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When my son bought me a Kindle Fire, the first thing I discovered was Amazon.com’s lending library, and I quickly grabbed a copy of Blake Crouch’s Pines—mostly because the cover art looked appealing. As it turns out, the rest of the book was just as interesting.
Agent Ethan Burke wakes up near a river in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with no clear memory of how he got there. He vaguely remembers a Mack truck plowing into him and his partner. On their way to find missing agents Bill Evans and Kate Hewson, the mission ended up horribly side-tracked, and now Ethan can’t find his partner.
After wandering around town for several hours, Ethan ends up in a hospital, but something feels wrong. The nurse won’t return his cell phone, so he can’t call his family. Sheriff Arnold Pope treats him like he’s done something wrong. And the only person who seems to want to help him apparently doesn’t exist.
Scared and confused but determined to find out what’s going on in the eerie little town of Wayward Pines, Ethan strikes out to uncover the truth—with devastating and horrendous results.
Fresh and engrossing, with a shock around every plot twist, Pines quickly captured my attention and wouldn’t let go. The need to figure out what was going on in Wayward Pines kept me on the edge of my seat, unwilling and unable to set the book aside even for a minute.
Ethan Burke will draw your sympathy and admiration as he fights against something that he doesn’t understand. He refuses to be one of the ignorant masses who just accept their fate and carry on as one more drone in the cogwheel of life. You’ll marvel at how he keeps going even after facing insurmountable odds.
Spooky elements add a bit of creepiness to this thoroughly engaging science-fiction thriller. Filled with plenty of mystery and grab-you-by-the-throat action, Pines once again reminded me why I love to read. I plan on keeping a lookout for more from Blake Crouch in the future.
