gilda_elise

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.

I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did. Quite a bit. But I guess I’m getting a bit tired when a book is advertised as horror, and then turns out to be only horrifying. Like Alien. Horrifying, but really science fiction. I love science fiction, too, but I’d love to find some more really spooky, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night sort of horror.

As I said, I did enjoy the book. There’s a lot to like. The slow build up, as Ethan Burke tries to figure out where he really is, and how he really got there. Burke is taken on a roller coaster of suspense, never knowing what is real, or who to trust.

The main problem I found with the book is the dialogue. There could have been more, there should have been more, mostly to explain some of the action that is glossed over. And, other than Burke, the characters aren’t as fleshed out as they could be.

So, while I liked the book, I didn’t love it. That said, I do plan on reading the sequel. I loved both Recursion and Dark Matter; I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that the sequel reads more along their lines.