Avery Cates is an army man. Between the army's new dental plan and a set of first class augments, he's been given a second chance - albeit a quick one.
When a corrupt officer decides to make some money on the side by selling new recruits, Cates finds himself in uncharted territory. Sold to the highest bidder, his visions of escape and revenge quickly come to an end when he realizes who's bought him - and for what. Because the high bidder is Canny Orel himself. And he wants Cates to do one last job as the System slides into chaos. Cates will have one shot at getting back at Canny - but this time, Canny is holding all the cards.
{"itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":7.19,"ASIN":"0316069825","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":7.19,"ASIN":"0316069841","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":7.19,"ASIN":"0316075604","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"0316069825::g%2BunOgZ0zsuiZr10S8RggpNZh9b1JSikc49Zb0Kva4vu1V03j1CCYl4%2F0G718KopoYzgpdRZEdyyGmHfNqbyWz0ML%2ByyBZ54Sm9jou8DnVFI1VTdK84Xew%3D%3D,0316069841::SxJiSCXCIJXESbCHpi6QB9Tk4HOHNdKc6K45LZaOKXNJXKzKhD54nFBNVGive67%2F1%2FgiprFV5ZaonlOtEBqvKasgvnj%2Bduc4MuhiJgA5lLAVbGu8zGoAww%3D%3D,0316075604::Kd1Oqo%2BqGRs%2FB0R8LQ7%2FSlvI6VU9l8AX5VgRk9lnbd4nDQlYR%2F4J1PP60HndxvN%2BX3t5tzfVv4TEtxAeSl1Dv7HOANrAJXW%2F0h93IZnJUevfcATCnp4ymA%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"currenyCode":"USD","shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","yz":"same","xy":"same","xyz":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["add to wishlist","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"]}}
Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. After graduating college he wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey brought him back to his homeland. In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). Find out more about the author at www.jeffreysomers.com.
Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. As a child he imagined he would be a brain surgeon, until a spirit-crushing experience convinced him that in order to be a brain surgeon he would have to actually attend school, work hard, and master basic mathematics. After a severe head trauma, he chose instead to write stories and learn the high art of cocktail mixing, and spent the next twenty years in a pleasant haze of fiction and booze.
After graduating college, Jeff drove cross-country and wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey (a delicious mixture of chromium, cut grass, and indolence) brought him back to his homeland, where he got a job as an Editorial Assistant at a medical/science publisher in New York City. Most experts agree that this is likely where the young man went insane.
In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). His first novel "Lifers" was published in 2001, the Avery Cates series, beginning with The Electric Church, was published by Orbit Books from 2007-2011, and in 2013 published Trickster from Pocket Books with a sequel to follow. He's also had stories published in many magazines, most of which regret the connection. His story "Ringing the Changes" was chosen for "Best American Mystery Stories 2006" and his story "sift, almost invisible, through" appeared in "Crimes by Moonlight" edited by Charlaine Harris in 2010.
He currently lives in Hoboken, NJ, with his lovely wife Danette and their plump, imperious cats Pierre, Oliver, Spartacus, Otto, and Coco. Jeff insists the cats would be delicious.
In-between all this and writing too, Jeff plays chess and staves off despair with cocktails.
Avery Cates can't seem to get a break. He's somewhat like Indiana Jones in the sense that he is the reluctant hero and things keep adding up and working against him... just Avery seems to come out worse for wear at the end of every adventure. The Terminal State is the fourth book in the Avery Cates series which is authored by Jeff Somers.
The book is an excellent fast paced read into a Noir/ Cyber Punk/ Sci-Fi world that is great fun to read about but we really don't want it to ever happen to us. Society has collapsed and the SSF (police) who are basically machine avatars are on one side of the fight while the army fighting them is on the other side. Humans and Avery Cates in particular are caught in the middle. Once again Avery is forced back on the rail and things are set in motion that are out of his hands but the ride is worth every penny of the price of admission.
Avery gets pressed and forced into the army. While he is given all sorts of nifty augments life just doesn't get better for our hero... if you can call him that. You see, Avery Cates isn't a good man. He's rather selfish and in it for himself. He says freely what others only think and does what ever he wants. He does live by a code that may be twisted but it is also one of the reasons Avery Cates is a hero.
The writing is witty and clever and Jeff Somers has Avery saying some of the best lines I've read in any book. The futility of the situation leads to lines that will just crack you up and make your day brighter. Just for an example of style, think of Jeff Somers as the love child of William Gibson and Douglas Adams. Now that is not bad company to be in at all.
You should definitely read this series if you like Noir/ Cyberpunk/ Sci-Fi and when you do start with the first book or you may get lost. One of the great things that Jeff Somers does not do is use three or four pages to remind readers of what happened in the last book. Sometimes it is a couple of sentences and nothing deeply descriptive which in my opinion is a good thing. I know authors do it so books can be read out of order but it just annoys me. If you are reading the series you should start at number one and keep going.
The three previous books were also 5 out 5 Stars so pick them up and check them out. I've put them in order below:
1) The Electric Church
2) The Digital Plague
3) The Eternal Prison
4) The Terminal State
I will now be anxiously awaiting the 5th book due in 2011: The Final Evolution
I'm a big fan of the Avery Cates series. They are fun, energetic, and filled with a cinematic quality that really drives the cyberpunk dystopia. Avery usually slogs along on missions, largely against his will, and defeats his enemies by being skilled, smart, but mostly superhumanly tough. He routinely gets beaten up and then, summoning his last ounce of strength, manages to defeat his opponent. He is clever, likeable, and fun to read.
This particular novel, however, was quite disappointing. It still delivers the setting and Avery's character, the usual fights and chases, but this time Avery doesn't even care about his mission. Avery doesn't care about the other two characters he interacts with for most of the novel. Avery is just kind of stumbing along getting beaten up and dodging bullets.
As for the plot, nothing much really happens in The Terminal State except getting everything ready for another book. In fact, I think the next book should start, "I told you that story so I can tell you this one..."
My brother purchased the Electric Church when Borders was closing down here in Indianapolis and he read it and then went out and purchased the other books from Amazon. I picked up this book and was hooked on Avery Cates.
I enjoyed this series enough to purchase it on my Kindle on my way to New York so I could read something on a business trip.
The worlds of Avery Cate are a desolate distopia future where the system has been over run with corrupt cops and a new mysterious church. Avery is just a working stiff of a criminal. And it shows through all these series that Avery is very much a normal Joe. The amount of damage Avery takes in each book is both humorous and refreshing after seeing so many heroes go through unscathed.
This book has a few characters who are introduced that play well against Avery's very established character. The outcome is nice and the trend of damaging Avery is really shown in this novel.
I recommend this series and book to anyone who likes Shadowrun, Cyberpunk or Escape from New York style stories.
No trade paperback version of the final two books unfortunately, only mass market paperbacks :( Jeff says so here: http://jeffreysomers.com/blather/?p=1039#comment-12349
