Book Review: "Pines" by Blake Crouch

Blake Crouch's Pines is the first installment of the Wayward Pines Trilogy. I only heard of this book after an intriguing preview for the 10-episode television adaptation starring Matt Dillon as the story's main protagonist, Ethan Burke. If you're a fan of stories with a great twist then this is definitely a story for you. I like being surprised by a read, and this was definitely a surprise.

From watching the show I expected a lot of the confusion, the dark tone, the mysterious and inescapable setting of Wayward Pines, Idaho. What I didn't expect from the book was the depth of character development and the relentless pacing of a well configured thriller that makes the reader as mentally exhausted as the protagonist. The plot is intriguing, and though there is a big spoiler at the end of the first book - I'm not entirely sure it's the truth. I guess I have to keep reading to find out.

Ethan Burke is an ex-military, secret service agent working a missing persons case for two fellow agents that disappeared. On his way to track them down at their last known location, Ethan is in a terrible car crash that leaves him with some amnesia and physical injuries. However, Ethan doesn't wake up in a hospital; he wakes up beside a creek in a town that is absolutely foreign to him. As Ethan roams through town trying to track down his cell phone and his wallet, the strangeness of Wayward Pines, Idaho becomes apparent.