Terminated: By Rachel Caine

TERMINATED

SUMMARY

Already addicted to the pharmaceutical drug that keeps her body from decomposing, Bryn has to stop a secretive group of rich and powerful investors from eliminating the existing Returné addicts altogether. To ensure their plan to launch a new, military-grade strain of nanotech, the investors’ undead assassin—who just happens to be the ex-wife of Bryn’s lover Patrick—is on the hunt for anyone that stands in their way.

And while Bryn’s allies aren’t about to go down without a fight, the secret she’s been keeping threatens to put those closest to her in even more danger. Poised to become a monster that her own side—and her own lover—will have to trap and kill, Bryn needs to find the cure to have any hope of preserving the lives of her friends, and her own dwindling humanity…

REVIEW

When author Rachel Caine decides to do something, she does it with gusto. And that’s exactly what she’s done with her zombie series, The Revivalist.

In the first book in the series, Working Stiff, Caine introduced readers to her spin on the zombie novel. The premise: a pharmaceutical company created a drug that can bring people back from the dead… as long as the dead get their daily shots of the nanotech drug. The protagonist Bryn is infected (after she’s killed) and is forced to work for the company in order to get the nanotech drugs to keep her …undead. In the second book in the series, Two Weeks Notice, Bryn discovered the plot to use the drugs goes even further, including making a military version of the drug that supercharges the nanotech, allowing its users to become weapons that can’t be stopped or killed. Unfortunately this militarized version of the nanotech has a few side effects, including requiring high levels of meat on a pretty often basis, and the nanotech isn’t doesn’t discriminate where it’s from, even when it comes from humans, dead or alive. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, Bryn is infected with it.

Now, in Terminated Caine finishes her revivalist trilogy with a bang.

In Terminated Caine takes her already action packed series and ratchets it up a few dozen notches. Because Bryn is virtually unkillable, Caine tries to kill her in quite a few new and disturbing ways. Bryn is shot, burned, hit by a truck, beaten, and forced to dig through her own intestines. So if you’re the queasy sort, this book might be a bit much for you. But if you enjoy non-stop action and well placed tension, then I’d fully recommend this series.

Of course, Caine doesn’t just offer up blind action without also giving the readers some truly fascinating psychological drama as well. As Bryn’s condition continues to change, making her a threat to others, including her friends and lover, readers are given the chance to see inside Bryn’s head. Bryn’s inner struggle with what she is becoming and what she has done is really well done. Not only that but it is constantly shifting, and with the ever increasing timeline for the release of her nanotech, Caine does a fantastic job flushing it out.

All in all, I really liked this series and felt Caine did a great job with its ending. It’s very hard for authors to nail an ending, but Caine has done a fantastic job creating an ending that truly surprised me, while at the same time left me satisfied. If you’re looking for an interesting take on the zombie novel that has more action than you can shake a stick at, then look no further than Caine’s newest completed series, The Revivalist Series.

INFO

Publisher: Roc

Published: August 6, 2013

Price: $7.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Terminated-Revivalist-Novel-Rachel-Caine/dp/0451465156/ref=la_B001ILHJEA_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375891024&sr=1-9