending it to everyone, for running or otherwise, as an intriguing bit of science fiction.