Pines by Blake Crouch #BookReview

Wayward Pines, Idaho, is quintessential small-town America–or so it seems. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but sometimes feels…off. As days pass, Ethan’s investigation into his colleagues’ disappearance turns up more questions than answers

WHY CAN’T HE MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD? WHY DOESN’T ANYONE BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS? AND WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTRIFIED FENCES ENCIRCLING THE TOWN? ARE THEY KEEPING THE RESIDENTS IN? OR SOMETHING ELSE OUT?

Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive…..

Title: Pines | Author: Blake Crouch | Series: Wayward Pines #1 | Publisher: Thomas & Mercer | Pub. Date: 21 Aug 2012 | Pages: 305| ISBN: 9781612183954 | Genre: Sci-Fi | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Source: Self-purchased

Pines Review

Mysterious, intriguing and tension building, what on Earth is happening in this little town called Wayward Pines?

Since watching ‘Wayward Pines’ the TV show back in 2015, I was so hooked to find out what was going on and intrigued for answers. Since then I have been hunting in charity shops for copies of the books (it gives me more of a thrill then going straight online) and years later, when I still hadn’t manged to find any in the wild, I saw Pines in the Audible sale and with no question hit ‘Buy Now’.

It’s been a few years since then, but I always wanted to read it to get answers that I never felt were delivered at the end of the TV show, especially with its fairly unexpected cancellation. I didn’t go into this book with any idea of where it would get up to, but I am mostly content with what this book delivered. This book is filled with a tonne of descriptions that could feel pretty repetitive and to be honest, it was quite a slow burner. I love the concept of the story but it was a mix of things either happening too quickly or too slowly. Despite this, it is certainly a quick read. On your road to answers, the pages will fly by.

The sci-fi is fairly unbelievable and unrealistic, so if you’re happy to be swept along in the fiction then this is definitely worth a go. The writing style is fairly fragmented, but I listened to this on Audible so for any listeners as opposed to readers, you shouldn’t suffer from this if that style isn’t your thing.

I think I feel slightly bias towards to the TV series, which is why normally I prefer going into books completely blind. Where I delved in here for answers, I found fairly shallow waters, but it certainly holds promise for how things might continue in the rest of the trilogy.

3 stars from me, I will definitely carry on with the series and see where things lead!

---

You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on GoodReads  (Buying direct from retailers is a good way to support indie authors); however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.