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. Even though the hospital staff is very friendly, a bell rings in the back of his head. Something really feels off…

 His doubts grow as he walks away from the hospital, noticing no other room occupied, and the town streets rather empty. The common town sounds seem to be missing and Ethan comes to realize that he has no way of communicating with his family or his boss. With no cars on the streets, Ethan can walk his way around the town to the small hotel and persuades the receptionist to provide him with a room, even though he cannot pay for it. As he finds out that one of the federal agents has suffer a cruel death, he attempts to leave the town any way he can, as cooperation with the local serif is not fruitful at all. This, only to realize there is no way out. And the runaway begins!

Blake Crouch stands up to writers like Stephen King as he keeps the reader hooked to his pages. Pines is a gripping page turner! It is well tensed, very interesting and paced to a degree the reader can follow wanting more. The story is founded without mistakes, leaving no rooms for speculations on what could possibly be, what could possibly happen. There are questions raised throughout the story as some points seem unreal, yet the big reveal at the end comes very naturally, giving all the answers in the most simple way.

 So what would you do if you thought your loves ones dead and someone told you otherwise? How would you react if you had no freedom, no authority over your own life? Are the fences there to protect us and keep us safe or to prevent us from escaping? Big dilemmas raise through this book and a lot food for thought!