Review: The Last Town by Blake Crouch

A Mysterious Review of The Last Town by Blake Crouch. The Wayward Pines Series.

Review summary: This final installment of the Wayward Pines trilogy is both exhilarating and frustrating. It is virtually impossible for readers to not become absorbed in the chaos that ensues when the town's gates are opened, though a bit too much attention is focused on fighting the beasts. Could there be a 4th title in the works? (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

The Last Town
Blake Crouch
The Wayward Pines Series
Thomas & Mercer (July 2014)

Publisher synopsis: Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town.

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. Their children are taught that David Pilcher, the town’s creator, is god. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed.

But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. It is a secret that has the entire population completely under the control of a madman and his army of followers, a secret that is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.

    

New This Week: The Villa on the Riviera, A Mystery by Elizabeth Edmondson

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during July 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

The Villa on the Riviera by Elizabeth Edmondson

A Mystery

Publisher: Belsyre Books

Price: $3.99 (as of 07/27/2014 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

From sardines on toast to Bifteck sauté à la Bordelaise — what a leap for struggling artist Polly Smith as she exchanges her garret in 1930s Bloomsbury for Lord Fraddon's extraordinary villa in the South of France.

The invitation comes from her friend Oliver Fraddon and her reasons for leaving foggy London for the brilliant blue skies of Cap Rodoard are her paintings — becoming ever smaller and gloomier; her fiancé — becoming staider and bossier — and most of all, the suddenly and shatteringly acquired knowledge that she isn't Polly Smith.

Polly has been living a lie, and she isn't the only one. None of the glamorous circle of artists, aristocrats, millionaires and miscreants at Rodoard are what they seem. Caught in a web of intrigue, unexplained deaths and art forgery, Polly paints with a new passion — unaware of who she really is, unaware of what she knows, unaware of danger.

Can Polly survive the astonishing revelations that must change her life for ever? And will she finally discover the answer to her question, Who am I?

— The Villa on the Riviera by Elizabeth Edmondson

What You Wish For by Mark Edwards, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during July 2014

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during July 2014 …

What You Wish For by Mark Edwards

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

  

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for July 2014. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of July 2014 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

More about our featured title, below …

Marie Walker has vanished from the face of the earth …

Her besotted boyfriend, newspaper photographer Richard Thompson, vows to find her, convinced that Marie's unusual beliefs hold the key.

But a shocking discovery makes him question if he ever really knew his girlfriend. And when people around him start to die, Richard is plunged into terrible danger.

Drawn into the world of a sinister cult and the darkest corners of the Internet, Richard finds himself increasingly out of his depth as he discovers just how far people will go to protect what they believe in …

— What You Wish For by Mark Edwards

New This Week: Blue Molly, A Danny Logan Mystery by M. D. Grayson

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during July 2014 and priced $4.99 or less …

Blue Molly by M. D. Grayson

A Danny Logan Mystery (5th in series)

Publisher: Cedar Coast Press

Price: $3.99 (as of 07/27/2014 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Someone wants to buy Sylvia and Mike Lyon's Pioneer Square office building in downtown Seattle and whoever it is won't take "no" for an answer. With their building being vandalized and their tenant's being driven away, the Lyon's do what many Seattleites have done for the past six years when they need help: they hire Logan Private Investigations. The mission: find out who's behind the harassment and make them stop.

Danny Logan, Toni Blair, Doc Kiahtel, and Kenny Hale swing into action and soon find themselves facing off against a brutal drug lord- a man with a brilliantly diabolical plan to take his Seattle Ecstasy business nationwide. He's ruthless, driven, and all too willing to resort to violence to accomplish his goals. But now, he has a problem — a problem named Danny Logan.

— Blue Molly by M. D. Grayson

Support and Defend by Mark Greaney, New in Bookstores during July 2014

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during July 2014 is …

Support and Defend by Mark Greaney

The Dominic Caruso, The Campus Series (1st)

Publisher: Putnam

        

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for July 2014. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of July 2014 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

More about our featured title, below …

Dominic Caruso. Nephew of President Jack Ryan. FBI agent and operator for The Campus, a top secret intelligence agency that works off the books for the U.S. government. Already scarred by the death of his brother, Caruso is devastated when he can't save a friend and his family from a terrorist attack.

Ethan Ross was a mid-level staffer for the National Security Council. Now he's a wanted fugitive on the run with a microdrive that contains enough information to wreck American intelligence efforts around the world. The CIA is desperate to get the drive back, but so are the Russians and various terrorist groups all of whom are closer to catching the fugitive. Only Caruso stands in their way, but can he succeed without the aid of his Campus colleagues?

— Support and Defend by Mark Greaney