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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real page-turner!, July 17, 2010
This review is from: Terminated (Mass Market Paperback)
What a page-turner this was! I thoroughly enjoyed this story, in which Gwen Farris, Stephen Tarbell's boss at a pharmaceutical corporation, gives him a poor performance evaluation, little realizing how violently and obsessively he would react. As they're both leaving work late that day, he threatens her with a knife in the parking lot, and that's only the beginning. Tarbell is truly fiendish in his plotting to destroy Gwen's life through violence and psychological torment. He even uses his devilish cunning to convince Gwen's bosses, the security company, and the police that Gwen is the aggressor and that it's he who is being persecuted. As if this weren't enough, Gwen also has to deal with the release from prison on parole of Desmond Parker, who assaulted and knifed her 15 years ago and left her for dead. Further complications in the plot are provided by a private security employee who is pressured into being Tarbell's accomplice, and Tarbell's brutal, sadistic father, who is dying of emphysema and at the mercy of his twisted son. I liked the way the author conveyed the contrast between the heroine and the villain. Tarbell is a truly pathetic character in his obsessive quest to avenge the wrongs he has convinced himself have been perpetrated on him by an uncaring world, indulging in self-pity, seeing himself as a victim, and believing that everything that has gone wrong for him is entirely the fault of others. Gwen, on the other hand, is an intelligent, strong-minded, likable woman who refuses to act like a victim and courageously stands up to her persecutor. Like all of Simon Wood's books I've read, this was a real thrill ride, fast-paced and packed with action, twists and turns, well-drawn characters, and suspense, right up to the electrifying conclusion. Highly recommended for all those who enjoy an exciting, well-written thriller.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TERMINATED is a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end, October 5, 2010
This review is from: Terminated (Mass Market Paperback)
TERMINATED is a nightmarish tale that begins quietly enough in the office of Gwen Farris, new head of Pace Pharmaceuticals' quality assurance department. She has just given Stephen Tarbell an unsatisfactory work evaluation. Given Tarbell's personality and family background, this is unfortunate. He believes that Farris received promotion to a job that should have been his, and this poor evaluation is the last straw. Tarbell wastes no time opening a campaign to teach Farris a lesson. One would expect him to be quickly fired and manhandled into the nearest jail cell; however, this doesn't happen. I've read two of Simon Wood's previous thrillers (ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN and PAYING THE PIPER), so I know enough about this author to hope that if there is reincarnation, Wood isn't in creative charge. I do not want to come back as a Wood protagonist. Wood's readers catch a whiff of previous trouble in his protagonist's life, even though by the time we meet him or her, warm relationships with a spouse and children and a worthwhile job mean life is pretty darn good. This is obviously not okay with the mischief-making Wood. He grabs this likable and fairly happy protagonist and suddenly kicks the poor schmuck down the stairs, hard. Then, while Wood brings about absolute merry hell with one hand, with the other hand he slowly reveals why what happened in the past will make this particular hell almost impossible to escape. But, there are reasons why Wood's protagonist climbed out of trouble in the first place. Oh man. Wood's ingenuity in these matters is really something. I wasn't more than a few pages into TERMINATED before I was saying aloud, "Oh no, please don't do this." A book about a man on a campaign to make a woman's life miserable can be very difficult to read. I thought about stopping; then I thought about skip reading; but I didn't do either of these things. For all his inventive deviltry, Wood is a thoughtful and insightful writer who is interested in the psychological makeup of his characters and in themes of redemption and perseverance. I continued to read because I wanted to watch the dance that Tarbell and Farris perform and see what effect this has on all of Wood's characters. TERMINATED is a twisting and maniacal roller coaster thrill ride that offers some interesting portraits in human psychology and shows how a large corporation handles workplace harassment, too. The next time you're looking for a thriller that makes you hold your breath while you turn the pages, but doesn't insult your intelligence, check out a Wood book. Wood knows how to start a book's engine, and by the time the finish line approaches, he's hurtling along way past overdrive. A writer's ability to take you along with him on this kind of hair-raising ride is something to experience.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Twisty, terrific thriller, May 23, 2010
This review is from: Terminated (Mass Market Paperback)
Gwen Farris has a good life and appreciates it. She and her husband have a young daughter, who they consider a miracle baby after Gwen's severe injuries inflicted years earlier. She has a new supervising position in a pharmecuticals company and loves her job. Too bad she gave an honest employee evaluation to the office misfit. Stephen Tarbell is more than irritated. This young Farris woman came to the company, took the job he deserved and gave him a less than steller job performance review. He's done being walked all over. After all, he's the one who really gets the work done. He's the one who the company should reward. He's the one who will get what he deserves. And so will his new supervisor. This is the setup to a brilliant new thriller by Simon Wood, newly nominated by the Crime Writers Association for a short story Dagger award. Tarbell first accosts Gwen Farris in the company parking lot one evening after she's worked late, pulling a knife on her. She reports the incident and a private firm is brought in to investigate, promising they will serve her Tarbell's head on a platter as long as she doesn't go to the police and is quiet. Mustn't cause any bad PR for the company, after all. Wood employs his excellent descriptive ability to keep the story moving, to explain why Gwen doesn't go to the police for starters. There also are plausible reasons why her employer is willing to take these steps to find out exactly what happened and deal with it in this manner. And there's groundwork laid early for why Gwen is even more rattled by the attack. It's a familiar situation. Those injuries that she recovered from happened when a would-be rapist plunged a knife into her stomach years ago. Everything works together to keep the pages turning and the action believable, because Wood does such a good job setting everything up. So when the action gets twistier and trickier, the reading adrenaline kicks, past actions are portents to the present and everything comes rushing up to an action-packed climax. That the reader will have to choose between cheering the main character on or urging a different course of action is part of the rush. A thriller about work place conflict are benign words for what are horrific actions in this case. The story also shows what changes a victim can go through, especially one who has gotten up once and who has a lot to fight for -- and whether the end justifies the means. Wood adds additional layers with the compelling supporting characters, especially a retired cop whose actions play a pivotal role, and scenes showing Tarbell's life away from the office. The latter add to the creep factor in an affective way, avoiding the overused first-person monologues set italics. And Tarbell's line of thinking after a particularly vile act is especially chilling. Most terrifingly, TERMINATED shows how easy it is for the person being harassed to not be believed, especially if she stands up for herself.
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