Terminal by Brian Keene Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Terminal
Book Review: A solid start with a mess of an ending.
Summary: 3 Stars
I figured after reading Keene's zombie books and short story book, I'd give Terminal a try because it was based more on reality than make believe.
Tommy leads a decent life. He doesn't make much money and lives in a trailer, but he is happy. Happy because he loves his beautiful wife (name I can't remember) and his son T.J. Well... he led a decent life until one really bad day. He loses his job due to cutbacks and oh yeah... he finds out he has terminal cancer and is projected to live at a max of 3 months. Too scared to tell his wife for fear of crushing her, he goes out with his two best friends Johnny and Sherm to have some beers. Johnny has been his friend since child hood and Sherm moved into town from Portland a few years back and became an instant friend. With no job and no life insurance, he decides the best way to help his wife and child before his death is to rob a bank. He's going to die anyways so it doesn't matter if he gets away with it or not. His friends decide to help him even though Tommy wants them to do nothing of the sort, but he can't convince them not to. A quick and easy heist. If Tommy could've taken a day back in his life, it would be the day he thought of the bank robbery. Maybe then he could've prevented all the blood that will be shed.
The story is pretty good, but maybe I've just been reading too much of Keene lately because he uses a lot of material from his other books. In `Fear of Gravity' there is a short story called `Marriage Causes Cancer in Rats'. In that story he uses almost the exact paragraphs from a doctor telling the main guy that he has terminal cancer. Even the exact phrase of `looking away at a tablet' or something to that effect. It really aggravated me. It's his own work, I know, but still....sloppy and lazy in my opinion.
Two other things I didn't care for about the books were two of the hostages. One was a child that can `do things'. So right there, this book went from a believable story to a supernatural story which aggravated me. And then there was this old lady hostage who started calling people heathens and people were doing the devils work. Proclaiming that they needed to sacrifice the blood of the innocent to wash themselves clean of the sins they were doing. Right away I thought of The Mist by King. It was crazy. And they had only been hostages for like two hours! Give me a break.
The first half of the book was really good I thought. The character development between the friends was great. The love he had for his wife was great (even though it made me mad he wouldn't man up and just tell his wife about the cancer). But then it just got corny during the heist. The heist scene wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. I liked it at first, but it just seemed to fall apart once we got there. Rushed, confusing, and not believable anymore.
Don't read a lot of Keene? I think you'll like this book enough. Read a lot of Keene? Skip this until you've put Keene on the side burner for a bit.
Book Review: A very good book
Summary: 5 Stars
Terminal is a great story, with some great writing behind it. I'd read Brian Keene's THE RISING, and despite being good and gory, was achingly dull and predictable. But this is a GREAT BOOK. I highly recommend getting Terminal and reading it in one or two sittings. There's a wonderful sense of pride and characterization in this book. O'Brien is a believable, and pitiable character. Although most of us won't be able to relate to his misfortune, you will go to bed thinking about him and feeling for him. A lightning fast read that will satisfy the most seasones suspense reader.Book Review: An Interesting Twist On An Often Used Story
Summary: 4 Stars
Keene takes a shot at another clichéd story type here. That is the desperate but good man finds out he's dying so he decides to rob a bank to leave something behind for his wife and kid. Pretty typical, but well executed with an interesting paranormal twist. Yet, what really stands out in this book is Keene's portrayal of a dying man living within a dying Pennsylvania manufacturing town. He adequately captures the feeling of desperation and of dying dreams. At times the story utilizes some very overused literary tricks, but in the end you feel the pain of the main character, no matter how stupid he is.Book Review: Average book redeemed by an incredible ending
Summary: 3 Stars
While reading Terminal, I couldn't help but wonder what Brian Keene was trying to do with this story. Terminal reads like a cheap cross between Stephen King's Rage and The Green Mile. But the book never comes close to reaching the thrills and chills these other novels offered to the reader. In fact, were it not for the ending, the book itself would have been somewhat of a bore, a recycled series of event we've seen many times before.
And that's too bad, because Keene is a very good writer. His stories usually hit very hard, thrilling the reader until the very last page. But there is very little excitement to be found in this heist story. When Tommy learns that he has cancer and only has a month or so left in this world, he decides that he needs to do something to provide a good future for his wife and son. But it'll be hard giving them what they need since he's also just been layed off from his job.
That's when he has the brilliant idea to rob a bank. His friends John and Sherm decide to help, being the good buddies that they are. But of course, the robbery goes wrong. People are killed and Sherm becomes a killing machine thirsty for blood (Rage anyone?)
Its during the hostage situation that Tommy meets Benjy, a young boy who might or might not have the power to heal the dying by placing his hands on them (The Green Mile anyone?). But Tommy must have faith in his future and in this boy before being saved.
Keene's writing, as always, is tight and consice. It's too bad he couldn't apply his style to a better story. The characters seem dated, quoting Slim Shady (Emminem has not called himself that in a long time) and other rap songs that were popular six or seven years ago. And the characters themselves and underdevelopped and barely likeable. Even the hostages are stereotypical cardboard cutouts that won't inspire any sympathy for their situation from the reader.
I was about to give up on the novel until the last 50 pages came along. That's when the story finally picks up and stops being redundant. Instead of long long long passages where our main character complains about his life and what is happening to him and blames everyone in the world for his situation (I mean really, if there is one person to blame for the people who died during the robbery, it's Tommy even if he didn't murder them himself), the book becomes a breathless ride filled with action, the thing Keene writes best.
Keene is a good author capable of much better. I'm just waiting for his masterpiece to fall on my lap. Hopefully, his next one will be just that.
Book Review: Best yet
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a huge Brian Keene fan, so when I read this book - I was actually blown away. It is different from his others as it can be very real. The characters are very well described and you feel for each one of them, wether it's hate, frustration, fear or wanting things to go right. I've loved his zombie novels as well. This is a nice change of pace to get away from the zombies, for awhile anyway. It's one of Mr. Keene's earlier novels. You will get through this book in one night or less, it's that good you won't put it down.