The Last Town: Wayward Pines: 3

Could not put this book and the two others down. Hoping for another series set 70,000 years in the future with Ethan Burke and all the other occupants of WayWard Pines.

Look, the story was fantastic. But Ethan is insufferable… even as they’re dipping out into the end he’s like omg my mistress is still so great. No. Nooooo. Anyway, I’m sure him being unlikable was intentional so I’m not knocking off stars. But Theresa deserved better (and TBH Adam’s full on unhinged-ness with how much he loves her would make for a great romance novel).

The Last Town begins almost immediately where the previous book in the trilogy, Wayward ended. David Pilcher, the self-proclaimed god of the town of Wayward Pines has just cut the power to the electric fence that protects the town and left the gate open. Now the ‘aberrations,’ aka abbies, the creatures that are the devolved forms of humans that the town was built to protect ‘pure’ humans against can get in. And they do.Why or how this came about I don’t know, but the abbies live more like apes or monkeys than people, and they have no problem with killing and eating humans. They are very strong, and there are lots and lots of them. Most of the book is about the several days-long battle between the abbies and the humans living in the town.After two or three days, Pilcher and his team turn the power back on, and eventually the last of the abbies trapped inside the town are killed. Almost half the population of the town is also dead.Now it is up to the remaining people in the town, led by their new sheriff, Ethan Burke, to figure out what they are going to do. This is not as easy as it sounds, however. Ethan discovers that even without the terrors of the past few weeks, they are facing all kinds of unexpected difficulties. The climate in the northwestern mountains where they are is becoming increasingly cold, to the point where the growing season does not last long enough to feed everybody. Plus, the battle with the abbies has killed off all the farm animals. If they could move to a more temperate climate, they might be able to adapt. But they can’t leave their small protected area because they would be overrun by the abbies almost at once.So, the people of Wayward Pines have some tough choices to make. And all the people of the town, and all the people who have been running things behind the scenes, have to participate in the decisions to make it work.This is a sad book, but also hopeful in some ways.

Continuing right where book 2 ended, Ethan is flung immediately into survival mode as the terror unleashed by Pilcher comes to pass. And it is terrifying.At breakneck pace, Ethan, his family, and the other residents of Wayward Pines fight for their lives. Ultimately, though, they will need outside support to survive - but will they get it, and in time?With a twist you won’t see coming, this final book in the trilogy manages to have you gasping right to the last sentence.Outstanding!

This one was my least favorite of the collection. Crouch relied too much on gore and violence to keep things going.Ending and last line of the book was great and all is forgiven. When's the next one come out?