Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

It’s done purposely to avoid giving away spoilers and the core plot of this novel, but honestly the synopsis of this novel really doesn’t do a good job at selling how ambitious and high-concept this sci-fi thriller novel is. Minor spoiler alert but the synopsis fails to mention the multiverse-hopping quantum mechanic physics that makes the plot far more interesting than what it says on paper. However in retrospect I see that it was probably done this way for fear of alienating certain readers who may be off-put by a synopsis sounding big brain (it’s quite easy to follow and not big brain at all). Dark Matter is for sure a definite page turner especially once things get going once Jason Dessen is kidnapped by a mysterious man and I can see this making an excellent movie/tv-drama; the plot is excellent. As a novel though, I had some minor nitpicks holding this back from a 5-star read. What I loved about Dark Matter is its explanation and mechanics to the alternate reality/multiverse plot. Instead of just throwing in a random portal to another world or futuristic device (cue most time travel stories), Dark Matter uses an interesting interpretation of Schrodinger’s Cat…

A strong opening chapter followed by a lot of slow plodding around sleepy Wakarusa, Indiana, I had my doubts about All Good People Here being able to close things out and salvage itself after a very lackluster first half. Fortunately I thought it did just that once Ashley Flowers’ background in True Crime podcasting pick up in the last third of the book and lends itself to a successful and at times exciting resolution. My biggest gripe with All Good People Here lies with the main protagonist leads and the perspectives of Margot Davies in the present 2019 and Krissy Jacobs in the past beginning with her childhood and the sequence of unfortunate events in 1994. For me personally it felt like the two women were in constant competition of who was more insufferable to read about and who would make the unintelligent emotion-driven decision at any given moment (which is quite counterintuitive for a supposedly successful journalist). I realize this is to show character development and growth; for Margot it’s to show growing validation for her initially off-base preconceived assumptions on the case and for Krissy, to show a young adult trapped and spiraling in a life she never…