Terminal by Brian Keene Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Terminal
Book Review: One of Keene's best: TERMINAL.
Summary: 5 Stars
I often find when horror writers veer away from the genre they do their best work. Such is the case in TERMINAL which is not your typical horror novel though there are some aspects in the conclusion. What could be more horrific than knowing you have terminal cancer and don't have long to live? How will you provide for your family? Tommy O'Brien has the solution. Get some of his friends together and rob a bank. Sounds simple enough. Not if Keene has anything to say about it. Another one of Keene's novels you will enjoy is CASTAWAYS, a nasty spin on the TV reality show SURVIVOR.Book Review: Overrated
Summary: 3 Stars
Terminal isn't a bad novel, as a matter in fact it's one of Keene's better books. It starts off great with the characters having realistic motivations for their actions and actually seem realistic. Terminal however begins to fail about half way through, first when they go to buy the guns it just feels stereotypical (and it's obvious Keene didn't look into firearm prices before writing this section).
Then it falls apart about ten pages into the bank robbery. I felt that Keene's reason for the robbery going bad was terrible and if you read the book you probably will too, the next part where the novel fails is the cast of characters in the bank who I just felt were too diverse. Then rather than try to keep the realistic feel that had been present throughout the first half of the novel Keene adds supernatural elements to the plot and it just doesn't feel like the same book after that. The ending is good, but it's the only good part of the second half of the book.
I give this three stars, two for a great first half and one for a terrific ending.
Book Review: Powerful...
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, this is not horror in the sense of zombies, vampires, ghosts, etc. It's horror in one of my favorite ways - ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, with a sprinkle of supernatural pixie dust. Keene amazed me with his short stories, stunned me with his zombies, and now leaves me breathless with his thriller.
The only word I can come up with - and I've been chewing on this for days - is powerful. This story is absolutely powerful. From the humble beginnings to the insanity of the heist gone wrong, this story will touch your heart, and attack your senses. The characters are so familiar, without being stereotypical, that you begin to expect them to behave like the people in your life you are comparing them to. When they don't, you find yourself somewhere between disappointed and relieved. And any time a writer can make me wonder if I feel one way or another they have succeeded in getting their story off the page and into my head - right where they wanted to be!
The depth of the plot and characters, combined with the reality of the atmosphere, brings this tale to life in a symbiotic union of perfection. Crescendo like pacing is expertly crafted to take you through a gamut of emotions you don't normally experience in horror - and you find yourself pleasantly surprised. Keene's style of writing only fine tunes the intensity of this novel with smooth prose and precision dialogue. There are no wasted images, thoughts, or otherwise here - and to think the novella was missing thirty odd thousand words!
All the elements blend seamlessly and come together in an ending that will madden you on some levels, yet appease you on others. Underlying social questions are redefined and exceptions to the rules of ethics are introduced. You find that the moral of the story is... well no, it's more like... but then again it could be... Yes, that is exactly what I was doing while reading the end!! It twisted and turned so many times at the end I was dizzy, and happy to spin some more.
Purchase your lifetime pass to Keene's merry-go-round and do it now!!
Book Review: Small time zombie author makes good!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Some real good twists, some mechanical moments
Summary: 4 Stars
I've heard this was originally a shorter piece that was expanded to novel length. It was probably better in its original form. The characters are all really well drawn. Some redundancy makes about one-quarter of the book go really slow ("for a second, it all went away" "then it all came rushing back") Some gaps in who-knows-what-at-what-time are really annoying and make things a little predictable. But the quality of the characters (except for once-in-a-while speechifying that seems used to force the plot along), plus the author's way with putting action and fear into gears that won't let you go, eventually make this story worthwhile in this form.