5 Stars for Wayward Pines
The Wayward Pines Trilogy Book 1
Summary:
Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward
Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who
went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his
arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital,
with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly
enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into
the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why
can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world?
Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of
the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the
residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan
further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was,
until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines
alive.
Read Books 2 and
3 in the Trilogy, WAYWARD and THE LAST TOWN,
The international runaway bestseller is now a Major
Television Event from executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, starring Matt
Dillon and premiering on FOX May 14th.
Review:
Pines is a mystery E.M. Forster
would appreciate. It begins with Ethan Burke’s existence in a strange town
where he questions his sanity, because no one seems to know him. It ends by not
just addressing Ethan, but civilization as we think we know it. The strangeness
dragging the reader from beginning to end is much like the Twin Peaks series,
and Pines will become a series beginning May fourteenth. After reading the
first book in the Wayward Pines series; the TV series will not be
disappointing.
First, Ethan
Burke, the main character, is
well-drawn often pulling from his bloody tortured past making him stronger to
fight against those trying to make him feel insane. He’s also a man who loves
his wife and son, but is terribly flawed in being there for them. This plays an
ace at the end when he makes his choice about Wayward Pines. The second plus to
this book is the ability of the author to the one key question I had: What is
Wayward Pines? Where is Wayward Pines? Is it really a town, or a place in Ethan
Burke’s mind? If it is a town, are the people living in it human or something
else?
The question
about Wayward Pines was answered, but that answer followed more questions like
the brutality and violence shown from the townspeople, especially when they
were chosen for the better good. For me this was a good question to lead into
the second book leading me back to thinking Wayward Pines is an evil place
where only bad things grow. Obviously, Ethan Burke was not getting the entire
truth at the end of book one.
As far as the questions surrounding the agents missing
and the lack of concern about this didn’t bother me, because I think the secret
service could have been overwhelmed with the greater human race, and I’ll stop
there, else I’ll give too much of the plot away. My other theory is that the
agents missing were assumed dead.
If you’re
inclined to a psychological mystery to psych you out - Pines is your book. Don’t miss it!
