Pines (Wayward Pines) Paperback – August 21, 2012

I'm kind of a book snob, it's a problem because it has become really hard for me to find books I enjoy reading. So much so that I took a few years off reading because I couldn't find anything I wanted to read. Well, in fall of 2022 I read my first book in years and it was Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and it was so insanely good I was blown away and it motivated me to read more. I then read this series and I was HOOKED, I couldn't put these down I was addicted!! This series is so good, I had no idea what was happening or what the plot even really was as I was reading through it just like with Dark Matter It was really nice to have a thriller that kept me in suspense for once. I had to a break from this genre for a bit but I can not wait to read more of his novels!!!!

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.

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.

I love dystopian novels and this one fits the bill really well. Is it full of in-depth introspective prose? No. So if that’s what you like, this is not the book for you. If you enjoy an easy read that has a fast and engaging story you can enjoy at the beach. Buy it now.

A story with more twists and turns than a corkscrew the town of wayward pines seems like the perfect town on the surface.

L'idea che muove la storia è affascinante, ma il plot è sproporzionato. Gran parte del libro racconta in modo puntiglioso e prolisso di una fuga e di un inseguimento. Tutto è molto surreale e solo nelle ultime pagine si giunge ad una spiegazione certamente plausibile. Peccato buttare via così una intuizione tanto originale.

綺麗に無駄なく梱包されての、イギリスよりの配送。満足です❗

I really liked the story,although the plot was predictable from the first chapter. It's good to find new science fiction books , the best ones are still dated from the 50's.

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

Avvincente, letteralmente divorato in pochissimo tempo. Comprato dopo le prime puntate in TV della serie, non volevo aspettare anni per sapere come finiva. Trovo la storia molto originale, difficile da immaginare come possa finire. L 'idea che ci si possa svegliare nel futuro, in un mondo in cui l'umanità è ridotta ad un piccolo gruppo accerchiato da una nuova razza più simile ad un animale che un essere umano è davvero angosciante. Questo è il primo della serie di tre libri, anche quelli comprati e letti subito.Consigliato se anche voi non avete la pazienza di aspettare settimana dopo settimana per anni di sapere come finisce.