Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Mar 18, 2015 Erin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-review

ARC for review. This is an older book, so I'm assuming it's being re-released to coincide with the TV show?

This book has been on my radar since it was released....it's exactly "my" kind of book, would always come up as a recommendation on sites that use that sort of thing and each time I would look at the description and think......"Nah. Looks like it might be a big dud."

I could punch myself in the face.

This book is awesome. OK, I'm going to say it's a QUALIFIED awesome, a la The Hunger Games ARC for review. This is an older book, so I'm assuming it's being re-released to coincide with the TV show?

This book has been on my radar since it was released....it's exactly "my" kind of book, would always come up as a recommendation on sites that use that sort of thing and each time I would look at the description and think......"Nah. Looks like it might be a big dud."

I could punch myself in the face.

This book is awesome. OK, I'm going to say it's a QUALIFIED awesome, a la The Hunger Games where book 1 in the series was a five star, totally great read and the books decreased in quality after that, which spoils the love I have for the first book just a bit (Tip o' the Hat to myself - in my review of THG I lamented the fact that it was set up for sequels). Anyway, I don't know how I'll feel about the additional books in the Wayward Pines series, but I do know that I'll be reading them posthaste.

Ethan Burke is a Secret Service agent. He and his partner are sent to Wayward Pines, Idaho to search for two agents who have disappeared. If you are thinking "I liked this a lot when it was a show called "Twin Peaks" you aren't wrong. Crouch says that "Twin Peaks" is his all time favorite show (I loved it too) and that the entire Pines series is inspired by the way the show made him feel...an apt comparison, I believe, and I hope that David Lynch has read this book and sent Crouch a nice note....he deserves it.

Anyway, Burke arrives in Wayward Pines....and then wakes up along side a river with no wallet, no ID and no idea what has happened. And that may be the BEST thing that happens to Burke that day because Wayward Pines is one weird town.

This is a tough book to review without spoilers, so I'll just recommend it to any fan of "Twin Peaks" or thrillers in general...as I mentioned above it is going to be an M. Night Shymalan television series, so the book will likely be available in mass market paperback soon - and you'll want to read it before the show premieres. I know I'll be watching. ...more

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Jul 30, 2016 Thomas rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, 2016, science-fiction

Pines is one of those books that is all premise. Our main character, Ethan, wakes up in a small town with no memory of how he got there. Through the course of the story, it becomes clear that things are not all normal in the town of Wayward Pines, and the story develops as Ethan strives to get answers to his questions.

The mystery behind Wayward Pines builds slowly, without the author relying too much on the cliches that usually go with this type of story. There's not a sense of the residents of Pines is one of those books that is all premise. Our main character, Ethan, wakes up in a small town with no memory of how he got there. Through the course of the story, it becomes clear that things are not all normal in the town of Wayward Pines, and the story develops as Ethan strives to get answers to his questions.

The mystery behind Wayward Pines builds slowly, without the author relying too much on the cliches that usually go with this type of story. There's not a sense of the residents of the town being in on the secret, meaning that Ethan really is the lone exception to the town's serenity (almost), and as the story develops from Ethan's point of view, his confusion is our confusion. That part of the story was well done, and kept me reading longer than I expected to.

Beyond that, though, the story is just OK at best. The characterization is fairly weak (the only character with any development is Ethan, and even then, he feels one-dimensional), the writing in places is poor, and the pacing is uneven. The opening of the book involves Ethan dealing with his amnesia, giving the impression that recollecting his memory will be a critical part of the story. Instead, it's resolved by the end of the first chapter, making me wonder why Crouch didn't just start with chapter two, especially since his amnesia remains a factor in the story from that point forward.

The end of the book is a clear indication that this book was intended to be just the start of a larger story, which was a bit of an annoyance. The book feels complete, in that the primary conflict is Ethan searching for answers, which he gets, but at the same time, what we get at the end is just a set up for a larger story. I knew going into the book that it was the first of a trilogy, but that kind of ending makes the book feel less consequential, less significant even, because what conflict we just read isn't even the real story. I felt the same way after reading The Maze Runner.

Crouch uses a lot of half-sentences in his writing, which distracted me. He starts off several lines with the verb ("Realized he should've just taken the stairs."), or he writes them as just a subject ("Group of ranch hands huddled around a campfire."). I get the feeling he's trying to use the fragments for effect, but I can't see why he doesn't just make them complete sentences. It wouldn't have made any difference in the narrative, save for not dragging me out of the story.

The story moves quickly, and is compelling, despite Crouch's taking liberties with his sentence structure. The third act slows down with a lot of description involving exploration, which felt overdrawn and overdone, but the rest of it is electric, keeping the reader guessing as to what's going on. I had concerns that the ending wouldn't convince me that the rest of the story was necessary (there was one moment where I thought the internal logic of the story had broken, but Crouch managed to explain that away without cheating), but I was pleasantly surprised.

Pines feels most like a YA novel, with its throwbacks to The Hunger Games and the aforementioned The Maze Runner, but it seems like the book was written for an adult audience. It's a strange dichotomy, but it's not unique to this book; Poe had a similar feel to it. The story is engaging enough for me to want to continue reading the series, but I hope the later books feel more like they live up to their potential. ...more

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Mar 31, 2015 Nicole rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalyptic-dystopian, dystopian, netgalley, book-to-movie, read-in-2015

This book is right up my alley. I can't tell you how much I dug the out-of-sync vibe I got from this book right away. If you know me, I love "wtf is going on?" books as much as anyone possibly can, and this book hooked me in and I sank right down through the reveal, which did not disappoint.

Ethan wakes up next to a river...

Wait, let me skip ahead and then back up.

Ethan Burke is a Secret Service agent -slash- husband & dad to Theresa and Ben (age 6). He's been unfaithful, but they're working thro ...more

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May 27, 2015 Kristen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebooks, 2015

Holy cow! This was great. I heard about this series like many others; I started watching the miniseries when it aired, but then got sidetracked. I'm glad I did, because I like reading without knowing what's going to happen.

I was surprised at the circumstances surrounding the tiny hamlet of Wayward Pines and was apprehensive as to where Crouch was going with it. I like it, though.

It's an extremely fast read, in my opinion. ...more

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