Pines

I am pretty sure you all are going to be talking about Wayward Pines pretty soon. July 2014. Fox TV debut of Manoj Night Shyamalan. Did that pique your interest? So hang on while I let you in on the blockbuster phenomenon that is actually a thriller/horror series called Wayward Pines by Blake Crouch. If there is a word that captures the whole Wayward Pines trilogy, that in my dictionary would be Electrifying. Slick action thriller rolled in tight with horror, science-fiction and dystopian elements, this whole series kicks ass like no other. I haven’t been itching to finish a series like this for a long time. Miriam Black by Chuck Wendig came close – a real balls-to-the-wall visceral experience. But this reading has been a much more wholesome and fulfilling experience. A fire that burns through and consumes you. A little s***-kicker of a thriller with plot twists and action galore. Blake Crouch really knows how to keep you dangling by the barest of the thread, crouched on the balls of your feet, ready to explode into action with every dark blind corner you take on this ride. It’s a confusing ride, pretty much like our main protagonist Secret Service Agent Ethan Burkes who’s barely hanging on for the ride – as jumpy as ever, suspicious and untrusting of every leaf that flutters, back from a bout of short term amnesia, battered and bruised beyond belief and an emotional train wreck. Almost two-thirds through the first book, this is pretty much how you will feel. Lost and bumbling like a wet rat caught in a sandstorm. And the storm blows like crazy before you find your feet. This kind of thrill ride without any destination might turn off a lot of readers but for me, I loved the journey and I trust the driver blindly. God only knows why, but the Fantasy Book Critic review of both books was the stamp of approval enough for me to take this plunge. As I said before, electrifying. So a brief about the story from the first book and I will try and keep this free of spoilers as much as possible. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burkes arrives in the idyllic town of Wayward Pines in Idaho – surrounded by tall pine tree forests and insurmountable mountains on all sides to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two agents who had landed here two weeks before – he is involved in a horrific accident that leaves him with partial memory loss. But when he recovers, his interactions with the town residents, in particular the sheriff, makes him realize there is something wrong with the whole town itself. He also finds out that he is not able to reach his wife and kids in Boise or his handler within the agency. Dead bodies turning up, mysterious bar-tenders who disappear, a psychiatrist and a nurse who seem hell bent on harming him than curing and a whole town of kooks who love nothing more than shooting the breeze during day time and take part in blood fetes at night. It gets murky and weirder by the page. And things take a decidedly uglier turn when he attempts to escape the town. Book One, Pines is dedicated to him discovering the horrifying truth behind this idyllic town. Blake Crouch writes a crackerjack of a novel that is so well paced throughout that I found myself distancing myself from my normal life just so I could read that extra chapter. I haven’t stayed up late night to finish a book like this. The plot twists are simply spectacular and they hit you out of nowhere. Especially the big reveal at the end of book one left me agape and thinking for days after. Naturally I couldn’t resist the second book – again up on promo prices of $2 on Kindle and I went click-click. I was curious to see where Blake would take Ethan after that ending. And naturally my anticipations were sky high. Book two took my expectations and blew them away. While book one was a super-fast paced thriller purely from Ethan’s perspective – delirious, lost and heart jackhammering from all that fear and adrenaline as he stumbled from one plot twist to the next – book two widens the gamut of characters and we get a much rounder view of the larger plot at play here. It gets even much more cagey – a larger game of survival. With clear genre-bending elements that expand the world setting that Blake builds up, book two hits the ball out of the park. It’s very difficult to actually write anything about the plot without spoiling it for the readers unfamiliar with Blake’s first book on Wayward Pines. So I would let you as a reader – immerse and soak yourself up – in this entirely mind-blowing spectacular thrill ride. It’s a blistering read and a thoroughly satisfying thriller that should strike the right chords with a reader. With a climax that ups the ante and the stakes like crazy, I cannot wait for the last installment in the series now. Plus with Manoj Night Shyamalan going to make his TV debut with this being televised on FOX debuting in July this year, the interest levels are going to be stratospheric. Hit the moon and back. Take the plunge and you won’t be disappointed! This one's a 5-star through and through.

I saw the TV show first but wanted to read the book and it did not disappoint. I liked the book but I do think not knowing the ending would have made the story extra special. I like the writing style which kept me interested. It was just a very different, VERY interesting tale.

Often times when I am looking for books to add to To Read list I will add titles that just sound interesting. Maybe I’ve read something from the author before, maybe I haven’t. Maybe something on the cover catches my eye. Or maybe something in the blurb just piques my interest. Such is what happened with Pines, the first novel in the Wayward Pines series. Blake Crouch is an author I have reviewed before on here and when looking at some of the other titles he’s written the Wayward Pines series stood out. As a fan of the “survival horror” type video games (ie Silent Hill and Resident Evil) I was especially intrigued and added the title to my queue. Oh my goodness dear reader, I am so glad I did. It has been some time since a book has held my attention so fully that I read it in one evening. There were times I had to set it down and walk away to take care of one thing or another but I just as quickly returned because I simply had to know what happens next. If you are familiar with the “survival horror” genre, whether it be via video games, novels, etc. then the basic plotline of Pines will not seem new. Indeed it relies on several familiar tropes that are standard – the perfect little town, the citizens that are a little too friendly, contact with any one outside of the actual town cut off for whatever reason. These things are de rigeur for stories of this type and Crouch uses them all very well. As in his other novels, Crouch’s writing is tight paced. The action is not just physical but psychological as well. The main character Ethan is easy to sympathize with. As one event leads to another and still there is no way to leave the sleepy little town, one begins to wonder if perhaps it is Ethan himself who is off. In watching him find dead end after dead end you also begin to feel his frustration and despair. And when he does learn what is going on, his horror as well. Since Pines is the first novel in the Wayward Pines trilogy, I fully expected the story to end on a cliffhanger. I expected few if any questions to be answered and if any were they would simply lead to more. Pines is odd in that it answers most of the questions raised throughout the novel. There is an ending but it is also left open for the subsequent novels in the series. Where Crouch takes the story next, I am not sure but I am curious to find out. Readers who enjoyed shows like Twin Peaks or X-Files will more than likely enjoy travelling to Wayward Pines. I whole heartedly recommend at least the first novel to my readers. As I have already gotten the second and third books from my local library, readers should stay tuned for those reviews as well.

"The man checked the pockets of his slacks, and then of his single-breasted coat. No wallet. No money clip. No ID. No keys. No phone. Just a small Swiss Army knife in one of the inner pockets. ******* By the time he's reached the other side of the park, he was more alert and more confused, and the pulsing in his cervical spine wasn't painless any longer. He knew six things: The name of the current President. What his mother's face looked like, though he couldn't recall her name or even the sound of her voice. That he could play the piano. And fly a helicopter. That he was thirty-seven years old. And that he needed to get to a hospital." The above is directly quoted from the novel. As the man begins to explore his surroundings, the strangely passive and bored people who are strolling about the streets and parks and restaurants ignore him after cautious glances. He finally checks out a phone directory, and he discovers he is in Wayward Pines, Idaho. The people he stops do not care about him. In fact, they seem a little hostile. The little town of 500 residents reminds him of 1950's America, but its remarkable quaint charm, with tall mountains all around enclosing the small municipality, is slightly ominous. He needs food and medical attention for his bloody wounds, yet everyone ignores him. He passes out. When he recovers consciousness, he is in a hospital bed in which he suddenly remembers is where he had been. However, things are still extremely peculiar. The hospital is empty of patients, nurses and doctors, except for the nurse attending him. In fact, there is no activity at all, anywhere. He wants his phone, wallet, ID. The nurse explains she thinks the Sheriff has his stuff. Slowly, Ethan Burke begins to recall certain things: he was in a car accident. He is married with a child. He came from the Seattle office of the United States Secret Service. He is an agent, and he came to Wayward Pines to search for two missing agents who disappeared, and he was in the car with another agent, Stallings. No one knows anything about Stallings. Obviously, his next step is getting to a phone. When the nurse remains unhelpful, he sneaks out of the hospital to seek out the Sheriff. Soon, he will have his money, a phone, and answers. Except, he can't find the Sheriff in his office. The people he does meet are not actually working . They are only going though the motions. And no one wants to help him at all. He knows he is in trouble, serious trouble. He is hungry, thirsty, cold and when he finally finds a phone, no one he calls picks up. What is going on? I could not put the book down! It is intense, exciting, fast-paced. There is a lot of nasty violence, action and mystery. Frankly, I could not understand how Burke was still moving and conscious after the terrible and horrific struggles he undergoes to get answers from the strange people of Wayward Pines. I think this is a fun macho dystopia. Be prepared for an amazing conclusion!

Special Agent Ethan Burke of the US Secret Service, wakes up in the woods outside of a quiet little town called Wayward Pines. He's been in an accident and he's having trouble with his memory. He knows he needs a hospital and somewhere to stay, but he can't find his wallet... or a working telephone. The longer Ethan stays in Wayward Pines, the more he realizes the town's got a secret, and the residents will kill to protect it. I know this book was big when it came out. I downloaded a sample from Amazon and passed judgement the same day; the writing was simple, and quick to the point. This was light reading dressed up as horror. There's nothing wrong with that, but at the time I'd wanted something to sink my teeth into, something I could dissect. I passed it by. This year FOX aired, Wayward Pines, the tv show. I thought I could be in on the storyline without having to read the book. With M. Night Shyamalan there's no way I was going to miss it (that guy's a genius!). Of course after the third episode, where viewers get a brief glimpse of a bizarre, fast moving, creature, I needed to know: What the hell is going on? My original judgement still stands(to a degree). The author loves standalone sentences, doesn't make use of paragraphs as often as he could. This story is almost too easy to read. As a result the story moves right along, getting to the good stuff. Thank God there is good stuff to get to; the bizarre happenings combined with the confusion and fear of the protagonist creates an atmosphere of suspense. There's a creepy nurse at a near vacant hospital, missing persons who've impossibly aged, found persons who disappear without a trace...and something in the woods is screaming. I flew through the story to an ending I never saw coming. I give this story a rating of four stars because I truly enjoyed it but that ending... While it was satisfactory and I certainly couldn't stop thinking about it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I thought about it too long and I realized three irritating plotholes which I will not mention here because I couldn't reveal them without spoiling the ending, and maybe you didn't see them, or maybe your still reading and want to be surprised... In any event, the ending is surprisingly solid for a book with two sequels. So the book can be read as a standalone without having to worry,"Do I need to read the next two to learn what's going on?" No, you don't. As for how it compares to the show: the first few chapters are like the first two episodes. The third episode is wildly different from the book. So even though I know where the tv show will inevitably go, I didn't spoil the show too much because I don't know how its going to get there. This is a quick, suspenseful read, with a wacky ending... it's a thrill ride, just don't think to hard.

Sometimes it can be hard to be a writer that flounders around at the lower end of the literary spectrum such as myself. I like to think I create fairly decent thrillers, chillers and tales of mystery and suspense (such as my latest, a hard-boiled detective novel called "Deklan Falls: One Against Many"). I have dreams, like many, of writing nothing but books and novels and not spending days behind a desk in an office. I always feel like I am close to that big breakthrough. Then, of course, along comes someone like Blake Crouch and I have to wonder just what the hell I am doing. I read Blake's novel RUN just about a year or so ago. I downloaded it to my Kindle. I was hooked immediately. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire novel and since I finished reading it, I have recommended it to so many people that I am quite sure most Kindle fans must think Blake is paying me to do so (he isn't). It is, quite simply, one of the finest thrillers I have read in years. So, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the release of his new novel PINES. It came out this week and was downloaded to my Kindle Tuesday morning. I just finished it. Dammit...he's done it again. Blake Crouch, I mean. This is a novel that doesn't just hit the ground running, it slams into the ground, making it shake violently, and then pummels the hell out of it from the very first page. It sprints along at a break-neck pace that leaves the reader breathless, always feeling just a little bit behind the story, looking to catch up with each turn of the page or flick of the page button on the Kindle. And when the story finishes, you, dear reader, will be breathless, exhausted, panting as if you had just run a marathon, but wishing there was more. The novel seems to start off as a standard mystery. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke awakens near a river just outside of the small town of Wayward Pines - a tiny hamlet surrounded by towering cliffs and mountains on all sides. Burke has memories of being in a terrible accident where a Mack truck T-boned his vehicle. He had been sent to Wayward Pines to investigate the disappearance of two other agents. His memory is faulty. He can barely remember his own name and his head hurts. He ends up in the hospital, but something is wrong there. As he begins to try and start his investigation into the missing agents, the seemingly idyllic town turns openly hostile towards him. Paranoia sets in for Burke, then outright fear, and the reader goes right along with him. Crouch explored some of these themes in RUN - where the entire world seems to turn against other members of society. Creepy things begin to happen. Burke is hopelessly outnumbered, but what is going on in this strange town? Why do people seem to remember the dates all wrong? Why can't he make an outgoing phone call? Why does everything about Wayward Pines seem wrong and are the electrified fences that also encircle the town meant to keep people in, or keep something out? Each page reveals a new twist. It is nearly impossible to out-guess this brilliantly crafted story - so just go along with it. It is truly a roller coaster ride with so many twists and turns that you might end up with mental whiplash. Crouch crafts characters that are fully formed, all-too real in your imagination. So, with each twist and turn your own heart races for them. You find yourself fully vested in their welfare, which makes the pulse-pounding action and suspense even more nail-biting and intense. This is a book that not only will keep you on the edge of your seat, but up very late into the night. Crouch is a major talent. I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next. He is also a major force in indie publishing, having decided to release RUN last year via Amazon's Kindle platform when other publishers turned it down. As such, I admire him for his writing skills and for his willingness to take chances and strike out on his own. PINES will grip you from the first paragraph and will not release you until the end. That is the most you can ever hope for in a thriller. It is, without a doubt, one of the best books of the year and one of the best thrillers in years. I just wish Crouch wasn't setting the bar so high. Those of us jumping for the bottom rung of the ladder have a lot to live up to. Dammit.

Brief review, no spoilers. I am going to be careful with this summary because the action in the book and the story line in the TV series start to diverge by episode 2. So carefully I am going to say that the story basically concerns a secret service agent named Ethan Burke who wakes up in a hospital after a bad car accident. He had been the passenger in a car driven by another federal agent and they were on their way to a town called Wayward Pines, Idaho. They were sent there to go looking for two missing secret service agents, one of whom was a woman with whom Ethan had previously had an affair. Soon after waking up in the hospital, Ethan is greeted by a strange nurse, remininscent of Nurse Ratched. Ethan does not have his wallet and he is getting no helpful information about what happened from the nurse. So he leaves without permission to wander around the strange town. The phones don't seem to work right, the people in the town seem odd and distant, and he doesn't have his wallet or any money and feels like he is in a daze. Ethan quickly meets up with a local bartender named Beverly who buys his story about being in an accident and having no identifcation. She give him food and drink and leaves him a cyptic message on the bill. Soon enough, Ethan also meets up with a mysterious sheiff named Pope and he seeks help from him to no avail. Ethan also tries to make a phone call to reach his wife and son - who are worried about him back in their hometown in Seattle. What is going on? Why is everyone acting so strangely and why is Ethan unable to leave the town, even when he is able to get a car to drive away and discovers that he keeps looping back into town? Like I said, the TV series closely follows the book until the second episode. Both with the book and with the movie, there is this eerie disturbing Twilight Zone-like feeling and you share Ethan's unease and discomfort. The more he finds out, the more confusing it gets. I continued reading the book because I wanted to know the resolution, and I am glad I did. I didn't think that the author could pull it together to come with a viable solution to the dilemma and I am pleased to say he did, somewhat. At least enough to have it all pull together and explain what went on before. The author claims to have gotten the idea for the book from watching the TV series Twin Peaks as a young boy, and you can definitely see the influence. Do not be worried that you will be frustated by the ending a la the show Lost - this one does have answers. Recommended for those who want a quick, fun read and are fans of Twilight Zone type stories.

This was my third novel by Blake Crouch. I have been rapidly consuming his books like a college student at an all-you-can-eat buffet… I rated the first two I read (Dark Matter and Recursion) both 5 stars and this novel gets the same rating for its fast paced, suspense filled thrill ride. This story features a strong protagonist with supporting characters that are developed and detailed beautifully. This story starts with our protagonist (Ethan) waking by a river, unsure how he got there or where exactly he is at. He is a Secret Service officer on an assignment to determine the whereabouts of two other Secret Service agents who were dispatched in that area to investigate a financial matter. As he wonders into town he heads to a coffee shop for information. He realizes he does not have his badge, firearm, ID or money. In the coffee shop he asks the girl some questions hoping to get answers about himself and where he is at. The only thing he learns is that she does know him. Something about this town is off. Later, Ethan wakes in a hospital where he learns he was in a crash with his assigned partner (who he just met) the partner was killed and Ethan survived. From here the story only gets more mysterious. These people are not who they seem and they seem to be oblivious to reality, they seem to be stuck in 1960.Ethan is determined to get answers and continue with his assignment. He goes into an empty bar and befriends the beautiful bartender (Beverly). She sympathizes with his plight and offers him a beer and a meal. Later when Ethan leaves she gives him her address and say it in case he needs anything. Eventually Ethan realizes he needs to take her up on that because the Sheriff’s office offers no help and he cannot seem to reach anyone outside of town. He walks to her address and finds a dilapidated home that should be condemned. However, Ethan goes in anyway and discovers the foulest stench. The stench of death. He follows this to a room to find a deceased man cuffed to a bed. A man he assumes is his missing Secret Service agent. Ethan soon finds out the Sheriff suspects him of suspicious behavior and questions how he found himself at the house. The Sheriff claims there is no woman who works at the bar and questions if he is telling the truth. There are many strange occurrences in this town and by the end of the story you will have answers and be ready for the next in this series. I really recommend to those who like Suspense, thrillers and/or Sci-Fi

Una lettura bellissima, scorrevole, che travolge e vuoi sempre di più. Non vedo l'ora di finire questo libro e prendermi il secondo!

A thrilling book, can't wait to read the next one. I wouldn't have guessed it was like a dystopian story.

I picked up Pines after someone recommended it as being relevant to my own work. After looking into the concept (and having a little of it spoiled) I knew it was going to be right up my alley. The novel follows Secret Service agent Ethan Burke on an investigation into Wayward Pines, a tiny, isolated town deep in the mountains of Idaho. On arrival, he’s in a terrible car accident, in which his partner dies. From there, things spiral out of control. The idyllic town is far from what it seems, and soon agent Burke is fighting for his life while attempting to unravel an unbelievable mystery. I can’t say any more without serious spoilers. I enjoyed this book though it wasn’t without its flaws. The story is excellent, and the world Crouch has created is thrilling. I’m definitely going to continue the series, so that should confirm the flaws are relatively minor. I didn’t really like Ethan Burke as a person. Honestly, it wouldn’t have bothered me too much if he died. This wasn’t entirely his fault *redacted due to spoilers*, but the fact remains. I will be interested to see how he develops in the next book. The other niggling issue I had was some of the prose. Most of it is fine, but when emphasizing something Crouch has a habit of using sentences that are oddly formed, and it brought me out of the flow every time. The other aspect that bothered me was some of the descriptions, which veered into unusually (unnecessarily) technical / specific. None of the descriptions were inaccurate, they just didn’t feel like they fit the rest of the prose (or the character’s POV). These are relatively minor gripes, and subjective. I still enjoyed the book and will keep reading the series.

Mistério e ficção científica, absolutamente perfeita combinação!

Not the most original story, it is enjoyable and quite gripping. A bit sifi, a bit weird, a bit horror, it's fast let's you power through it in satisfying time. There are, of course, those few instances where it touches on the believability barrier, but otherwise I thought it was a great diversion from weightier reads. Thank you Mr Crouch for entertaining me. On to the next volume.