Most Popular Books by Blake Crouch

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! • NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV+ A “mind-blowing” (Entertainment Weekly) speculative thriller about an ordinary man who awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew—from the author of Upgrade, Recursion, and the Wayward Pines trilogy “Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the kidnapper knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man he’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 professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. Is it this life or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how will Jason make it back to the family he loves? From the bestselling author Blake Crouch, Dark Matter is a mind-bending thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

A breath-taking exploration of memory and what it means to be human, Recursion is the follow-up novel to the smash-hit thriller, Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch. What if someone could rewrite your entire life?''My son has been erased.'' Those are the last words the woman tells Barry Sutton, before she leaps from the Manhattan rooftop. Deeply unnerved, Barry begins to investigate her death, only to learn that this wasn''t an isolated case. All across the country, people are waking up to lives different than the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious, new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him?Miles away, neuroscientist Helena Smith is developing a technology that allows us to preserve our most intense memories, and relive them. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.Barry''s search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey, as he discovers that Helena''s work has yielded a terrifying gift - the ability not just to preserve memories, but to remake them . . . at the risk of destroying what it means to be human.

The second book of the smash-hit Wayward Pines trilogy, from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade It’s the perfect town . . . as long as you don’t try to leave. Nestled amid picture-perfect mountains, the idyllic town of Wayward Pines is a modern-day Eden—at least at first glance. Except that within its fences, the residents are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. None of them know how they got here. Some believe they are dead. Others think they’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise. As sheriff, Ethan Burke is tasked with enforcing the town’s laws, and he’s one of the few entrusted with the truth—even though, for all his knowledge, he’s as much a prisoner of Wayward Pines as anyone else. But when a murder investigation draws him deeper into the town’s inner workings, Ethan learns that its past is darker than even he suspected—and finds himself faced with an impossible choice. The second novel in Blake Crouch’s blockbuster trilogy, Wayward delves deeper into the irresistible mysteries and horrors of this perfect little town, even as it asks what it means to live with secrets—and what price we’ll pay for the truth.

Famous is the darkly funny, skin-crawlingly suspenseful standalone thriller from Blake Crouch, the bestselling author of Dark Matter, for fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz * * * Meet Lance. 38-years-old. Works a meaningless job. Still lives above his parents’ garage. By all accounts, a world-class loser. Except for one glaring exception . . . he has a million-dollar face. Lance has been mistaken twenty-eight times for the Oscar-winning movie star, James Jansen, and for the last 10 years, he’s saved his money, studied Jansen’s films, his moves, his idiosyncrasies, even the way he speaks. Now, after an unceremonious termination from his job, Lance has decided that the time has come to go after his dream. From New York’s ridiculous avant-garde, off-off Broadway scene, to the surreal glitter of Los Angeles, follow Lance on his madcap journey of self-abandonment to become his likeness. Part comedy, part human tragedy, and part suspense, the world through the eyes of Lancelot Blue Dunkquist is like none you’ve ever seen . . . * * * Praise for Blake Crouch: ''Blake Crouch has invented his own brand of page-turner – fearlessly genre-bending, consistently surprising, and determined to explode the boundaries of what a thriller can be'' - Karin Slaughter, author of Pretty Girls ''Blake Crouch has a mind like Crichton and a heart like King'' - David Koepp, author of Cold Storage ''Crouch isn’t just a world-class thriller writer, he’s a Philip K. Dick for the modern age'' - Gregg Hurwitz, author of Orphan X

A century-old mystery—and a desperate battle to survive—unfold in this standalone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion. On Christmas Day in 1893, every man, woman, and child in a remote mining town disappeared, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins, and not a single bone found. Now, journalist Abigail Foster and her historian father have set out to explore the long-abandoned town and learn what happened. With them are two backcountry guides—along with a psychic and a paranormal photographer who are there to investigate rumors that the town is haunted. But Abigail and her companions are about to learn that the town’s ghosts are the least of their worries. Twenty miles from civilization, with a blizzard bearing down, they realize they are not alone. The ordeal that follows will test this small team past the breaking point as they battle the elements and human foes alike—and discover that the town’s secrets still have the power to kill. Part journey into old-West history, part nail-biting survival thriller, Abandon is a bloody, darkly surprising tale as only Blake Crouch could deliver.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “If Michael Crichton had written a superhero novel, it would look a lot like Upgrade.”—The New York Times Book Review “You don’t so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin.”—DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series “Mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving—exploring the very nature of what it means to be human.”—ALEX MICHAELIDES, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maiden ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, She Reads The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion—currently in development as a motion picture at Steven Spielberg''s Amblin Partners “You are the next step in human evolution.” At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy. Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost. Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human. And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution? Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

A gripping apocalyptic thriller about a man and his family running for their lives in an America gone mad—from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion No time to think. No time to ask why. Only time to run. Five days ago, the epidemic of rage began. Four days ago, the rash of senseless murders swept the nation. Three days ago, the president addressed the country and begged for peace—even as the murders increased tenfold. Two days ago, the killers began to mobilize. One day ago, the power went out. And tonight, the killers are reading the names of those to be killed over the Emergency Broadcast System. Jack Colclough is listening over the battery-powered radio on his kitchen table in Albuquerque, and he just heard his name. People are coming to his house to kill him, his wife, his daughter, and his son. He has no idea what’s happening, or why, but the time for questions is long past. His only chance is to run. Following an ordinary family on a desperate race through an America that’s destroying itself, Run is a terrifying, brutally stripped-down thriller from master storyteller Blake Crouch.

The final book of the smash-hit Wayward Pines trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade What’s inside was a nightmare. What’s outside is a thousand times worse. Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed. But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. And now that secret is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity. The Last Town at last pitches Ethan Burke and his fellow residents into all-out war against the forces outside the town’s gates—and in doing so delivers every bit the riotously horrific, breathlessly action-packed conclusion that the Wayward Pines trilogy deserves.

Prepare for edge-of-your-seat suspense in this Thriller Short. Originally published in THRILLER 2 (2009), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler. In this disturbing Thriller Short, bestselling author Blake Crouch unleashes the horror every parent fears. Mitchell stares at a page in a notebook, but he isn’t reading. He saw the short pudgy man and the boy of perhaps five or six walk into the coffeehouse fifteen minutes earlier. As he sips his espresso, he listens to the father and son talk. Outside in the small town, snow is falling. He follows the man and boy to the Antlers Motel and checks into a room next to theirs. With snow piling up in the parking lot, he lies down on top of the covers and whispers the Lord’s Prayer. That evening he sees the boy walk alone into the alcove housing the vending machines. It’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for. Amid the sound of coins dropping through the slot, he puts his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gently guides him out of the alcove to his car. What has driven Mitchell to do such an unthinkable act? And how will it end? Don’t miss any of these exciting stories from Thriller 2: The Weapon by Jeffery Deaver Remaking by Blake Crouch Iced by Harry Hunsicker Justice Served by Mariah Stewart The Circle by David Hewson Roomful of Witnesses by R.L. Stine The House on Pine Terrace by Phillip Margolin The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away by Marcus Sakey On the Run by Carla Neggers Can You Help Me Out Here? by Robert Ferrigno Crossed Double by Joe Hartlaub The Lamented by Lawrence Light Vintage Death by Lisa Jackson Suspension of Disbelief by Tim Maleeny A Calculated Risk by Sean Chercover The Fifth World by Javier Sierra Ghost Writer by Gary Braver Through a Veil Darkly by Kathleen Antrim Bedtime for Mr. Li by David J. Montgomery Protecting the Innocent by Simon Wood Watch Out for My Girl by Joan Johnston Killing Time by Jon Land Boldt’s Broken Angel by Ridley Pearson

Federal agent Ethan Burke encounters more than he bargains for during an investigation into missing agents when he awakens from a terrible accident and discovers that not only is his identification gone, but the behavior of the townspeople seems off.

When a small-time thief tries to steal from a big-time thief, things go sideways.

Andrew Z Thomas is a successful writer of suspense thrillers, living the dream at this lake house in the peidmont of North Carolina. One afternoon in late spring, he receives a bizarre letter that eventually threatens his career, his sanity, and the lives of everyone he loves. A murderer is designing his future, and for the life of him Andrew can''t get away.

Seven years ago, suspense novelist Andrew Thomas''s life was shattered when he was framed for a series of murders. The killer''s victims were unearthed on Andrew''s lakefront property, and since he was wanted by the FBI, Andrew had no choice but to flee and to create a new identity. Andrew does just that in a cabin tucked away in the remote wilderness near Haines Junction, Yukon. His only link to society is by e-mail, through which he learns that all the people he ever loved are being stalked and murdered. Culminating in the spooky and secluded Outer Banks of North Carolina, the paths of Andrew Thomas, a psychotic named Luther Kite, and a young female detective collide. Locked Doors is a novel of blistering suspense that will scare you to death.

"Four well-known horror authors [Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson] pool their penchants for scares and thrills, and tackle one of the greatest of all legends, with each writer creating a unique character and following them through a vampire outbreak in a secluded hospital. The goal was simple: write the most intense novel they possibly could. Which they did"--Page 4 of cover.