Wayward

Welcome to the town of Wayward Pines, Idaho—population: 461 (maybe). It is a place to “work hard, be happy, and enjoy your life.” It is a place “where paradise is home.” It is also a town that is surrounded by a high voltage fence. To keep people in or to keep something out? It is a town where surveillance cameras and listening devices cover nearly every square inch of the town, including inside of peoples’ homes. It is a place where people are given assignments: where they will live, where they work, who they will marry, etc. Wayward is a place where the residents do “much more thinking before speaking… like living in a novel of manners.” It is a town no one can leave and where anyone who doesn’t fulfill instructions given to them may become subject to a fête (reminiscent of events in Shirley Jackson’s immortal story, “The Lottery”) and brutally (sometimes eagerly) killed by their colleagues, friends, neighbors, and townsfolk in general—in the city square where all can witness the killing. It is a town created by, cared for, and controlled by a “god,” or perhaps by a “megalomaniac and a psychopath.” Wayward (2013) is writer Blake Crouch’s second novel in a trilogy—The Wayward Pines Series—which has met with enormous success and has been the basis of a TV mini-series. In the first novel of the series, Pines (2012), Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines in search of two colleagues who have gone missing. Following a sudden accident and waking up in a hospital, Burke finds himself at a lost—his phone, papers, his very reason for being in the town are either gone or left murky in his mind. His is a long journey of discovery and the revelations are all terrifying. Crouch brings to this sequel the same suspense and incredible plot twists of the original with one key difference—this time instead of being a victim, Ethan finds himself, sometimes reluctantly, in a position of authority—the town sheriff. He also is the confidant to the town’s creator, David Pilcher, serving at the man’s pleasure, charged with discovering who is responsible for the grisly murder of Pilcher’s daughter. In allowing Ethan to get so close to him on a personal and professional level, Pilcher is taking a huge risk: knowing what Ethan has learned from his earlier experiences since arriving in the town while yet eager for Ethan to prove himself. Pilcher hopes Ethan will join him and his other co-conspirator, Pam, to share their wealth of knowledge and plans for the town’s future. Wayward as a novel (as well as the town itself) is a fantastic creation which defies any single label. It has aspects of an adventure thriller, parts of a police procedural, occasional elements of horror, and splashes of science fiction all running through its veins. Crouch’s story-telling is first rate throughout. Paragraphs can be as short as a single word, ricocheting from the page like gunfire. Events move at a rapid pace with an occasional illuminating flashback while Crouch also delivers numerous characters the reader can believe in and care about. There are exceptions regarding liking the characters. Along with Pilcher, who displays moments of sanity along with moments of sheer mad scientist-like genius, his second daughter, Pam, is, at times, an over-the-top, nasty, sadistic piece of work knowing no boundaries and filled with blood-lust, glorying in her power. There is also a minor character who the reader only gets occasional glances of in the novel who gets placed in the most ironic of positions by the novel’s conclusion and whose fate is left unclear. Realistic dialogue often carries the plot of Wayward forward and Crouch peppers Wayward with vivid details that bring the town and events to life while either appealing to or appalling the reader’s senses. Touches of genuine humanity amidst all the chaos give Wayward some truly emotionally moving moments. What lies outside of the town’s electrified fences, the history of the town’s actual creation, and how the residents find themselves in such an untenable and merciless position lies at the beating heart of Crouch’s dazzling innovation and hovers over Ethan and the novel like a damn waiting to burst and release its pernicious tide of rot. Chapter by chapter, revelation after revelation, Ethan Burke burrows closer to the truth about Alyssa’s death. While doing so, he also learns more about some of the residents of the town and about Pilcher—things he is not meant to know. In so doing, Ethan places himself, his wife Theresa and his son, Ben, in enormous danger and, especially for Ethan, in a growingly impossible situation. Wayward is gripping story-telling at its best. There are a couple of brilliant plot twists with the novel’s climax as well as its frightful denouement which many readers are likely to foresee, but that does not reduce the intense impact of the final pages of Wayward. The novel’s end also prepares the way for one more novel in the series: The Last Town (2014), which many may find almost irresistible to start after finishing Wayward.

There was a trend in Hollywood for a little while – about ten years ago – to approach trilogies in an odd fashion. The idea was to release a mostly standalone film – think The Matrix, or Pirates of the Caribbean – and if it did well, to turn it into a trilogy by filming the next two entries simultaneously. The result was always slightly odd-feeling, with a solid standalone film and then one long story split into halves, complete with the requisite cliffhanger. And more often than not, there was a sense of the unnecessary about those sequels – that however fun they might or might not be, they were less about telling the “whole” story, and more about extending the world of the original not once, but twice. I mention all of this here because Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy feels so much like it’s following in this model’s footsteps – down to the fact that none of it entirely feels needed. The original novel in the series, Pines, was a blast – a pulpy, twisty mystery about a Secret Service agent who ends up in a strange small town, and can’t leave. And by the time the book laid its cards on the table, things had escalated wildly, leading to a payoff and reveal that pushed way, way beyond what you ever would have guessed. It was a lot of fun, and if it had its flaws – some middling writing, some thin characters – the intriguing story and pulpy fun made up for it. But when I discovered that Crouch had turned the original book into a trilogy, I was a bit confused. Pines pretty well wraps up its story; while there’s more of this world you could explore, really, things are settled by the end. Our questions are answered. Our hero has made the important choices, and all is settled. But, to borrow from The Royal Tenenbaums, what this book presupposes is, what if it wasn’t? Wayward, the second volume in the series, deals with the ramifications of the big reveal in the first book, particularly as they affect our main character. If you learned, as he did, something that changed how you saw the world, how would you deal with it? Would you help to keep that secret, or would you fight for the truth? Crouch anchors his book in this internal debate, letting Ethan slowly realize just what his role in this town will entail – and what it will mean that he has to do. It’s a compelling enough idea to keep the story going, and as Crouch fills in some intriguing details around the edges – particularly as it regards the growing amount of resistance that’s coming together in the town – there starts to be a feeling that this sequel, while not quite necessary, at least intrigues in how it expands on the world Crouch has created. What’s more, it builds to a spectacular climax, one that pays off your patience beautifully – it’s big and showy, but satisfying, and makes you realize what Crouch’s big game is for the sequels. And the cliffhanger he sets up? Gleefully nasty and taunting. Wayward, then, does what a good sequel should do, and what the second entry in these trilogies tries to do – it expands on the world, it goes deeper, and it tries to set up the big picture of the series. And if it still feels tacked on, it’s a fun sort of tacked on. Now, if only The Last Town could have stuck the landing...but that's a different story.

Nicely written

What do you do when the world ends? What do you do if you are not you? Who am I? Where am I?

Diese Buchreihe macht einen süchtig! Spannung von Anfang bis Ende! Selten hat mich eine Story so gefesselt! Empfehlenswert und sehr gelungen.

This is the second book in a three part series which started with Pines. Although it is not necessary to have read Pines first, it will help, but I think it will be necessary to have read this book at least before reading the third book in the series, when that is released. It is very hard to categorise this book - part horror, part science fiction, part dystopian, part conspiracy read. If you like your horror set in small town America then this read really should be right up your street. I have seen it likened to Twin Peaks and Twilight Zone and if you throw The Prisoner, Stepford and The Walking Dead into the mix, then that should give you an idea of the sort of read you are going to get. I found it very gripping and addictive, with a really good well thought out storyline. One word of caution - this read does end on a cliffhanger, so if you like your stories all nicely wrapped up at the end, then this may not be the read for you. Personally I am now really looking forward to the next in the series and I understand that Fox TV are turning it into a serial, so that is something that will be well worth watching.

Chegou antes do prazo, bem embalado