Preparation for the Next Life; Pines; Wayward

Atticus Lish won the 2015 PEN/Faulkner award for "Preparation for the Next Life", and it was well deserved. He reminded me a bit of Faulkner (high praise indeed, coming from me). Brad Skinner is a young vet recently back from Iraq. He is suffering from PTSD, but he's slipped through the cracks and is now wandering around New York, unsure of what to do with himself, when he meets Zou Lei. Zou Lei is in America illegally and after having been arrested once she's not eager to repeat the experience. Improbable though it is, the two start a relationship of sorts and even discuss marriage so Zou Lei can be a citizen.
Meanwhile, Skinner's landlady's son, Jimmy, is home after spending time in prison. Jimmy is an instigator and a troublemaker, and knows how to push all of Skinner's buttons. Their stories collide in a terrible way with devastating consequences. Finely written, I enjoyed it.

I started watching Wayward Pines on TV, and noticed that hey, it's based on a series of books, so of course I had to read them. The first one, "Pines", will be familiar if you're up to date with the show: Secret Agent Ethan Burke wakes up after a car accident in a remote Idaho town called Wayward Pines. Something about the town is very off, Ethan senses right away. He spends a few days evading authorities who are less helpful than they should be and discovers there's an electrified fence surrounding the town with no way out. He manages to scale the fence and is attacked on the other side by a creature he has no name for. He manages to fight it off and kill it, and stays alive long enough for David Pilcher to rescue him. Pilcher is the scientist responsible for the town, and he tells Ethan the truth: Wayward Pines is the last town of surviving humans on earth. Back in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Pilcher sunk people into suspended animation and woke them up 2,000 years later. Aberrations, known as Abbies, roam the earth now, dangerous and fierce predators. Pilcher asks Ethan's help in keeping the town safe.

Blake Crouch's second book picks up where the first left off: Ethan is the new sheriff of Wayward Pines, and he's home with his wife and son. Pilcher asks Ethan to investigate a dangerous faction of residents who want to bring down the fence and escape. Ethan knows how dangerous it is beyond the fence. He wants to tell people the truth, but Pilcher insists that they can't handle it, they're too fragile. Ethan disagrees and takes a risky gamble in order to expose Pilcher. Will it backfire? I guess we'll see!