A Dark Matter, a novel set in the present day, spends much of it’s time reflecting back to a single unexplained event in 1966. Much of the novel’s point of view comes from novelist Lee Harwell, whose four high school friends - Donald “Dilly” Olson, Howard “Hootie” Bly, Jason “Boats” Boatman and Lee “The Eel” Truax witnessed an horrific event along with three University of Wisconsin students and their guru, the charismatic Spencer Mallon. Mallon had promised the students that through this “ceremony” he would change the world. He did, but in unexpected ways: one of the students completely vanished during the ceremony and another was brutally killed. Harwell, who declined an invitation to the event, tries to piece together what actually happened. And even though Harwell eventually married Truax, she has refused to speak of that day.
The event has had a profound effect on those who survived: Dilly Olson has been in and out of prison; Hootie Bly grew so disturbed he had to be institutionalized, his speech consisting of nothing but quotes from the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne; Boats Boatman began a life of thievery. And Harwell’s wife “The Eel”? She lost her sight years later. Each of these people that had been so close to Harwell tell their version of what happened in Rashomon-style, leaving Harwell to piece it all together. (I’ve neglected to mention much about the three university students. Their stories are crucial, but I want you to discover them through the book.)
A Dark Matter is horrific on many levels, not the least of which concerns “the event” itself, but Straub has much more on his mind than a creepy ceremony and routine scares. Yes, what happened that day in 1966 continues to fill those involved with horror, but it’s the everyday horror of something uncontrollable that permeates your life, something that you had a hand in setting into motion that becomes the real horror. A Dark Matter is about regrets, growing older, friendship, redemption and learning to live with the lives we’ve chosen. It’s also about discovery and coming to grips with how our discoveries can cause us to rethink our lives in ways we can’t even imagine. Highly recommended.
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