Infinite

Infinite
By: Brian Freeman

This felt like Inception meets Split meets The Matrix.

"My vices cling to me like boat anchors. Karly told me once that I was always doing battle with another side of myself and that one day I would have to make the choice to cast him aside. But I've never known how to do that."

Having read several of Freeman's other books, I would say this one seemed quite a bit different than his others I've read. This was a little more raw and dark. He wrote in more violence and a couple sexual encounters (which- not that this justifies them, but it was not written like a romance novel scene but rather a very brief encounter to show the disconnect between two characters and reveal character development).

Dylan is grieving the loss of his wife. Already facing the possible end of their marriage, Karly and Dylan crash into a flooding river and Dylan couldn't save her. His wife and best friend are dead and his world is falling apart. Things get worse when he discovers he is being investigated for Karly's death and a string of local murders. He is fighting his own demons and his memory has gaps. But it gets yet even more complicated when he sees another version of himself running around Chicago. He is horrified to find out his double might be killing women who look like Karly and framing Dylan for them.

The therapist he is seeing introduces him to the Many Worlds Theory: "There are infinite copies of you in infinite worlds, making all of the choices you don't make in this life." Could this evil "other Dylan" have breached a parallel universe to go on a killing rampage to ruin the lives of every universe's Dylan? Or is Dylan merely hallucinating during this time of trauma and experiencing a split personality situation? Why can't he remember things and can he prove his innocence before more people die?

This is a trippy psychological thriller with a teeny twist of sci-fi. Freeman has written a truly evil antagonist that will make you intensely emotionally invested in the "true" Dylan's mission to defeat him across universes to save the Dylans and Karlys living the lives he wished he had. At the same time, he must resist the dark urges within himself to make his own conquest of his other selves to take over their perfect lives and have his wife and best friend back. The lines between reality, hallucination, and these mysterious parallel universes are heavily blurred in Dylan's existential journey to find himself and make up for his mistakes. Can he really get a second chance to make things right with his wife, Karly?

Though a different thread than his other books, it's still an intense thriller with a satisfying yet unexpected ending.

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