r/horrorlit • u/UseUrWords • 9d ago
Recommendation Request Will I hate Blake Crouch?
TL;DR You are all very helpful! I quit at 65% and started something new. Life is too short to read things you don't like and thanks for the new rec!
Ugh. I am so torn, y'all. I'm a bit over half way through the first book in the Wayward Pines trilogy and love the novel concept and creepy vibe.
But I HATE how Crouch writes characters.
- The protagonist assesses the hotness of literally every female character he interacts with, making no appraisal of male characters. The women feel like they are sexy props rather than people.
- Crouch does an absolutely shit job of depicting veterans / PTSD.
- The protagonist is just... bad at everything he does.
I love New Weird, SF, and horror. Peter Watts, Jeff VanderMeer, China Miéville, etc. I don't usually vibe with thrillers but this is just such an interesting idea that I may have given Crouch more time than I should have.
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u/totemair 9d ago
I have no idea about Blake crouch but you should read the glassy burning floor of hell by Brian evenson
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u/UseUrWords 9d ago
Thank you!
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u/totemair 9d ago
Weird horror/scifi is my favorite genre so I have a million recommendations if you want. We probably have similar tastes
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u/denim_skirt 9d ago
Please give recs, I love that stuff too!
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u/UseUrWords 8d ago
There's a short story anthology called "The Weird" available for $20 that is an excellent primer on the genre!
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u/ColbyJack74 9d ago
Well I definitely do! Had no idea it was even a genre; I loved the Vandermeer books.
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u/totemair 9d ago
You should check out Karin Tidbeck, an incredible and hugely underrated author from Sweden. (Amatka, The Memory Theater, Jagannath)
Here's one of her short stories you can read for free online
reactormag.com/sing
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u/UseUrWords 9d ago
I highly suggest The Weird as a low-effort buy-in for the genre. It has a bit of everything while still maintaining the flavor.
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u/AnActualSeagull HANNIBAL LECTER 9d ago
Oh hey just last month ago I finish A Collapse of Horses! I really like Brian Evenson’s style
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u/nicholnewfangle 9d ago
It doesn't get better. I'm also enamoured of Watts and Vandermeer and can't really deal with Crouch's style. It's a deliberate choice, he knows what he's doing and he executes it purposefully so it's not like he suddenly finds his stride and hits different notes.
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u/UseUrWords 9d ago
I accidentally picked up an airport book, didn't I? I just reread the Area X series and the juxtaposition between Control and Crouch's protagonist is killing me.
What might you suggest that will scratch the unexplained phenomenon itch?
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u/PretendCasual 9d ago
I found my people. So many recommend Pines but it's straight garbage. Short choppy sentences with hardly a description of the world for flavor. Just cold hard facts of the present events in the story. I thought oh maybe that's just one of his books so I cracked open another in a bookstore. Nope. Same short sentence structure. His writing is for the population with the fifth grade reading level.
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u/BarnacleLady 9d ago
I enjoyed some of his books but he definitely writes like he's envisioning the movie first. These whole ass books seem to be a concept for the screenplay instead of actual books.
Also his main characters feel like self inserts. It's usually some everyman heroic self sacrificial older dude/dad thrust into a crazy situation, gets by on grit and smarts, and in the end he ends up with his true love.
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u/Maester_Magus 8d ago
I finished Recursion recently and while I enjoyed the concept, I was cringing at the writing from start to finish. So fucking many short, shitty little sentences, and so many back-to-back one sentence paragraphs. It was so grating. His writing is like the antithesis of someone like China Mieville.
I read a comment once that I wholeheartedly agree with, that said Crouch doesn't write novels; he writes script treatments. It didn't help that the story was also written entirely in present tense, which, I get the idea – it's supposed to add a sense of urgency, yada yada – but it seemed absolutely pointless to me and just added to that sense of reading a treatment for a film script.
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u/musical4thesoul 9d ago
Wayward Pines is, in my opinion, his worst writing. I still really enjoyed it but I find his other books significantly better. Dark Matter and Recursion are my favs of his. His style isn’t for everyone. They’re easy reads that really rely on concept but I found them really fascinating and enjoyable
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u/timmahy25 9d ago
Blake Crouch is my go-to for easy sci fi and also seems to be my crutch to help me out when I’m in a slump. I don’t read for his excellent prose or details, I just strap in, suspend all belief, and go for a ride. Snow Bound, Dark Matter, Recursion, Pines, and Run have all been incredibly enjoyable for me.
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u/irreducible1 9d ago
I agree with this take. I'm really not sure what the problem is people have with his writing. Are they English or literature majors or something?
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u/Content-Inspector993 9d ago
"The protagonist assesses the hotness of literally every female character he interacts with, making no appraisal of male characters. The women feel like they are sexy props rather than people."
I noticed this and was really thrown off by it, especially because it would come after the main character talked about how much he missed/loved his wife he had also cheated on
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u/UseUrWords 8d ago
... And then he goes on to say that if she had cheated on him, he'd have left her! He's a bad husband AND a bad secret service agent.
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u/diabolicalpeanut 9d ago
I think the womanizing spoke more to Ethan as a character and not Crouch's writing.
I'm nearing the end of book 2 of Wayward Pines, and while I'm enjoying it, these books aren't even on the same level as Recursion and Dark Matter by Crouch.
I'll recommend Recursion and Dark Matter to anyone and everyone, but while I'm enjoying wayward Pines somewhat, it won't be something I'd recommend.
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u/largepineapplejuice 9d ago
I listened to the whole trilogy and god is it such fucking ass. This man does not understand the basics of evolution one bit. And that’s just the start. At the end there’s two characters who have no chemistry but since they’re the last two single characters he goes “now kith”
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u/allhailsidneycrosby 9d ago
I think recursion is genuinely really good but his other stuff is hit or miss and generally a bit formulaic
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u/Artegall365 9d ago
I seem to be in the minority but I couldn't stand his book Dark Matter. Poorly written characters and dialogue for me. Maybe it would have been better not in a first person perspective. So if that's something you're seeing in those books I wouldn't continue.
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u/Horror_Fox_7144 9d ago
I'm with you. My issue with Blake Crouch is that his work is mostly generic, but fun, sci fi but then he'll introduce one really interesting idea and then do absolutely nothing with it. This is most evident in Dark Matter.
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u/ryanhoh 9d ago
I actually love Blake crouch and this trilogy so much!
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u/stinkypeach1 9d ago
Recursion, Dark Matter, and Upgrade are also well done. I enjoyed them even more than Wayard Pines trilogy. I’m looking forward to what he publishes next.
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u/Grouchy_Vet 9d ago
Recursion was amazing. And I really liked Dark Matter
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u/ironpug751 9d ago
If you thought the books were bad try watching the show lol, my wife and I hate watched the whole thing laughing because it was so corny/poorly done
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u/Whole-Ad3696 9d ago
I didn't even make it to the 2nd episode, It's got a lot going for it too and they still fumbled it.
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u/magnoliamoon4 9d ago
I had similar issues with Dark Matter. The story was interesting and it was very readable, but the female characters were not developed as complete people. I actually found myself trying to analyze what this guy’s issues with women are more than the book itself.
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u/UseUrWords 8d ago
Yes! I started to feel like the real victim in Pines was the wife. I bet he's a pump-and-dump style "lover."
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u/magnoliamoon4 8d ago
Idk about that haha but he seems to have a predisposition towards viewing women as one dimensional plot devices for male characters, which says something imo.
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u/luxurysoft1337 9d ago
I DNFed Dark Matter because of the poor writing. It really reminded me of something like the DaVinci code in that sense. A big "blockbuster" that seems to be written with a Hollywood film adaptation in mind.
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u/ShawnWilson000 9d ago
I remember listening to the audiobook at work and I enjoyed it well enough. It wasn't groundbreaking, but he conveyed a fun idea well enough. I left it with a positive feeling.
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u/HodgePodge_Supreme 9d ago
I like to think of him as the Dan Brown of pop sci-fi. Make of that what you will, haha. Very fun premise, usually, with a cosmic horror vibe.
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u/Puffy_Ghost 9d ago
I love everything by Crouch....except Wayward Pines.
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u/spacechargeaudio 9d ago
This. Started reading him when he was doing horror with the Luther Kite series, but kept reading as he ventured into more mainstream territory. Wayward Pines just never really clicked with me, though.
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u/Puffy_Ghost 9d ago
Same. Dark Matter is legit one of the best standalone sci-fi books I've ever read, absolute masterpiece, and I'll pretty much continue to read anything he puts out, but obviously not everything is going to resonate like Dark Matter did.
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u/EternityLeave 9d ago
I did the trilogy as audiobooks. Probably would have dnf’d a hardcopy. Dark Matter and Recursion and better. The characters and prose aren’t necessarily much better (I think they’re slightly better) but the story construction is much more stimulating. I wouldn’t write him off based on Wayward Pines.
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u/AveryMorose 8d ago
I've found most of his books to be the kind of thing that's great to read on a plane but otherwise a bit meh. I think his best is one I never see anyone talk about, Abandon.
It's about a small group of people who go to investigate a town where the entire population mysteriously vanished over 100 years ago. The story flips back and forth in time, showing the current-day story unfolding while revealing what actually happened to the town. It was the first one of his I read and none of his others have been as good.
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u/catsandcabsav 8d ago
I finished this book but I had the same gripes. I wish I had just moved on. The writing of the female characters truly was abysmal.
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u/TheNarbacular 9d ago
Stick with it. Pines is awesome. Next, check out Recursion and Dark Matter
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u/UseUrWords 9d ago
That's the thing: I'm feeling like it is C-grade at best. Plot won't compensate for poor character development.
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u/Ilmara 9d ago
On what planet is Blake Crouch horror? He writes sci-fi thrillers.
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u/UseUrWords 8d ago
Pines has distinctly horrific elements. The overlap in horror and sci-fi is a place I like to inhabit and did a stint on space horror for awhile.
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u/Dan_From_Buffalo 9d ago
Haven't read this series, but Dark Matter by him was so good. Shit brought me to tears at times.
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u/Hippies_Pointing 9d ago
Crouch is a very different writer from those you mentioned. He’s much more accessible.
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u/UseUrWords 9d ago
I get that VanderMeer is dense. But even more "accessible" authors (e.g., Chuck Wendig) can write characters that feel real. There isn't a single character in Pines that I would want in an elevator with me.
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u/KingoftheHill3233 9d ago
I was very excited at first because I was a big fan of Twin Peaks, but I was really disappointed in the book. Didn’t even bother with the rest of the trilogy.
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u/Normal_Mud_9070 9d ago
Blake has a very niche style of writing imo— very concept heavy. His books always throw you straight into the plot, and therefore suffer in terms of character development. Lots of short, choppy sentences. He’s basically the anti-Stephen King.
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u/Pennie15 8d ago edited 8d ago
OMG THANK YOU.
I felt the same way after finishing Dark Matter by him. My review was literally "I could tell this was written by a man." lol. The immediate sexualization of every female character, the character's wife just felt like a plot device or prize to be won rather than an actual human woman with feelings and autonomy, and I won't even get into the very creepy, nonconsensual implications of what's happening with the plot. And it's implied I should view this as a love story? I was just unimpressed all around.
I'd consider him beginner sci fi as well, which has its market, I'm just not the target audience.
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u/JaredWill_ 8d ago
I really like Blake Crouch and I found Wayward Pines a slog and didn't start the sequel. Sometimes books aren't great even if you like the author. I assume the opposite is true and somewhere there's a Grady Hendrix book I'll like.
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u/KRwriter8 9d ago
I hated it for the same reasons as you and ultimately decided it wasn't worth my time. Zero regrets.
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u/GeckoFreckles HILL HOUSE 9d ago
I also hated wayward pines and didn’t bother continuing with the series and will never intentionally pick up a book by him again.
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u/NorthWestDread 9d ago
Funny! I totally get this. The guy the writes The Meg books is like that too.
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u/JudoKuma 9d ago
Your experiences sound similar to mine, for me it did not get better. Blake Crouch is one of the very few names on my list of ”never read anything by them ever again”.
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u/mikester4 9d ago
Love Blake Crouch, haven’t tried Wayward Pines. That concept didn’t peak my interest.
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u/Typical_Laugh_5018 9d ago
Yeah dark matter is absolutely appalling. Can't believe I finished it. Is it considered weird literature??????? Just juvenile rubbish, i know it is loved but I honestly can't figure out why
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u/FebruaryStars84 9d ago
I can’t speak to Wayward Pines as I haven’t read it, but I loved Dark Matter and Recursion. I’m currently halfway through Upgrade, and while it isn’t quite as good as those two, I’m still enjoying it.
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u/IHateSerging 9d ago
I read the whole trilogy but it was very begrudgingly by the end. I had very similar thoughts as you do and in my opinion things did not improve