Christy

Really enjoyed this book. I had never read/listened to any of Blake Crouch's work before, but now I'm a huge fan. I bought this book because it was on sale, and an Audible reviewer that I noticed had taste similar to mine had raved about it. I finished it on a cruise vacation and was so thankful that I had another Blake Crouch book on my iPod (Run) so I could immediately start it. (It was awesome too, btw).

Pines leaves you guessing, and had a great twist at the end. Since so much of the excitement of the book was due to me knowing so little about it, I won't give any more detail, but I highly recommend this book. Very entertaining. Despite having fun on my great vacation, I admit I was often anxious to finish our exciting activities so I could go back Wayward Pines.

I just didn't like this one very much. Very disappointed. The showdown at Mike's dad's house wasn't so bad, but what the heck was up with the zombie makeout session? Why did we go back to that? And did Tommy/Tomas really just reintigrate with the family after all that? The ending left me confused about Tommy status in the book.

Despite those issues, it was sitll a good story, but the quality of the delivery is seriously declining (not the narration but the actual words chosen to convey the story). I used to look over the editing issues in the first few books because they were infrequent and didn't detract from the overall effect. I'm talking abou issues like sentences unitentionally beginning and ending with the same word or phrase. It's becoming frequent enough to be distracting.

Finally, the humor just isn't what it used to be. Like the descriptions where Mike Talbot says something like "I was madder than [insert really long descriptive humorous phrase here]." They were funny at first, but now they seem like they're always trying to top the descriptive phrases in the last book, and in so doing, they seem forced, not funny. I'd like to see Tufo stretch his humor wings a bit, and try something outside of his comfort zone. I know he can do it. The first few books were very funny.

I really enjoyed all three books. I have to admit that I liked the first book the best, but I think that's just because I dig the suspense of buildup so much so that endings rarely deliver. Anyway, this ending was great. Good resolution, but not a Hollywood, everything-is-all-unicorns-and-rainbows now ending. It's a believable ending that accepts the situation in which the story thrust the characters. Also, I didn't really get the backstory about the angels and I struggled with the logistics of destroying the body remnants. But other than that, it was good.

I'm a huge fan of Cracked so when I found out that one of the editors wrote a book, and it was a sci-fi/fantasy book, I immediately downloaded it. Mr. Wong did not disappoint. I laughed...a lot. Wong employed the same sarcastic, detailed humor that I like so much about Cracked. Plus, the story was great. The only reason I can't give it 5 stars is because I just didn't get the ending. Was it to be continued? Was that a resolution?

Oh, and I thought it was cool how David Wong was his own character. :)

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Pines, I was anxious to start another Blake Crouch. This book was great. Lots of action and excitement. Unlike Pines, where the reader is constantly trying to figure out the mystery, this book is more about following the Colcloughs through this harrowing time and watching their struggle to stay alive, and together. If you like apocalyptic-like stories, this book is for you—although again, this book is more about the effect of the event on the family, and not the event itself.

Also, despite doing a great job of wrapping up the story, I felt that it left the door open a bit for another book, maybe one that focuses more on the apocalyptic event that caused the chaos in the first place. Even if that isn’t Crouch’s intention, I’d still read it if he changed his mind :)

My feelings for this book can be summed up pretty easily: Yeah it's a good story, but I miss Tommy. I hope I find ZF6 to be more appealing.

Despite the fact that the story is getting a little hard for me to swallow (I'm just not on-board with the tiny people virus), I still very much enjoyed this book. But, at the end, I was mad as heck at Mike. I felt like he dealt with the Tommy situation in a cruel way. I understand his predicament, but blaming Tommy personally was harsh and unjustified and, I think, ultimately put his family in a worse situation than they were before Mike's actions caused Tommy to do what he did in the end.

I listened to this book between books 3 and 4. I've listened to all of them now and am anxiously awaiting number six. That being said, while 3.5 gives the reader good background information that I appreciated having while listening to other books, I found myself wishing this book would hurry up and end so I could get back to the Talbots. While that may not translate to such a good review for this particular book, to me it speaks volumes about how much I've enjoyed the rest of the series.

Also, I'm not really sure I like the Hugh-mann storyline. It's just a little out-there for me. It's just not as cool as the rest of the story. My thoughts were, "Tiny people? Really?"

I'm halfway through the third book and I've really enjoyed this trilogy so far. I liked the first one better, but only marginally so, and I think that's because I love the buildup in apocolyptic stories--the feeling of knowing the world is coming down around the characters before they know it and watching the way they observe and deal with the challenges they face.

The first book made me care deeply about the plights of the main protagonists, Zach, Eph, Nora, Setrakian, Fet and even Gus (who, I liked from the beginning, despite his criminal background). Because of that, the concluding events of the the second book made me sad for all of them and anxious to listen to the third book so I could learn their ultimate fates. Since for me, the hallmark of a good story is that it moves me (whether I laugh, cry, get angry, excited, whatever), I've really enjoyed The Strain Trilogy.

I really enjoyed this book. The authors did a great job of getting me engaged in the characters. The "virus" presents a very nice twist on typical vampire lore, so if you dig vampires but darkly romantic or sparkly ones aren't your thing, you would like this book. I'm halfway through the third book now, and I really enjoyed each one. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

I'm not sure what all the negative review fuss is about regarding Ron Perlman's narration. I didn't find it unappealing at all. Not the best I've heard, but certainly not bad and it did not take away from the story for me at all.