Dark Matter

“No one tells you it’s all about to change, to be taken away. There’s no proximity alert, no indication that you’re standing on the precipice. And maybe that’s what makes tragedy so tragic. Not just what happens, but how it happens: a sucker punch that comes at you out of nowhere, when you’re least expecting it. No time to flinch or brace.”

Jason tells the story in the first-person present tense, but he tells it in hindsight, signaling to the reader that he already knows how the story ends. Crouch uses this narrative perspective to immerse the reader in the action moment by moment, but also to create suspense by hinting at where the story leads. These lines establish the theme of Jason learning to appreciate his family life, which he had previously taken for granted.

“I understand now why victims don’t fight back. I cannot imagine trying to overcome this man. Trying to run.”

When Jason2 abducts Jason, Jason experiences violence for the first time: He is an ordinary person and has never been involved in a physical confrontation. By the end of the novel, Jason has learned how to defend himself and those he loves. He succeeds in overpowering and killing Jason2, moving from a character who is a passive victim to a survivor who can kill in self-defense.

“…worst thing you can do is try to manage this on your own. Let’s be honest. You’re the kind of guy who thinks he’s strong enough to push through anything.”

When Jason arrives in Jason2’s world, he is disoriented and terrified of being in an unfamiliar reality. Leighton knows Jason2’s personality as someone who refuses help, even when he needs it. Jason is the same way, but over the course of the novel, he learns to accept help—particularly from Amanda—to survive.