Customer Reviews

Terminal

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I've read several books by Robin Cook and have thoroughly enjoyed them but Terminal was a total disappointment. The concept behind the plot was good, and had much potential for being a masterpiece but this was shoddy and unbelievable. His two main characters, Sean Murphy and Janet Reardon were unrealistic. No medical student could possibly possess the knowledge he did. Janet is from a snobby Boston family and received a degree from Wellesley in English Literature yet suddenly she's a nurse. Her background is not relevant to the story. In the beginning of the story, Janet's personality was strong and overbearing but as the plot unfolded she became passive, almost submissive. A subplot featured Tom Widdicom, the maniacal serial killer. This had no relevance to the story and that was demonstrated by the abrupt termination halfway through the story. The Japanese company's investment in the Forbes Cancer Clinic was another subplot that never did tie in well with the plot. There were many inconsistencies throughout the book and my final question is, how did Sean get through an airport and board a plane with a gun in his pocket?

Being halfway on my struggle through Terminal, I feel an urge to warn all potential buyers and readers: don't waste your time, don't waste your mood, don't endanger your environment...don't even look at this crappy piece of work!

I happen to be in the same line of business as the lead character in Terminal, Sean Murphy; I am aware Sean isn't to be blamed for his inventor's misgivings, however I do sincerely hope I will never share presence in the same galaxy as this individual. He's is crooked, unprofessional, a menace to science, to the medical profession and to his patients. His friends and other supporting actors, are at least as unrealistic. Every female in Sean Murphy's surroundings seems to be either overly pretty and overly inclined to share his bed linnen, or too ugly to lay eyes on. People generally tend to act either as complete imbecils or as geniusses of the Einstein variant. On top of a storyline that fails to even give the slightest impression that Robin Cook has lately been seriously reading up on scientific research technology, you will only find twisted people with less depth of character than Tom and Jerry. To make things even worse, Mr Cook uninvitedly shows us his darker sides by cruel generalisations of various peoples and their cultures. It would not be right to give any examples as the reader would mistakenly think these are to be sought for: the book as a whole is a worthless piece of junk; I didn't find any realistic or convincing passage so far and am affraid of what might follow.

Once again, don't do "Dr." Cook (is this individual still officially recognized as a medical doctor? has he ever been? and if yes, does he apply the same horrors to medical practice as he does to his writing?) the honors of letting his novel get any more attention.

PS: as a non-native english speaker, there might be some spelling mistakes in my writing, for which I hereby beg your pardon.

A potentially absorbing plot succumbs to mind-numbingly pedestrian prose in "Terminal". The hero, a promising young medical genius named Sean Murphy uncovers signs that all is not right in a prestigious Florida medical research lab that may have just discovered the cure for cancer. There are hints of Murphy's checkered past, but they remain hints less because of mystery than the author's inability to deal with his charachters and have them deal with each other. Before long, it's clear that "Terminal" is a work in progress, and not that far along. There are numerous subplots - Murphy's past being one, while a serial killer is another - that never come together and cause what's left to unravel. The author tosses in a wealth of medical detail that is supposed to ensconce him as the master of the medical thriller, but even that fails to suspend our belief. I doubt a firts year resident, writing in bits and pieces at the end of every 36-hour shift, could do worse than this.

It starts out OK, but goes downhill once it gets going. The main character of this book is a PSYCHO, who appears to have a total lack of judgement. His girlfriend is an annoyingly unassertive character who simply follows him around saying, "Sean, are you sure this is a good idea? I don't want to do this, this is going too far, blah blah blah" before giving in and going along with it anyway. All of the characters are inconsistent, the plot isn't all that interesting, it's very unrealistic, and the writing is just plain bad. Not recommended.

First of all, no matter how bad a book is, I read it all the way through. I managed to get through this book and when I read the last page I knew it for sure then. This was absolutely the WORST book I've ever read in my entire life!!!

Robin Cook really lost touch with reality with this one. This was the first book I read by this author and I'm giving him a second chance with Acceptable Risk.

I have read many Robin Cook books, and although it was entertaining, it was not the same thriller as previous Cook reads.

No matter how bad or boring a book is, I feel it necessary to finish it. I can't believe I wasted a week of my life reading this! Save your time & money. I enjoy Robin Cook, but HATED this novel!

I cannot believe i had wasted my time reading this book while on vacation. The main character Sean is so unreal in every sense of the word that i am even more shocked when i found out that the author of this book was a medical doctor?!? Such an arrogant cartoonish character no real intern could ever become...like you get the feeling Sean is more fascinated in spy work right from the start since his enormous knowledge in the medical field is without question....like hello!! you are a medical student, not an experience know it all. I never seen stuff like this on ER. Janet is the nurse conspirator that seem to have a multiple personality complex in being so pompous in the beginning, then a complete change later into the plot that you get he feeling it was another nurse with the same name so i thought something sinister is happening here but the author never explained. There are many subplots that just doesn't lead to anything that really matters or it becomes lost and you don't hear from it again....a possible sequel, i hope not!!!

I just this post below by jessica who had given 5 stars...Ummm are you like related to Dr.Cook because it happen to be the only post you have on here....nice try :) My guess is that the only people who would rate this book highly are those related to him or can't tell a horrible written book from a good one, is that even possible?

The next time i read a book, i will get some reviews first before i read something as bad as this. I just didn't get the chance to and the back cover summary seem promising...WRONG when picking up this paperback at a yardsale for 10 cent days before i head off on vacation and i feel like being rip off!!!!

This novel consists of stock characters walking their way through ludicrous situations. The corporate espionage angle is totally unbelievable. The writing is just as bad as the plot. The author needs to do some more research; there are three basic mistakes about places in the city of Boston in one chapter.

Terminal has a much better than average premise and a plot that moves along swiftly and definitely holds the interest. When you read a Robin Cook book you know it will deal with Big Medicine doing what's necessary to make a buck and always be at the expense of individual patients. This book is no exception. Knowing that, I generally enough reading these books. The downer for this one, however, is that the characters take actions which are totally unbelievable. Not science-fiction like (there are no walking through walls or mind-reading), but actions that rationale people would not take. Over and over again laws were broken with no thought of possible consequences. It just wasn't believable that people who had worked so hard toward futures would throw them away without a second thought. If you can look past that, this is a much better book. I couldn't.