I like Blake Crouch. I was excited to read Snowbound, more so because the settings were Alaska, (my home state) and Arizona, (where I lived for a bit). Rarely happens both places in the same book. The settings were realistic for me. Where I was lost was more in the characters and plot. The book started out awesome. I suspended my reality check though when the smart guy on the run with a very ill daughter, (who needs daily therapy), goes along with an FBI agent with no question. I mean we have this guy whose wife goes missing and is presumed dead. The cops believe he killed her. Being a defense attorney he knows where this leads so he takes his daughter and runs. He is smart enough to stay hidden for a long time. Then up pops this FBI agent, whose only proof of anything is to quickly flash a badge and he gives in. He packs up his daughter and meekly follows the FBI agent even when it becomes clear she is not working for the FBI. I knew reality had checked out at that point. Being someone who enjoys fantasy, (and Crouch), I switched my brain over to that. That worked well until the story flipped over to scenarios that you find in just about every average thriller. I figured out what was going to happen before I reached the end, at one point near the end I could have written the ending myself. I was that sure of how it would end. I don't know, maybe being a Crouch fan had me expecting more. Maybe I set the bar too high. I enjoyed it buy expected more. If this is the first book by Blake Crouch you read, please give him another chance, (if you didn't like it). He does write some awesome thrillers. This one just isn't his best. ( )

I usually love Blake Crouch's books.....but I just couldn't get into this one. Not my cup of tea. Well-written, interesting concept.....but it just didn't click for me. Doesn't mean others won't love it.....

DNF at about 60% ( )

Not my favorite Crouch novel. I spent too much time trying to suspend my beliefs during it. 3.5 stars, and all that. ( )

This was a fun, imaginative, fast paced story.

However, some of the characters acted in ways that were just not believable and some of the situations were not plausible.
If you're not too picky about that kind of thing, or if you're easily able to set those things aside, then you would probably enjoy this fast paced thrill ride. ( )

3.8 stars that I'm rounding up to 4.0.
While I might have read a short story or two by Blake Crouch, this was my first novel by him. I believe that his Wayward Pines Trilogy has some supernatural elements to it; SNOWBOUND did not. It was a thriller from start to finish. An energetic, compelling, and tense thriller.

Will Innis has a happy life with his wife Rachael and daughter Devlin. However, since he is the main character in a thriller, that life cannot stay happy. His wife gets kidnapped and even though he had nothing to do with it, Will is still considered a primary suspect. Will decides to run away, taking his daughter with him, and to start a new life somewhere else. Five years later, FBI agent Kalyn shows up at his door and convinces Will to help her catch the guy who kidnapped Rachael. From that point on, the story keeps the action going at a fast pace.

The problem that I had with the book was not the characters. The characters were a bit stereotypical but they were an enjoyable stereotype. Like a comfortable sweatshirt that feels good but you know is no longer stylish. The problem I had was the lack of reality in decisions being made and the results of those decisions. Will's first response when he finds out he is a suspect is to run away and start a new life? He wasn't even arrested. He was living a "normal" life but he suddenly can run at a moment's notice, bring practically nothing with him, liquidate enough funds to get started somewhere, and create a fake identity for him and his daughter. Maybe that's easier than I thought but I would have thought hiring a lawyer to fend off any arrest would have been easier. Then once recruited by the FBI agent Kalyn, Will demonstrates a prowess that he should not have while actively taking down the criminal. The whole story was full of similar moments. Unrealistic elements that simply don't mesh. I'm not sure I would call it lazy writing but it was certainly convenient. All told, I did enjoy the book and found it entertaining. I would hope to find his other books equally entertaining but alas, my To Be Read list doesn't have any of his novels on it. ( )