Terminal

by Brian Keene

Bantam Spectra, 306 pp, $6.99

Terminal is a stand alone.

Tommy O’ Brian is a young husband and father stuck in a dead end job that doesn’t pay the bills. When he discovers that he has a month to live, and he has no insurance, he must find a way to provide for his family. He gets together with two friends to rob a bank. Although the attempt becomes a disaster - one of his friends is a stone killer in disguise - he is healed of his cancer by a boy who is shot by accident. The healing reverts when the child dies. And Tommy faces his end in prison.

The key to the book is not in traditional Horror as we know it, but in the psychology of the common man condemned with little control over his destiny. The writing is as dark and desolate as the dreams of the main character. Its plot has twists and turns that keep you reading with a protagonist you can empathize with, but the book does not fit the usual molds. A writer to watch, no matter what genre. - Pam Allan