Helpful Score: 2
PINES was the March 2015 pick in my neighborhood book club.
I give the premise of this story a B+ and the execution a C+. Without spoiling anything, the premise simply falls apart under the gentlest scrutiny once you (and Ethan Burke) finally find out what's going on in Wayward Pines! At the end of the day, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
But the "McGuffin" was there, and it kept me turning the pages to find out exactly what was going on. Though I must say I didn't buy Ethan Burke as a Secret Service agent. His thinking and decision-making made him seem much more small town cop caliber than high-ranking government agent.
Although this was a quick read, there were a few watch-tapping pages where I found myself urging the narrative to get where it was going already!
Overall, I recommend PINES if you enjoy sci-fi thrillers. It starts off like a typical thriller in the first half, but very much becomes a science fiction story by the end. I give it a generous B-. It was interesting but I never got into it enough to want to continue the series. Maybe I'll check out the TV show to see how it compares.
I give the premise of this story a B+ and the execution a C+. Without spoiling anything, the premise simply falls apart under the gentlest scrutiny once you (and Ethan Burke) finally find out what's going on in Wayward Pines! At the end of the day, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
But the "McGuffin" was there, and it kept me turning the pages to find out exactly what was going on. Though I must say I didn't buy Ethan Burke as a Secret Service agent. His thinking and decision-making made him seem much more small town cop caliber than high-ranking government agent.
Although this was a quick read, there were a few watch-tapping pages where I found myself urging the narrative to get where it was going already!
Overall, I recommend PINES if you enjoy sci-fi thrillers. It starts off like a typical thriller in the first half, but very much becomes a science fiction story by the end. I give it a generous B-. It was interesting but I never got into it enough to want to continue the series. Maybe I'll check out the TV show to see how it compares.
Helpful Score: 1
I didn't know this was a sci-fy book and probably would not have picked it up if I did. However once I started it, I felt Ethan's horror and fear as if I was experiencing it myself, and as my anxiety grew stronger, I almost had to put the book down! It pulled me back and I finished it in one evening since I just had to see what was wrong in Waywood Pines. I didn't expect the ending, not my kind of book! I will not read the rest of the series, I really hate horror!
Helpful Score: 1
I had this on my wish list for over a year so finally had the library get it for me, very glad I did, it is more of the syfy genre but it is very good, easy to read and keeps your interest to the end
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, 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 Burke who's barely hanging on for the ride â as jumpy as ever, suspicious and untrusting, back from a bout of short term amnesia, battered and bruised beyond belief and an emotional train wreck.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
Wow! This book really exceeded my expectations! It is a thrill ride. But it gave me a headache in a "We're in the Twilight Zone" kind of way. I kept thinking I might have a clue as to what was going on only to find the further I read, I couldn't even fathom a guess that made sense of all the strange things that came about. Then, I have to say, the answer to what is really going on blew me away! I loved the ending! Can't wait to read the next one in the series!
I ended up really, pleasantly surprised by this book.
I was a fan of the short-lived television show when it aired, and always meant to give the novel a try. Finally, all these years later, I got to it.
While it's very fast reading (could easily be finished in one long sitting), the first half of the book is almost so lightheartedly pulply and void of emotion that it doesn't seem to take itself seriously enough. It was fun, but I didn't feel engaged. The second half, however, changes that completely as we are with Ethan as he fights for his life against a few different groups.
While I knew from the beginning WHAT Wayward Pines was, because of the show all those years ago, I still found myself nearly as in awe as Ethan as the truth is revealed to him. In the end, I just really had a great time reading this.
I was a fan of the short-lived television show when it aired, and always meant to give the novel a try. Finally, all these years later, I got to it.
While it's very fast reading (could easily be finished in one long sitting), the first half of the book is almost so lightheartedly pulply and void of emotion that it doesn't seem to take itself seriously enough. It was fun, but I didn't feel engaged. The second half, however, changes that completely as we are with Ethan as he fights for his life against a few different groups.
While I knew from the beginning WHAT Wayward Pines was, because of the show all those years ago, I still found myself nearly as in awe as Ethan as the truth is revealed to him. In the end, I just really had a great time reading this.
Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, trying to locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the this town one month earlier. Ethan is involved in a violent accident and arrives in the hospital where strange things begin to happen to him. Soon 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? Ethan soon finds out he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. This book was a quick read. I found it to be more of a sci-fi book than a thriller. It is somewhat hard to believe that Ethan is a secret service agent as he seems more like the sheriff he ends up being in Wayward Pines. Crouch also went a bit too far with the story in the end which took away from the book. I also watched the TV series on Fox which was advertised on my book. I actually enjoyed the TV series more than the book. If you enjoyed Stephen King's books, The Stand and Under The Dome then you may enjoy Pines too.
Wow was I impressed with this book. I didn't know when I was getting into when I started reading it although it sounded good and I just subscribed to kindle unlimited so I decided to read it. Wow, I loved it! It only took a day and a half to read. I couldn't stop reading! It keeps you interested and you are never sure what is going to happened next! As I got going, I started getting worried about Ethan and what was going to happen to him and how the story would change and was I surprised at the ending. But it was a good ending and its a book you are going to very much enjoy reading! I'm going to the next one, Wayward, right now!
Ethan Burke is a secret service agent who has arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two of his colleagues that have gone missing. He is involved in an accident with a truck upon reaching the town. He awakens in a hospital with no phone, no ID, nothing of his personal possessions. There are times when he is not really sure of who he is.
He leaves the hospital in search of law enforcement to acquire his personal items, but the sheriff tells him that he does not have those objects. When he uses a land phone to call his wife and son, he can not get through.
Ethan explores Wayward Pines and there are many instances of things not being normal.
This was a good story, just a little bit too much physical description of violence and body trauma for my taste.
He leaves the hospital in search of law enforcement to acquire his personal items, but the sheriff tells him that he does not have those objects. When he uses a land phone to call his wife and son, he can not get through.
Ethan explores Wayward Pines and there are many instances of things not being normal.
This was a good story, just a little bit too much physical description of violence and body trauma for my taste.
If you're looking for a great thriller author, Blake Crouch is your guy. This book was nonstop with a crazy twist at the end. I can see why it has been turned into a tv show. I can't wait to see what happens in the next two books
Wow - this story is really hard to thumbnail and I don't want to spoil your read. Believe me it's better to go into this story cold.
Pines is fast paced and endlessly changing. The things that don't make sense outnumber the things that did by a factor of infinity x mc2. The suspense factor is huge. It was impossible not to invest in the MC - Ethan Burke; a secret Service Agent stuck in a small isolated community, cut off any outside help. I connected with him immediately and winced right along with him as he hit wall after metaphoric wall
I read this story much faster than I intended to because the tension never let up. For every nugget of formation gleaned 3 more unknowns popped up. And the suspense was relentless. Why? Who? WTH? Why why why? WHAT?!
I admit it was pretty frustrating, but it turns out there was an important reason for all that tension. And I was pretty pleased with the way it concluded. Now that I've finished I sort of wish I had broken the read up over several days. Taken the time to enjoy the nuances of Crouch's writing because the man has Skills. But I couldn't. I had to know what was going to happen next and how Crouch was going to say it.
If you are a patient reader in the mood for a taut psychological thriller with an amazing fantasy twist, Wayward Pines won't disappoint.
Pines is fast paced and endlessly changing. The things that don't make sense outnumber the things that did by a factor of infinity x mc2. The suspense factor is huge. It was impossible not to invest in the MC - Ethan Burke; a secret Service Agent stuck in a small isolated community, cut off any outside help. I connected with him immediately and winced right along with him as he hit wall after metaphoric wall
I read this story much faster than I intended to because the tension never let up. For every nugget of formation gleaned 3 more unknowns popped up. And the suspense was relentless. Why? Who? WTH? Why why why? WHAT?!
I admit it was pretty frustrating, but it turns out there was an important reason for all that tension. And I was pretty pleased with the way it concluded. Now that I've finished I sort of wish I had broken the read up over several days. Taken the time to enjoy the nuances of Crouch's writing because the man has Skills. But I couldn't. I had to know what was going to happen next and how Crouch was going to say it.
If you are a patient reader in the mood for a taut psychological thriller with an amazing fantasy twist, Wayward Pines won't disappoint.
Wow was I impressed with this book. I didn't know when I was getting into when I started reading it although it sounded good and I just subscribed to kindle unlimited so I decided to read it. Wow, I loved it! It only took a day and a half to read. I couldn't stop reading! It keeps you interested and you are never sure what is going to happened next! As I got going, I started getting worried about Ethan and what was going to happen to him and how the story would change and was I surprised at the ending. But it was a good ending and its a book you are going to very much enjoy reading! I'm going to the next one, Wayward, right now!
