Title: Pines (#1)
Author: Blake Crouch
Dates Published: August 21, 2012; September 17, 2013; July 15, 2014
Dates Read: October 10-17, 2016
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/SciFi/Dystopia
PBAS (Protagonist Bad-Ass Scale) – 4/5 – Ethan is an FBI agent, with extreme physical training, and former military with combat/war zone experience. The only thing that stops him from being a 5/5 is the fact that he still manages to get his butt kicked on quite a few occasions. But hey, he is a bit rusty because it has been a few years since he has had to use his training…Pam, now Pam (who is one of the antagonists), she is a 5/5! Use it or lose it people! Stay fit, becuase you never know when you will have to defeat a 20 year old ninja chick.
Amazon Purchase Link: Wayward Pines
Summary from Goodreads
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.
I admit, this is one of the cases where I had never heard of these books, or even the author, until I watched the television series Wayward Pines, by M. Night Shyamalan. I loved the television show, and upon watching the full credits, I saw the “based on the books by Blake Crouch.” Now, as an avid reader and a fan of the television show, I was definitely intrigued. My opinion on books that become TV shows/movies, is that 99% of the time, the book is better (Unless there are almost no similarities between the books and TV show/movie….ehem, True Blood). So if I liked the show, I would love the book, right?
Well, yay! In this case, I was correct!
First off, if you have never seen the TV show, then definitely read the books first. Per the norm, you get better character descriptions, better back story, more details, etc, with the book. You can really get yourself in Ethan’s head, especially when strange things start happening in this town. As a federal agent, he is used to order and law, but in this town, there is no law that he is familiar with. How he is treated, especially when dealing with medical practices, is immoral to our social standards. More and more questions arise as he deals with the town and its inhabitants. Something always prevents him from leaving….
Through resourcefulness and previous experience, he manages to get the answers he seeks, and it is more chilling than he could have ever imagines.
Pines is the first of three books in the Wayward Pines series by Black Crouch, and it will definitely leave you thinking, head spinning, and wondering.
Final Verdict: 4.5/5 stars. A must read! Only took half a star off because there is a scene near the end of the book that feels a bit repetitive…(I GET it, hes climbing! oh my god, move on) But it was hard to put it down either way, and I was engaged almost the entire time. Next two reviews are coming!
