Pines

Wayward Pines, #1

Audiobook

English language

Published May 25, 2023 by Macmillan.

ISBN:: 978-1-5290-9981-2

(31 reviews)

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a mission: locate 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.

As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation 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 farther from the world he knew, from the man he was, until he must face a horrifying fact – he may never get …

Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan farther from the world he knew, from the man he was, until he must face a horrifying fact – he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.

2 editions

mopedad reviewed Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) by Blake Crouch

Looking forward to the rest of the trilogy

3 stars

Content warning Thematic spoilers

I enjoyed the first half more than the latter. It was very much scratching that “locals obfuscating possible malice through ignorance” itch that is common in noir and mystery (think Twin Peaks, The Wicker Man, U-Turn, etc.).

It quickly trades it for undisguised terror mixed with a lot of elements that remind me of Lost (time shenanigans, a literal monster in the woods, etc.). Unlike Lost, almost every mystery is answered at the end, but then we’re left with the unfortunate strain of dystopia fiction where the dangers of the world justify fascism and man-made terror, all the while preserving Americana. No thanks.

I’m interested in the sequels because the world was built up fantastically, but it’ll be interesting which themes from the first will remain with so much already revealed.

Michael David Adams reviewed Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) by Blake Crouch

Review of 'Pines (Wayward Pines, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I enjoyed this book because I knew what the secret was. If I went into this book blind, I would have been disappointed. You only find out what’s going on in the last few chapters. It seems kinda lazy (and boring) to only explain the entire mystery in the last few chapters.

ironicsans reviewed Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) by Blake Crouch

Review of 'Pines (Wayward Pines, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Meh. This book was well written but wasn’t satisfying. For most of the book the protagonist wasn’t acting with agency, just reacting to things that happened to him, which just wasn’t that interesting. The ending did answer some mysteries better than I predicted, but the experience overall wasn’t good enough to get me to read the rest of the trilogy.