I don't read enough science fiction to know how fresh Blake Crouch's concept is, but I was disappointed that a writer of his caliber didn't spend a bit more energy on the psychological and philosophical implications of "losing" your life and a bit less energy on the plotting. Jason Dessen is abducted off the street late one night--no spoilers here--and wakes to find himself separated from his job, his home, and his family, the subject of some sort of physics experiment into the nature of matter. The physics are beside the point, however, as Jason spends the rest of the book desperately trying to reclaim his family from evil doppelgangers. I say "reclaim," because his quest increasingly becomes one of keeping his wife *from* the others, rather than restoring some rich emotional life together.

This is where more thoughtful exploration would have made a better book: what if there *are* Jasons who are better for his wife? Or what if she's better on her own? None of that matters as the reader is supposed to root for the preservation of Jason's original nuclear family, no matter how long that takes, or how far they grow apart, or what the other people in this scenario want. If Jason wants it, we do too, and I didn't.