by Blake Crouch
Part of Wayward Pines
First published 2013
Sheriff Ethan Burke patrols the streets of Wayward Pines, a town of 461 residents surrounded by mountains and razor wire. Electric fences keep everyone inside while snipers watch from above. Surveillance monitors every conversation and movement. The townspeople work assigned jobs, live in designated homes, and marry chosen partners. No one remembers arriving in Wayward Pines. Some residents believe they died and landed in purgatory. Others suspect they're subjects in a vast experiment. All dream of escape, but those who attempt it discover something terrible. Burke stands apart from the other residents. He has ventured beyond the barrier and returned. He knows Wayward Pines isn't simply a town with unusual rules. The truth about what lurks outside the fence surpasses anyone's worst fears. Burke must navigate between protecting the residents and maintaining the lies that keep them alive.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, dystopia, horror, thriller, mystery-thriller
Vibes: claustrophobic, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking, unsettling
Tropes: moral-dilemma, protagonist-knows-more, trapped-setting, unreliable-reality
Setting: Wayward Pines
298 pages · Paperback · Thomas & Mercer
Content warnings: death, violence