The premise is great, typical of Blake Crouch. However, the chapters upon chapters of Ethan running and rock climbing I could have done without. I almost gave up, but luckily all is revealed and I'm in for the trilogy. ( )

“For every perfect little town, there's something ugly underneath. No dream without the nightmare.”

I love that on my second read through, this is STILL The line that stuck with me the most. This is still such an interesting read - but one that I"m definitely ready to read more of. I wanted to re-read book 1 before I moved on to book 2 with my reading friends!

I hope book 2 provides us with more answers but I have a feeling it will only bring up NEW questions.
also, I can't wait to see the show! ( )

“For every perfect little town, there's something ugly underneath. No dream without the nightmare.”

I was surprised by how much I liked this one. The sheer terror he must have felt as he drove to leave and went in circles as he tried to leave would have nearly broken my brain. I liked the idea, even though I've read it a few times, but I really liked the character. The things in the forest, the mystery of the town, even the creepy smiles were all pieces to the puzzle to add the mystery and keep the story going. I really liked this one. ( )

Would have love a new series to read but this is definitely not it. ( )

I have not seen the TV series, nor, in fact, did I even know there was a Wayward Pines tv program until I downloaded the book. Which is, by way of saying, that all of my comments reflect my feelings about the book, uncolored by any similarities or differences in the teleplay.

Most of the book reads like a remake of the 1960s British TV series, "The Prisoner" -- a govt secret agent wakes up to find himself in a quaint, idyllic, but odd, village, and the story chronicles the agent's varied attempts to a) find out what in the wide wide world of sports is going on here, and, b) escape. His efforts are thwarted by, at various times, strange-acting residents, a murderous mob of children, and fierce, vicious, weird, almost-human-like creatures with really really sharp claws and bad breath.

300 pages later . . .

The reveal, at the end, while interesting enough, fell far short of "shocker." In fact, it really falls a bit flat, as you start picking apart plot points and logical flaws. For example: Why is there even a hotel in this town? The residents of this town are the last remaining members of the human race. There are no travelers needing a place to flop overnight. And, as there are plenty of one-horse towns with no lodging facilities, a hotel was not necessary to complete the facade of this one, except for the occasional secret service agent who may drop in. It also strains credulity to know that the creation of such a large and elaborate project was, and still is, essentially a one-man operation.

This book winds up with 3 stars from me, because it was an entertaining enough read. But, although the follow-up books are available to me at no charge, on Kindle Unlimited, I am undecided if I care enough to find out what happens next. The author has foreshadowed (billboarded, actually) a future conflict (an underground movement, in the town), which already brings to mind potentially more logical plot flaws in this book and the follow-ups. ( )