Pines by Blake Crouch (2012)
Fantastic: frustrating at times
Book cover blurb
Wayward Pines, Idaho, is quintessential small-town America - or so it seems. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but sometimes feels...off. As days pass, Ethan's investigation into his colleagues' disappearance turns up more questions than answers.
WHY CAN'T HE MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD? WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS? AND WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTRIFIED FENCES ENCIRCLING THE TOWN? ARE THEY KEEPING THE RESIDENTS IN? OR SOMETHING ELSE OUT?
Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face a horrifying possibility that he may never leave Wayward Pines alive.....
My Review
Great book but I think Crouch just tries too hard and ends up over-egging his own pudding. Let me explain.
This is the third Blake Crouch book I've read and the previous two, Dark Matter and Recursion, I had some major issues with, and I think I've finally realised what my problem is. I think he simply adds too much, he tries too hard. Just because you like sugar in your coffee you don't dump ten spoonfuls of it in there because it'll destroy it, you add just enough to make it just right. Someone needs to confiscate Mr Crouch's spoon!
My criticisms come from a place of frustration because I love these books, especially this one. Pines is probably my favourite to date, but there's always a section or two in his books where I end up pulling out my hair, or I would if I had any, and screaming 'Why did you do that!' and Pines is just the same. Which is really unfortunate because this book came close to making my all-time favourites list.
The beginning of the book is a complete mind-bender, a full-on psychological trip. And I was loving it. Not knowing what the hell is going on, and the tension of having to discover at the same pace as the protagonist is fantastic, and Crouch does it brilliantly in this book. But then things degenerate into a bit of a trope, but that's ok, I can live with that. Until we get to THAT scene. Where the town's entire population, for some unfathomably ridiculous reason in Halloween dress, go on a murder frenzy. NO NO NO! It doesn't work, it makes no sense and it just doesn't fit at all. Why!? I'm trying to be as vague as possible here in case you haven't read the book. But this just cheapens the writing and utterly destroys all the beautiful work Crouch put in before this.
Then there's the rock-face climb, tense, dramatic and gripping...until the pack of creepy alien-looking creatures turns up out of the blue. NO NO NO! It's not needed! It's cheap titillation which kills the real tension the main character is going through. And the fact that they are dispatched so easily and quickly is just comical.
Ok, after all that please let me apologise, I don't usually go off on one like that, but this book could have been so damn good! I've still given it four stars, even though it really, really, should have been a solid five-star book. And yes, I have the second and third books, Wayward and The Last Town, and I will be reading them. I'm actually intrigued to see how a strong and driven man like Ethan manages to handle working under a morally bankrupt man like Pilcher, and the murder frenzying townsfolk of course...if I must.
My copy of this novel
Thomas & Mercer paperback edition.
Published in 2012
305 pages
ISBN 9781612183954