"Wayward" - Blake Crouch

This book pissed me off and left me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth.  "The Pines" was one of my favorite books last year.  I loved it and have recommended it more times than I can count.  I couldn't wait when I saw the sequel was coming out.  I should have known.  I tried reading several of Crouch's books after "The Pines" and didn't really like them. BUT, I thought he's going back to Wayward Pines.   Upcoming spoilers for "The Pines".  Consider yourself warned.

The big reveal at the end of the "The Pines", is that our world has been destroyed.  It is hundreds of years into the future and the town of Wayward Pines and the outpost in the mountain are the only pockets of humanity left.  Ethan Burke, the main character from the previous book has been told the truth and is the new sheriff.  He knows it all know.  The town is wired.  Every aspect of life is under surveillance.  Bathrooms, bedrooms, everything is all wired for sight and sound being reviewed up in the mountain.  All inhabitants have an imbedded tracker to mark their locations as well.   All of this makes you feel uncomfortable and in need of a shower (in the dark).  Which is the point I suppose as Ethan is now in charge of upholding the status quo. Out in what's left of the world, the "Abbies" are an ever present threat that the outpost is monitoring under the control of evil mastermind David Pilcher, who is known to the town as their psychiatrist.   Crouch spends a lot of time with Pilcher's character.  I'm still not sure if we are supposed to understand him or hate him.  Whatever, I gave up.

After a very slow opening where Ethan contemplates all that sucks in the world, he finds a dead body.  GASP!! How does that happen in this town.  Not just any dead body, she's a spy for Pilcher.  At this point I did get engaged again.  The mystery.  The who, what, why of it all.  Then we get the end when Ethan figures it all out.  Ethan goes for broke, Pilcher throws a tantrum and it ends. Right there, cliffhanger city. Cue the music.

Well no not really, because you know what happened and is happening.  Crouch forgot to finish the book.  It is to be continued in the third book of the series.  My problem is that this book isn't finished.  Each book in a series should stand on it's own and this one doesn't.  It really, really doesn't.  I was so disappointed I would have thrown it across the room, except it was on my Kindle. I realize that I had extremely high expectations for this book and that factored into my reading experience.  I can't recommend this book.  I really wanted to, but I can't.