Terminal: A Novel

by Brian Keene

Book Overview

This gripping crime drama with elements of the supernatural examines the desperate plight of a terminally ill blue collar worker with nothing to lose. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553587382
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Spectra
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Engrossing

This is an excellent lightning-paced suspense novel. Keene takes on a tone and style that will surprise those who only know his work through the RISING/CITY OF THE DEAD books. Keene takes about two pages to win you over, as the main character, a hard-luck young man trying to support his family in a PA town with a desolate economy, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Things then get seriously messed up when he decides to provide for their future by going all out. The dialouge is dead-on, no plot holes found, this is just a great read. All lovers of dark fiction with heart should check this out.

Small time zombie author makes good!

You're down on your luck: lost your dead-end job, got cancer, only have weeks to live... So, what do you do? If you're Tommy O'Brien and his friends (one of whom is not-so-stable) you rob a bank. Planning the job is straight forward for Tommy, John, and the shady (and possibly demon-possessed) Sherm. But, as tends to happen with bank jobs, it all goes down hill from there. Gunfights, bloodshed, madness, and miracles round off this fast-paced thriller. While the premise may sound tired, just as he did with his zombie novels Keene has brought power back to the grand old tale of the bank job. Not only has he put a touch of unique, supernatural slant on the tale he has done something so many authors strive to do their entire careers and fail: Keene has written a book that has a huge, beating heart that anybody who has ever been down on their luck (and who hasn't?) will easily relate to and fall in love with. Quite frankly, folks, I'm convinced these characters are out there living real lives somewhere right now (well, those who survived anyway!) and Keene simply wrote their biography. Buy this book now before it disappears.

excellent suspense/crime novel

It's a shame that this book is not getting more publicity. While Keene's excellent zombie novel "The Rising" was a major hit that could be found at most bookstores, this one is a bit harder to find...but it is well worth the effort. While I loved "The Rising," "Terminal" is even better and shows off a more mature writing style. It's not really horror, more of a crime story that has supernatural elements that creep in at the end (but never overpower the human drama). I cannot recommend this one enough. Check it out.

Suspenseful, surprising, and a rivetting thriller!

Not the supernatural horror type of "The Rising" and "City of the Dead" (at least, it mostly isn't), "Terminal" is the story of Tommy O'Brien, a loving father and husband, who finds out he has cancer--terminal. The doctors give him a month, three at the most. Tommy suddenly finds himself staring at death, wondering how his wife and son will carry on without him. The small town of Hanover is stricken with poverty, divided into three camps: those who listen to rap, those who listen to metal, and those who listen to country. Everyone is poor. Tommy can't even pay the bills...and that's before he gets laid off from his job. What is a man to do? If you are a small-town worker with nothing to lose, you decide to take care of your family. And Tommy starts eying the town bank. With the help of two friends--John and Sherm--Tommy is about to pull off the ultimate bank heist. Except things inevitably go wrong, especially when one of your friends doesn't know what he's doing, and the other is homicidal...and Tommy will meet up with a young boy, a little kid who can do extraordinary things, and may just be able to cure Tommy...if Tommy can keep him alive. "Terminal" takes the most suspenseful novel you've ever read, and jacks it up a couple hundred notches. Rivetting, narrated by a guy most of us can relate to, this is a novel that will scare your pants off, and yet make you think about what YOU would do, when you had nothing to lose. Brian Keene has proven himself willing to tackle subjects that most authors won't dare approach, and he does it yet again in "Terminal." This is one that will appeal to the general suspense fans, as well as those who liked Keene's earlier novels. A sure-fire winner.

Honest fiction....finally.

Brian Keene's TERMINAL is a unique piece of horror/thriller fiction..IT COULD BE REAL....and I beleive most of it to have happened. Powerful is a great description. Mr. Keene shows us the dark human heart...and can relate with what the author shows us...because it is real. No purple prose..no zombies...no vampires...no witches. Just pure honest dreading-the-next-page-but-I-have-to-read-it writing. Brilliant.