Instinct by Jason M. Hough is small town thriller. Where small town folks start to suddenly lose their survival instinct, like a person that never goes outside will go on a massive hike, and the guy scared of animals will face down a bear. It reminded me of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter where in the last 25 % of the book goes to a crazy place. The finale is good but it is one slow build up to that point. The character’s are quirky with conspiracy theories running deep until the town is in one. Instinct is a good idea, but the execution is lacking. The end is fun but I don’t know if everyone will get there with every beat of action and odd occurrence nothing happens in between; we don’t spend enough time with these characters to see them acting out of place. Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books – Skybound Books for the opportunity to read Instinct. Instinct by Jason M. Hough was published on April 6th 2021.

The Plot: Mary is has been an officer to the town of Silvertown, Washington for two months now. She’s still getting her bearings coming from a larger town than Silvertown’s population of 610. The town is reeling from the first death that wasn’t old age. But the next day another death happens the towns people thank it’s the new radio tour with 5G that’s doing it. Mary thinks the town is crazy then she herself starts acting different. The town’s people are starting to lose there survival instinct. How did they lose it and how can they get it back.

What I Liked: A town of conspiracy theorist trapped in a conspiracy was fun too watch. I liked all the bar banter with Kyle. The last 25% of this book was pretty crazy and a lot of fun. I like the missile Silo party. The home invasion was a tense scene. The premise of the book is why I put in to read it is still a really good clever idea.

What I Disliked: The first 3/4 of Instinct is pretty slow paced, there’s burst of excitement then the narrative slows to a crawl. Interesting things happen but it was not enough to keep my interest.

Recommendations: I can not recommend this book. Interesting things happen but not enough to keep my interest through out. The ending is crazy and fun, but it takes a lot to get there. I rated Instinct by Jason M. Hough 3 out of 5 stars. I think Hough has talent was highly entertained by Kyle’s bar banter, it was quirky and funny and the best part of the book.