Pines by Blake Crouch

Secret Service Ethan Burke has a problem. He and another agent were sent to locate two missing agents in Wayward Pines, Idaho. Right after pulling into town they are struck by a large 18 wheeler. After waking up in the hospital Ethan discovers that things are odd in this town. He can’t seem to get out of the town of Wayward Pines. He remembers his car getting hit by the truck, but the rest of his memories are vague. The whole town seems odd. The doctor doesn’t check on his patients. The sheriff is not at all helpful. All Ethan really wants is to phone home, to talk to his supervisor, and to find his wallet so he can get a hotel room and something to eat. Before long he makes a staggering discovery and things go from bad to worse.

Now Ethan has to use all of his skills to stay alive and to escape the town. But how do you escape a town surrounded by steep cliffs and an electric fence? Why is everyone acting so odd. Who is the mysterious woman who seems to be helping him, but whose existence is denied by everyone else. The answers to these questions will leave Ethan stunned and changed.

Pines is a fascinating book. I have to admit that I had several near misses with this book. It seemed really interesting at first, then it got a little weird and I thought it might be going a way I didn’t care for. I pushed on, still intrigued and started to like it again. Then it looked like it might be something in the same vein as the TV series LOST and I really wanted to stop. I didn’t like that particular series at all. But I pushed on and realized that I was wrong in my fears. By the end it had really gripped me. I can’t say much more about the plot than that. I don’t want to give anything away and this is a book that is hard to talk about without giving too much away.

The characters are interesting. There is a full picture of Ethan that develops throughout the book. The writing is very good and the pacing is perfect. I really enjoyed the first novel and plan to read the next. The novels have now been turned into a series on FOX. Check out this book if you like mysteries with a touch of science fiction. Don’t stop reading the book until you have reached the end.