Regulation 19 (Deadlock Trilogy)

PT does a wonderful job with his first book. Easy to read, moves along fast, movie like at times, a bit of wodunit, a lot of mystery and suspense, surprising twists and turns, strong characters both men and women, and cliffhangers.

A great start to what may turn out to be a fun series. My kudos to PT for writing a fantastic book. Great cover too.

PT has also recorded this process of writing this book over on youtube. Check it out: [...]

Disclaimer: PT is a friend, but books are holy to me, so I will not let our friendship get in the way of an objective review :)

And did not want this book to end. It contains horror, paranormal, Science fiction, humor and action. The story and characters will keep you on the edge of your seat. Kudos to the author, especially for originality.

As the former owner of a small bookstore, I have read a lot of books and many of them by self-published authors. It is clear from reading Regulation 19, that this is the work of a professional. The complexity of the storyline and the character development that he creates is remarkable. It is only a matter of time before Hylton is picked-up by a traditional publishing house. He has done his homework and put in the time and we get to reap the rewards.

It has been so long, years in fact, that I have read a book that I wanted to curl up with on the weekend and do nothing but read it. This book is so refreshing and engaging after a drought of decent books. As some reviewers have said, it's Stephen King, The Twilight Zone and Wayward Pines all rolled up into one well told, well written, tight story. The characters are real and relatable and I actually remember their names while I'm not reading the book (clue 1 that this is a good book). I'm not usually into characters with powers of some sort, no matter how subtle, but when an author incorporates it into a story so well that it doesn't leave me wondering about the plausibility of it - it suspended my disbelief completely, then that's another clue that this a good book. I only wonder why there are so few reviews at all - why isn't everyone reading this book and when is the movie going to be made? My only criticism, if I have one at all, is that the title of the book could have been better selected. I don't feel the book is about Regulation 19, and the title should be an overarching reflection of the book, IMHO. But that's being nit picky. I have just started the second book (I downloaded the whole trilogy) and I am considering taking a vacation day from work just so I can read it without interruption from life.

Did not care for this at all. When you think you have some sort of an explanation, it just gets worse. Also, no one ever really gets ahead.

Knowing you have to read two more books for the nightmare to end, made me say..."no way."

Not crazy about one single person having control over the entire planet and someone who can never be beaten. What's the point and to what end?
Gotta read three crazy installments to find out?

The bird thing was an interesting topic for a book, but too weird. Not much about this made any sense. A lot of back and forth between before and present time, made things that much more confusing.

I had a hard time believing most people would fall for crap like this and be so easily controlled.

Since I'm ridiculously strong-willed, I have no doubt this was my main reason for not liking this story. I'd have been in trouble with this guy over and over again.

You have to let the good guys win from time to time. When good people are constantly beaten down, when trying to do good, yet failing time and time again, I lose interest.

Defying genre classification, Regulation 19 mixes together elements of fantasy, science fiction, suspense and horror to create a fresh, engaging story. The mystery surrounding this town is absolutely compelling. Told in multiple perspectives over multiple timelines, the narrative is continually moving forward. Readers will likely fly through this gripping page-turner.

The world-building in this story is fantastic. The readers will be fascinated to learn more about the strange regulations enforced within the community. Over the course of the story, the author slowly pulls back the curtain to reveal the circumstances surrounding this town. The reality of the situation ends up being just as compelling as the original mystery. This first book has a satisfying ending, yet leaves so much potential to be explored in the rest of the trilogy.

This is a must-read for anyone who loves reading those classic stories about small towns with secrets. I highly recommend this addictive story to a wide range of readers who enjoy unraveling mysteries.

I receive a copy of this book from the author.

WOW WOW WOW! Best book series I have read in a very long time. This is so fresh, and exciting, and original! It is everything you love about Sci-Fi. It is like taking the best parts of Doctor Who, Supernatural, and The Maze Runner, throwing in some Ted Dekker and Stephen King. I found myself shouting out loud and just reading a passage and then staring off into space.......contemplating WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. PT Hylton eases you into the story and then just lets you HAVE it. He is also (thankfully) a very tasteful writer and there isn't an onslaught of profanity or sexual situations. Maybe... because there just isn't time!! LOL! Be prepared for the ride of your life with this trilogy. I am currently finishing the third book in the series and highly recommend all three books. Just be sure you have plenty of free time going in, because once you get started, you will have a white knuckled death grip on these books and will NOT be able to put them down.

Alright, so basically, I had such an amazing time reading this. Frank has been out of the loop, in prison, for the last 9 years and is finally released under some weird, unexpected conditions. He must return to Rook Mountain and find his missing brother, but a lot has changed in the town since he left. Frank has to figure out what's what before these creepy bird-like being destroy everything and his time limit is up.

My favorite part about this novel was definitely the plot. I had an enormous amount of questions after the first chapter, and these had me flying through the chapters to find out the answers. What the heck is going on in this weird town? Why is everyone a part of this cult? What's up with that naked dude? The story reveals the perfect amount of information at precisely the correct moment and always had me engaged. I thought the mystery elements of the story were very unique and interesting, and I have never read about something like this before. I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about them in the next two books.

In terms of characters, I really did enjoy the characters of the novel. Frank is your stubborn, non-compliant protagonist who has all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. He's someone you can't help but root for, and the same goes for most of the "good guy" characters. I'll admit that I didn't notice a lot of character growth, so if you need major character growth in your books, this may not be the one for you. There's one character who you see a lot of growth in, but he's a child, so it kind of makes sense that he would grow in intelligence as he ages.

Overall, I thought this book was fantastic, and A Place Without Shadows has been bumped up on my TBR list a lot. I hope to read it this month or next to continue to see where Frank's and the others' stories will take them.

This is another great book by PT Hylton. It's a fun story of suspense and time manipulation, with well developed characters and a fun, modern sort of magic system (if you want to call the items that). Great read, and fun audiobook.

A must read!!! The writer has a way of keeping you intrigued and wanting to know what happens next. I couldn't put the book down because the way it would take you in the before and the after kept me wanting more. I really like how the area of eastern Tennessee was explained. Even with this book being a thriller also had some funny parts like the little girl paused in the grocery store picking her nose. Also I rarely finish books when I start them.. this writer made sure this book was left unread and also making me want to read the next one as soon as possible. I can't wait to read more from P.T Hylton.

Hylton knows what most authors do not: novels are about characters. All else is simply a stage for them to play out their roles. Starts with a Shawshank look and feel, and morphs into something else all together. If you like WAYWARD PINES, you love this.

held my attention until the end. characters were well develped and the storyline was easy to follow. although the ending definately left room for a book two, it did not do so in a way that would take away from a good ending to this one. highly recommended. i will be buying the next book when it come out

I originally bought the book because I know the family. I wasn't real big on reading it. I read a review and thought I should give it a try. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!!!!! Amazingly well written, keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the book, and it's a fast read. Of course, that is the down side. Now I cannot wait for the next one! I almost didn't go to work one day because I made the mistake of picking it up in the morning. Anyone who likes mystery, suspense, and a little science fiction should read this book. I have told many people to get the book and read it. I am a school teacher and have even recommended it to my high school students. It's not full of cursing and sex, quite a change from most books, and still manages to be fascinating. I wonder how well it would do at the box office?? I'd go!

Hurry up with the next one!!!!

The book brings you in from the start with a world that is cloaked in mystery. It is very close to normal but everything seems just a little off. The protagonist works his way through the mysteries with the reader giving you a relate ability in the style of Memento.
The Regulation 19 is filled with enough twist and turns that make it a very quick and engaging read. The problems of the town and it's inhabitance seem normal at first but the rabbit hole goes quite deep.
By the end I had a strong connection to the characters and their struggles. I'm guessing that this book isn't the end of their journey and I am excited to see where they go from here.
I think that Regulation 19 was well worth the time and the money.

I love novels that respect me as a reader - and this author does an amazing job of that. I'm allowed to discover and explore an extraordinary world through the eyes of the main character. Frank has to figure out what's happened to change his hometown and his old friends. As the eerie truth unravels, each surprising detail provides a piece to the puzzle, but introduces another mystery to be solved. The story always keeps you guessing, but few of my guesses were correct. There always seems to be another layer, a deeper cause for every action in the story. It's a tale of otherworldly events taking place in our world. If you like Stephen King, you will appreciate the cosmic inventiveness of P.T. Hylton.
Yet, it's a human story at the core. How would you react if your world suddenly changed so much you almost couldn't recognize it? What kind of choices would you make? How much would you conform if your life - or the lives of your children - were on the line? One can't help but to ponder such questions while reading "Regulation 19". Yes, it's a morality tale, but one without easy moralizing. I found myself pondering Nazi Germany, "1984" and "The Twilight Zone."
I recommend "Regulation 19" as a novel that covers all the bases. It has great characters, a riveting plot, plenty of intrigue, lots of action and scenes of horror that will keep you up at night. It carries noble themes like sacrifice, and redemption. You won't be able to read this book without examining your own core values and what you would be willing to do to protect them.

A great book by a great new author! I just finished and am getting ready to start the second one. If you want a good sci-fi mystery book, this is definitely for you! It drew me in right away, and I flew through it!

Here is one of the best insults in all of novels or movies:

"In another time and another place, you could have been great. But you never get out of your own way. You have all these ideas brewing in there and no clue what to do with them. You lack the resolve, the confidence to do something special. You have original ideas, but you lack originality. You are completely predictable."

Somehow the ring of authenticity in that insult stings. Note to self: quick, quick, forget your own unfinished novels and get lost in this crazy fictional world that P.T. Hylton has created like some scary-very resort that tourists can go visit. Normally the word "horror" paired with "genre" keeps me from even reading the synopsis, but when John L. Monk added “Regulation 19” to his Awesome Indie list, I knew I had to visit the creepy little town of Rook Mountain myself. It was quite the vacation. Whenever life threatens to seem a little mundane, I treasure the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in exciting times." Or interesting times. I know exactly what this local means: "The great thing about this place is that nothing crazy ever happens. The downside is that nothing crazy ever happens." When things do get crazy, it's human nature to wish for our old, uneventful lives.

We first view the town from the top of Rook Mountain and its unique grassy balds--blunt rounded mountain tops covered with dense vegetation--baffling, because scientists couldn't agree on the lack of trees. "Just another damn Rock Mountain mystery" to add to the list. While others migrated to cities like Chicago, Denver and Phoenix, the locals have treasured their quiet town since the days of Daniel Boone. But there were no huge, singing, people-eating birds in Boone's day.

The story opens with Frank being offered a free pass out of jail if he can help locate his missing brother Jake. For the past nine years Frank had no news of anything outside the prison so he didn't know his brother had been been charged with murder and gone missing for seven years. His liberators warn that everything is different, but it's hard to get anyone in town to explain how or why. His brother's wife has remarried, and Will tells him,

"March 27th, 2014, we went to bed and everything was normal. We woke up on the 28th and everything had changed."

"Changed how?" Frank asked.

"People were dead. Lots of people."

Hylton does something amazing with this novel: he shifts back and forth in time, narrating from multiple points of view, and he makes it work. He takes us back to that landmark day when life changed. A naked man named Zed dropped into town from out of nowhere; then the nightmarish "Birdies" descended, and only Zed knew how to stop them. With the mesmerizing power of the Pied Piper, he secures the town's safety. Just one catch: nobody can leave town. Step across the boundary line, and a Birdie will immediately come to eat you. Also, everyone must abide by Regulations meant to keep them all safe. Each little rule gradually robs the freedom of each resident, while fear of breaking the rules has them turning each other in or even punishing fellow locals with death. If it sounds crazy, read the novel. And some history books about these things happening in real life. Graves and prisons are filled with millions who opposed trivial, annoying little rules and petty tyrants.

But this is not a cautionary tale. It could be, but it's also a thriller, mystery, nightmare, adventure, and great escapist fun. Just beware, squeamish readers among us, that plenty of the most real-life kind of horror is mixed in with the fun. During a sort of Boy Scout trek up the mountain, a citizen and leader enforces Regulation 18* by murdering someone who was trying to leave town. "A life had been taken out of the world in a wholly unnatural way. The laws of the universe, both the laws of nature and the laws of morality, had been broken....He saw looks of shock, horror, revulsion, and terror. There was even a look of awe from (one of the children). But they were all present behind their eyes. Whatever feelings they had about what had just happened, none of them were going to lose it. At least not now." I love that line: they were present behind their eyes. Look at photos of Holocaust survivors, or anyone with PTSD, and the phrase makes sense.

"There was no shame in what we did here," the executioner assures the boys. "We protected ourselves. We protected our families. We did our duty, no more and no less. Everyone understand?"

Those words have been spoken too many times throughout human history.

Line after line of this novel is engaging, memorable, and well written (see my publicly shared highlights or my blog review at carolkean dot wordpress dot com). Finding competent writers shouldn't be so difficult, but as a reviewer who starts and casts aside a thousand books a year, I can assure you that Regulation 19 is a rare treat. Is it flawless? Of course not. Are there plot holes? Certainly. All books require willing suspension of disbelief. Some of the unexplained issues in this novel will likely make sense when we read the sequel. November 2014? Seriously, P.T., you're making your fans wait that long?

* We never do learn what the newest Regulation, 19, really is. And I may be wrong about which Regulation prohibits leaving town. I hunted for the number and realized it really doesn't matter. Read the book.

An absolutely engaging thriller! Phenomenal character development that makes you feel like you grew up in the circle of friends at the core of this book. There are plenty of twists and turns. Every time you think you know what will happen it twists again proving you wrong until the very end. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read that will keep them on the edge of their seat!

This book had me hooked from the start. I am normally not a "sci-fi" reader, however I could not put this one down. Althought it has lots of suspense and a great plot, the characters are really what drew me in. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.