Customer Reviews

Terminal Event

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most reviews concentrate on the plot and character development. I believe this has been adequately covered by other reviewers. I want to point out that the typography in this tome is excruciating. There are no spaces after periods so that the whole thing reads like one run-on sentence. My wife gave up reading it after only a dozen pages. I finished the book, but I couldn't read it straight through the way I usually read a suspense novel, because I was fighting to find the ends of sentences all the way. I find it hard to believe that a reputable publisher would inflict this on readers.

A real page-turner! Believable characters, and a plot whose twists and turns held my interest throughout. Be warned though... it's pretty gory! The author is skillful enough to move things along so fast that you don't stop to notice the gaping holes in logic (reservation tapes on a 2-week backup cycle that are erased in less than 10 days, and an FBI-sponsored burglary that makes no sense if you stop to think about it). And the retired teacher in me was appalled at the errors in grammar and spelling: "pouring" over reports... clothes on "hangars" ... wounds full of "puss" ... computer tapes are "overridden". Sigh! Spellcheckers aren't enough, folks!

This book was gripping from the start. Thayer does a great job at detailing crash sites and the remarkable actions of the NTSB. The relationship with the female FBI agent adds an interesting dimension, without the typical tacked on love story feel, and certainly without the expected happy ending.

It is an easy read, and I was also baffled by the nearly complete inaccuracy of the description on the back cover (there is never any suggestion of pilot error). However, if you can put aside the expectations of the story his publisher is advertising, this really is a great story.

As a pilot, an engineer and a lover of fine writing, I found TERMINAL EVENT to be not much more than hack writing aimed at a mass market.

There were numerous technical flaws (incorrect air traffic control phraseology and dubious science regarding volatile gases and the progression of damage through the aircraft), the dialog was laughably bad and the ending was obvious from about the half-way point of the book.

If James Thayer was intent on writing a techno-novel, then he should have couched everything in realistic science (the descriptions of the CGI reconstructions had me rolling my eyes in disbelief). If he wanted to write a character-driven story, then he should have developed distinct personalities for each of the characters and tried to elevate the dialog above the afternoon soap opera level.

The book wasn't all bad. At least there were only a couple of spelling errors.

One star for the book and one star for me having the ability to finish. The book looked like a great premise that fell way short. Every possible cause for the crash is painstakingly drawn out to dead ends. As filler, there seems to be pages on end about harmonicas and landscape descriptions, yawn. There is never an indication in the development of the story about how it comes to its strange conclusion. Maybe an entire book about one of the characters, Linda Dillon is something I might read.
I got this book at Salvation Army. Not sure whether to put it in the paper recycle bin or donate back to Salvation Army.

have you ever wondered exactly what goes on behind the scenes of an airplane crash??? ever think about the actual investigations and who are the investigators??? wellllllll, this is the book for you because it goes into all of the sordid details that's totallly fascinating....if you thrive on minutiae, then this is it! thayer breathes life into his investigators on top of it....i just hope that we get to read more about joe, sarah and linda.........please......?

Joe Durant, former National Transportation Safety Board investigator, is drawn back into the gruesome world of airplane disasters when a plane en route from Haily, Idaho, to Seattle crashes in the Cascade Mountains with no survivors. Aboard the flight was Joe's estranged wife, Janie. Rushing to the scene, Joe lies and begs his way back onto the NTSB investigative team. Perhaps his toughest job is telling his 15 year old daughter Sarah that her mother is dead. The NTSB's suspected reasons for the crash vary from pilot error to a bomb planted aboard the plane to a rocket launched at the plane. The team searches through the wreckage, investigates the passengers and crew, and combs the airline's company records. Then a letter is received from someone claiming to be the bomber and threatening to bring down another plane in ten days. This poignant novel has it all: compassion, critical detail, and suspense. Whether you want high techonolgy or high tension anxiety, Terminal Event is the last word in compelling realism in an engrossing story well-told. Definitely aircraft disaster realism!

There are some books --The Name of the Rose comes to mind-- which absolutely drench you in arcane detail. A page is fascinating. A chapter is interesting. An entire book leaves you comatose. Other books --pick almost any one of today's "adventure writers"-- are full of action but feature characters who seemingly are taken off a shelf somewhere, like Campbell's Soup. And then there are the books full of character... well, you presume they are, but since nothing ever happens you can't be sure.

Thayer's "Terminal Event" finds a wonderful balance among those three elements. The action is compelling, the technicalities interesting and germane, and his characters are appealing and real.

Joe Durant, his daughter, Wayne Ray, the FBI agents --they are all well-drawn and each advances the story line. Linda Dillon, arguably the central character, even if the book is told from Durant's point of view, is fascinating but, frankly, is a bit much. The only reason I didn't rate this book 5 stars was her over-the-top assaults on credibility (to say nothing of civil rights) while arresting Fahey and Dietz or disrupting the shipping carrier's offices.

Still, even Linda Dillon is a refreshing change, for all her ramboism: here is someone in a story who actually has morals, beliefs and prejuidices, and acts on them... we could watch one million Hollywood movies and never see anything like it.

There are a couple of irritating editorial lapses --for example, when Joe Durant interviews the "Lady in the Hat" in her limousine, she's described as wearing a pants suit, but in the next paragraph she's adjusting her hemline-- but those are minor.

The relationship between Durant and Linda Dillon is particularly well handled --a growing, believable intimacy, but with the clear understanding that there's a line which can't be crossed, not because the author chooses not to but because the character won't allow it.

This book made me want to read more of Thayer --a rarity these days, believe me-- and I recommend it to all of you. I'd be interested in hearing from others who've read it.

FJB

Terminal Event by James Stewart Thayer, Large Print, Beeler Large Print, Hampton Falls, NH, 2000.

This book opens with a horrific scene: former NTSB investigator, Joe Durant, is running towards an airplane crash and encountering parts of human bodies. As a former National Transportation Safety Board investigator, Durant has seen many crashes, but this one is different: he knows that his wife was on Emerald Airlines plane called Sacajawea.

Author James Thayer then develops three major plot lines in the investigation into the cause(s) of the crash and each plot line depends upon the kind of people, the characters, involved. The first centers on Joe Durant, the NTSB engineer, who develops an engineering theory based upon improper design or, perhaps, incorrect maintenance. The second revolves around the FBI and ATF agents, who scour the Northwest part of the Untied States for skinhead groups who are anti-government enough to shoot down commercial airliners. The third plot line introduces a Saudi Arabian prince, in the United States for treatment of alcoholism. His presence on the crashed plane is ascertained from identification of those attending funerals and memorial services, and determining why those individuals would be at these events. All three plots compete and it seems, to the reader, that each competing cause is plausible: engineering failure, or terrorist attacks or assassination of the Saudi. But then, not to give away the surprise ending, the main protagonist , Joe Durant, discovers the one important clue that leads to the actual killer.

The discussion of technology is appropriate to this type of mystery, and the hint of romance, with the hotshot FBI agent, Linda Dillon, serves to lighten the book. Author James Thayer does know the Northwest part of the country. Read the book to find out who dun it.

summer reading never looked better. thayer's latest is a must for the deck, beach, airport or park. easy, interesting read. bit like the best of grisham (i.e. the firm) - before his all started sounding like one big variation on a theme. Thayer's consistent - his other titles are as good. Enjoy. dtk