Blake Crouch

Pines

"Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels ... off. As the days pass, Ethan's investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can't he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn't anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact - he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive" -- Author's website.

a novel

Secret Service agent, Ethan Burke, ends up in this idyllic town after suffering injuries — including amnesia — from a car accident. Something weird is clearly going on in the town, and he needs to get to the bottom of it.

This is told in third person limited; so while we’re not exactly in the main character’s head, we can only experience what he’s experiencing, and it’s disorienting as hell.

From where we start to where we end up is a complete narrative shift that I couldn’t have predicted. I’m very glad that I wasn’t able to parse together what was happening by the end; I just wish we’d have gotten there a bit sooner. Some of the middle of this book felt a bit sluggish, and it messed up the pacing. But overall, I thought this was very fun, and I will be continuing the series because I need to know what’s going to happen.

Nik ✨

Secret Service agent, Ethan Burke, ends up in this idyllic town after suffering injuries — including amnesia — from a car accident. Something weird is clearly going on in the town, and he needs to get to the bottom of it.

This is told in third person limited; so while we’re not exactly in the main character’s head, we can only experience what he’s experiencing, and it’s disorienting as hell.

From where we start to where we end up is a complete narrative shift that I couldn’t have predicted. I’m very glad that I wasn’t able to parse together what was happening by the end; I just wish we’d have gotten there a bit sooner. Some of the middle of this book felt a bit sluggish, and it messed up the pacing. But overall, I thought this was very fun, and I will be continuing the series because I need to know what’s going to happen.

kept me hooked throughout and it's a trilogy. excited to see what's next. 

Sarah Henry

Megan Helberg Keiser

Tobias V. Langhoff

I love Twin Peaks and Alan Wake (mostly the video game, although I’ve also reviewed the novelization). More recently I have also played games like Life is Strange and OXENFREE, as well as watched Gravity Falls. These are all mysteries that take place in the eerie woods of the Northwestern United States, a setting that rarely fails to engage me.

This includes Pines, the first novel in the Wayward Pines series, which has recently been adapted to the small screen by M. Night Shyamalan. The setting is dark and exciting, the mysteries abound and imploring. It feels like the aforementioned pieces of media, mixed with the original The Wicker Man and The Village.

Unfortunately, though, I didn’t much care for the way the book was written. It has a disjointed and stilted style with short and bland sentences and paragraphs. It’s not poorly written, and I’m sure the style is intentional, but I felt like I had to wrestle with the prose to follow the (gripping, to be sure) plot. Although far from the entire book feels like a movie script, this passage is an example of the style (no spoilers, just saving space):

(view spoiler)[He unlatched the gate, pushed it open.
Walked up an old stone path to the porch.
The steps creaked under his weight.
Then he stood at the front door.
He could hear voices on the other side.
Footsteps.
A part of him didn’t want to knock.
He rapped his knucles on the glass of the outer door, took a step back.
Waited a full minute, but no one came. (hide spoiler)]

The plot is also delivered in a stilted way. The main character tries to figure out the enigmas of the off-kilter Idaho town he finds himself in, moving between a hospital, a hotel, a bar, the sheriff’s office – and then he retraces his steps and move through the same locations again. And again. It’s a small town, to be sure, and the protagonist circumnavigates it several times, dropping by the same spots every time. The uncovering of the town’s mysteries is also stopped short by a chase sequence that drags on a little too long, although it’s always nerve-inducing.

The novel is a quick read, however, and you always want to read on. I had a good time. The plot changes drastically by the end (without further comparison, the shift in story reminded me of Wool Omnibus and its sequel Shift), but I will probably check out the TV series (especially considering the movie script style of some passages), if not the sequels to the novel.

3.50 of 5 stars 

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The weirdness and strangeness of this book in the first part creeps me out a little and it was what fully grabbed my attention. My curiosity of what was really happening is what makes me keep turning the pages. I liked the concept of this, actually. I don't usually read sci-fi books because I rarely stumble upon those books that really caught my attention. This trilogy got my interest because of Emily Fox, one of my favorite booktuber. I just got into her channel and she used to hype about this trilogy so much and considered this as one of her favorite books. And I now understand why. This book, for the most part, got me at the edge of my seat. This is the kind of book that I want to finish as quickly as possible because I am dying to know the end of it. Though, 60-70% pages in, it got dragged and I got bored a little, but it picked up its pace at the end. I enjoyed reading this a lot. I will definitely dive into the second book soon.

Geoffrey Froggatt

Ethan, our protagonist, awakens in an unfamiliar town with no ID, no gun, no wallet, no cell phone, and no memory. He slowly comes to find himself in the pretty valley town of Wayward Pines, Idaho where he was sent to investigate the disappearance of two colleagues; but once he arrives, he finds that he cannot leave. I was a fan of the television show, but only remember certain story beats and not the overall story itself. I remember the first and second season and how the show was cancelled, and I distinctly remember a drop in quality in the second season. Regardless, I wanted to jump into this book trilogy and see how it stood on its own. Instantly I loved the amnesiac aspect of the beginning of the book, despite how short it was. I liked how we had a sense of mystery and stakes, especially with Ethan not sure where he is, who hurt him, or even who he is. I was surprised how much this section of the beginning reminded me of Silent Hill, with a protagonist dreamily walking through a quaint and mysterious town. I loved the Twin Peaks vibes throughout the story, and I loved the subtle hints the author drops for the reader to know that something is wrong with the strange town of Wayward Pines. I liked how the mysteries unfolded and how Ethan discovered the secrets of Wayward Pines. The secondary characters were interesting and filled the world nicely. I think this novel sets up the foundations of this story nicely, and does a decent job as a standalone, but this book really is meant to be read with the next few books on hand. I liked how Ethan learned to adjust to his situation no matter how many times his circumstances changed. I loved seeing him come to accept his new normal. This book felt more like a the pilot episode of a television show rather than the first third of a trilogy, so it wasn’t as satisfying as a first instalment for me, though it was fun. I think fans of the television show will enjoy the books but I think most of those fans will have to finish the entire trilogy to find anything new or satisfying. I loved the mysterious atmosphere, and how exciting it was getting answers to the mysteries. I think that most mystery stories struggle to deliver satisfying answers and adjusting the story to the new normal, but I think that this book does it well. I highly recommend this book for fans of science fiction and mystery stories.

Janice Hopper

I hated everything about this book. I hated the stupid plot, where characters are kept in the dark just so the author can build an artificial tension. I hated what the main character had to go through. I did not believe his endurance through his trials. 

And most of all, I hated the STUPID, TOTALLY UNBELIEVABLE ENDING. Jeezopete. 

I hate-skimmed most of the story just to find out how the author was going to wind everything up. It's all manipulative in an ugly, obvious way. It made me angry. 

So: not a book for me. Thank goodness I got it through the Kindle Prime Reading program, & didn't actually spend $$ on it.

Leonor Ribeiro 

Neil Murray

4.5

This is like a cross between Twin Peaks and The Trueman Show and as a big fan of both, I really enjoyed this!

Elisa Bieg

3 1/2 STARS

This book was recommended to me while discussing on Litsy how much I liked Blake Crouch’s newest sci-fi thriller, Dark Matter , which was one of my top reads of 2017 (an one of my rare 5-star ratings). 

I know this has been adapted for TV, but I don’t think it’s as good. I really liked the fact that I absolutely couldn’t tell what was going on 😅 — things were just so weird and kept getting weirder! But when the big reveal finally came, I found it a bit of a let-down... though I can’t tell you why without spoiling the whole book for you, and I’m not going to do that, because the first half of the book is definitely the best part. 

There is also a fair bit of fairly graphic violence and I personally do not enjoy reading that type of content. 

Still, even with the things I didn’t like, I couldn’t take off more than half a star from my original rating, because this is a good thriller and I like Blake Crouch’s writing. 

I don’t know yet if I’m going to read the rest of the trilogy or not, but if you like thrillers with a hint of sci-fi, I’d definitely recommend this.

P.S. I definitely got a Twin Peaks vibe while reading. Then I saw on the Final Notes that Crouch was inspired by the show! So if you like Twin Peaks, you might enjoy this.

Alfredo santos

Couldn't drop it for 5 days until it was over. Good entertaining easy read, thriller style.

Maggie Gordon

WOW that was a hell of a ride! Pines starts with a bang and does not let up once throughout the entire book. It's creepy, thrilling, and doesn't let you put it down!

Melanie Richards

NO idea how to rate this one so I'll rate it a 3. With a side note that I'm officially weary of the "exceptional white dude" trope.

Molly Morgan

I have been thinking about this book for days after finishing it! The premise is so good and it's written so well.

I never watched the TV show, so all the little twists and turns were surprises to me. I loved it. My only issues was some confusion with the aggression of the townspeople. I don't understand *the culling* aspect, but ya know.. to each fucked up town their own.

Kate Gravelle

Crouch creates worlds that I would be so terrified to live in!

Luna

** spoiler alert **
           you can’t ?? do ??? that ???? this book is in ethan’s head the WHOLE time. and then at the end the reasoning behind the plot “oh yeah well ethan did this” when we know he didn’t because we didn’t see it ???? i seriously don’t get this “yeah this really interesting thing already happened three times but for some reason the character decided not to write about almost dying THREE times but about how he wishes every woman around him was 20 instead” trope. it’s not cool, it’s just lazy. 

and ethan suddenly turning on his morals at the end to be with his ‘family’ that he “loves” when he literally cheated on his wife ??? sorry i don’t buy that motivation & also THERESEA DESERVED BETTER. ethan sucks. 

and lastly if you’re going to mention castration just do it. please. don’t get my hopes up mr. crotch. i want to see a man who learns he’s still a valid person without a weenie and MAYBE that could’ve been used to actually redeem his cheating (“oh i just kissed the girl with pretty eyes bc i didn’t think my wife would love me if i couldn’t boink her” instead of “yeah i cheated on my wife who i have a son with. no i do not have a single reason”) like ??? 

anyways i don’t love the author or ethan or the plot oh my GOD 

i forgot to mention getting to the most interesting part at the end when we’re waiting for an explanation and blake crouch had the balls to say “yeah i didn’t write that part. use your imagination” i am wheezing omg you’re the author here 


so i don’t want to continue but now i will continue my ethan-is-actually-not-bad-because-he-is-our-enoch-king storyline in my head so thank u for the idea. the medical torture was 10/10 though. loved that for us

Olivera Mitić

Ovakav tip knjige se čita jer želiš da te veliki preokret na kraju oduva s nogu, a sve ovo stalo nije toliko bitno. Iako sam mogla da oprostim neke stvari koje nisu bile po mom ukusu što se tiče građenja likova i stila pisanja, sam taj plot twist mi prosto nije legao u potpunosti i i dalje nisam sigurna šta mislim o njemu. 

Btw šta je ovaj čika pisao u još dva dela serijala mi apsolutno nije jasno, ali ovo solidno može da stoji samostalno. 

Svakako je Pajns ekstremno čitljiv roman i drži pažnju sve vreme. Šta smo sve čitali za buk klab, nije ovo ni loše (da malo sebi opravdam što sam izabrala ovu knjigu kad je na mene bio red da biram).

Cat H

3.5 stars. Not really sure how I feel at this point. The majority feels like a bad dream/ fugue state. And then the ending has such a twist that now I must read the rest. There are parts I really enjoy and there are sections that are very slow, but the twist makes up for that. 
P.s. always go into sci-fi thrillers with an open mind.

TW: group violence, group murder, drugging

Ruth Parker 

Damn this book was pure Twin Peaks and The Prisoner. Loved it. Just loved it. No idea how the story will work out into a trilogy though. Onto the next one I go!

Elaine

Although vastly different from what I expected, I really enjoyed this one. I loved the writing and the moodiness of the whole novel. The beginning grabbed me and it wouldn't let me go throughout the whole novel.

Pepper

With this book I'm officially giving up on the author. 

The building up to reveal the mystery is unbearable. You spend the whole book following a character who's just running away from things without having any clue what is going on. He hasn't eaten for three days, brutally hurt and is also bleeding, but somehow he's strong enough to just keep walking. I didn't give two shits if about him. In fact, I was hoping the asshole would die sooner, so the story would just end. 

His writing is beyond terrible. I was so frustrated while I was reading this book. Nothing is clear while I'm reading. I used to read a page or two just to realize I've not really understood anything. All I know about the character is his name and job. That's the extent of character development we have. 

God! I have never been this angry at a book before. I really don't understand how the publishers even decided to get this published. And then this was made into a TV series? Are you kidding me?

Anastaciya

wow... well, that was unexpected. And that's a first of a trilogy. Can't even imagine what's in the other two books, huh.

Rebeca 

4 stars!!!! 

This was actually super good!!!! Would not have expected it or anything that happened! Would recommend.

Pines

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