Jamie DeBroux’s boss has called a special meeting for all “key personnel” at 9:00 a.m. on a hot Saturday in August.
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Mar 18, 2008
Andrew
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Jun 27, 2008
rachel
rated it: 
There's been a terrible mix-up. Author Duane Swierczynski seems to have submitted this screenplay to a publishing house, and it somehow got printed and marketed as a book.
Rife with cliche, Severance Package is about a wimp whose boss decides to kill his company. Cheesy, comic-book violence prevails, which I guess is supposed to be both fun and shocking.
Maybe it's because I just finished a *real* violent book reading with literary value (Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle), b More...
Rife with cliche, Severance Package is about a wimp whose boss decides to kill his company. Cheesy, comic-book violence prevails, which I guess is supposed to be both fun and shocking.
Maybe it's because I just finished a *real* violent book reading with literary value (Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle), b More...
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Oct 06, 2008
Eric
rated it: 
Make sure to read this thing in one sitting. It wouldn't be quite as effective otherwise. Recommended for anyone looking for a BATTLE ROYALE-like rush.
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Jul 31, 2008
Seizure Romero
rated it:
Another GR reviewer wrote:
"There's been a terrible mix-up. Author Duane Swierczynski seems to have submitted this screenplay to a publishing house, and it somehow got printed and marketed as a book."
...and she is dead on. I like Swierczynski's sense of the absurd, and this book had the potential to be really fun in a day-at-work gets all crazy-ass psycho-violent sense. It did not live up to that potential, however. The separate story threads never really come together More...
"There's been a terrible mix-up. Author Duane Swierczynski seems to have submitted this screenplay to a publishing house, and it somehow got printed and marketed as a book."
...and she is dead on. I like Swierczynski's sense of the absurd, and this book had the potential to be really fun in a day-at-work gets all crazy-ass psycho-violent sense. It did not live up to that potential, however. The separate story threads never really come together More...
Dec 05, 2011
Kelly
rated it: 
David Murphy has called a mandatory Saturday meeting for his key employees. Everyone's pretty pissed about this (who wants to work on a SATURDAY?!) but that's before they get there. When they arrive, they learn that the elevator's been disabled, there's a bomb on the stairway exits and they have two choices: drink poison for a fast, painless death or get shot in the head (which may be fast and painless or may not. Hard to tell).
A blurb on the back says that this book "begs fo More...
A blurb on the back says that this book "begs fo More...
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Oct 05, 2011
I'm trying to find the right words to describe this novel by a Marvel Comics writer: gory yet facetitious? A group of workers in a mysterious small company is summoned to a Saturday meeting by their boss, who informs them that their parent agency is closing the office and, since they are spies, they all must die. He has mined the elevators and doors with sarin gas, blocked all phone and cellphone service, and brought poisoned mimosas to drink. One worker, supposedly bland Molly, shoots him an
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Jan 05, 2012
Andre
rated it: 
This was exciting. I like actions stories that begin at the start of the action instead of the true beginning. And Swierczynski keeps the intensity level high throughout. The story did meander for a while around the two-thirds point and the ending seemed headed toward a very loose and unsatisfactory conclusion, but it finished well. A tighter ending would have earned it a fourth star. Worth the read. And a fine introduction to The Company.
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Jul 07, 2011
Cassiangrey
rated it:
I picked up this book because the author as some comic book credits to his name. I suppose that's why they published this book.
His comic book and newspaper background is painfully obvious throughout the novel. He, for no reason I can discern, took too much time explaining the roads and pathways his characters took though Philadelphia. No offense to the city, but I don't care, and it wasn't important. Neither was the repeated telling of which routes people took to cross the office. On top of More...
His comic book and newspaper background is painfully obvious throughout the novel. He, for no reason I can discern, took too much time explaining the roads and pathways his characters took though Philadelphia. No offense to the city, but I don't care, and it wasn't important. Neither was the repeated telling of which routes people took to cross the office. On top of More...
Nov 23, 2008
Alissa
rated it:
This is different from what I normally read. But it was really good. A non-stop action thriller. Seven people come to work on a Saturday. When the group arrives the boss says their company is a front for a secret government agency and they are all to die. They can either drink the poison mimosas or wait to die in the fire that will develop from the explosives he’s rigged. However, the boss’ plan doesn’t come off and soon the office workers are pitted against each other - who’s good and who’s bad
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Apr 14, 2011
J.P.
rated it:
There's a cliche that pops up in cartoons and old slapstick comedies. A character with a ball and chain 'round his/her ankle stuffs said ball into a cannon, lights the cannon's fuse and shoots himself/herself over a wall. Well, you can't do that in real life---they already proved it impossible (and extremely dangerous, obviously) on "Mythbusters". But you can do it reading a book.
That book is SEVERANCE PACKAGE by Duane Swierczynski. Do you want to taste the power of great More...
That book is SEVERANCE PACKAGE by Duane Swierczynski. Do you want to taste the power of great More...
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Mar 16, 2009
Jonathan
rated it:
I enjoyed Severance Package and would definitely agree with the back cover blurb - it would be great to see Tarantino direct a movie version. That being said, it didn't quite grip like his previous two, The Wheelman and The Blonde.
This books tells the story of a Saturday meeting at the office - a Saturday meeting from hell. The boss reveals (to the surprise of some) a secret about the company they are working for and a terrible future planned for them all. And now it is every man and More...
This books tells the story of a Saturday meeting at the office - a Saturday meeting from hell. The boss reveals (to the surprise of some) a secret about the company they are working for and a terrible future planned for them all. And now it is every man and More...
Sep 16, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Great concept - Being brought in for a Saturday morning meeting for your shadow company that is actually a front for a secret government operation, the boss says thanks for working for us, but we're being shut down and everyone is now going to be killed. Would you like to drink the poison, or be shot?
Seven employees of various backgrounds, from innocent to well trained spy, are now trapped on their office floor with no real intent on being killed. The rest of the book plays out in a fast p More...
Seven employees of various backgrounds, from innocent to well trained spy, are now trapped on their office floor with no real intent on being killed. The rest of the book plays out in a fast p More...
Nov 20, 2008
Lauren
rated it:
So... I know as a self-professed "feminist" I really had no right to be reading a book like this, but I did.... so now I must provide a warning to others. I'll admit.. I read the entire thing. I was a bit involved in the suspense of what would become of everyone. It was a page turner. It made me cringe in parts and mutter "WTF?" under my breath more than once. So yes, I admit it. I enjoyed it.
But that doesn't change the fact that I found the sexism horrifying and More...
But that doesn't change the fact that I found the sexism horrifying and More...
Aug 23, 2009
Chris "Stu"
rated it:
I thought I would like this more than I did; a hard boiled shoot-'em-up in an office building that happens to be a front for the CIA (well, CI6, a mash-up of the CIA and MI-6). I would have been better off just watching that episode of _Alias_ again, though.
The "hero" is just a passive guy who floats through the story, gets tortured a little bit, and watches the shit happen to everyone he worked with. The villains are cliche, and the action is kind of boring.
I p More...
The "hero" is just a passive guy who floats through the story, gets tortured a little bit, and watches the shit happen to everyone he worked with. The villains are cliche, and the action is kind of boring.
I p More...
Aug 05, 2011
C. Teresina
rated it:
I will admit that this book originally caught my attention because of the cover. It's a quick, bloody read about a group of seven people who end up trapped in an office--one of whom is the boss who is trying to kill them all and another one of them is a Russian who thinks this is her "audition" for her dream job. As the protagionist tries to survive long enough to make it home alive to his infant son, the truth behind his workplace is discovered. The very end wasn't very statisifying b
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Apr 15, 2009
Joseph
rated it:
Severance Package doesn't work on so many levels that I lost track. As a parody of violent spy/terrorist thrillers, it's just not very funny or sharp. As a straight thriller, it never rises above the adolescent plot and writing. The author seems to be shooting for some kind of Chuck Palahniuk vibe, but can't achieve Palahniuk's fresh take on stomach-churning set pieces, settling instead for pandering to the Palahniuk male audience. We get a plot that goes around and around in the same circles pa
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Apr 14, 2011
zxvasdf
rated it:
Like being dragged on a rope from a truck. Minus the pain, of course. Reminded me of a movie: Operation Endgame (The movie sucked. Which sucked because it had a huge grade A cast... sad). Wouldn't be surprised if they ripped off Swierczynski's book.
I enjoyed reading this, especially the sheer pacing of it. IT just pulls you right in, and you breeze through the book at a break neck pace. That's what I love about Swierczynski. His books are so easy to read, and it takes no extra effort More...
I enjoyed reading this, especially the sheer pacing of it. IT just pulls you right in, and you breeze through the book at a break neck pace. That's what I love about Swierczynski. His books are so easy to read, and it takes no extra effort More...
Apr 13, 2011
James
rated it:
This is a fast-paced read with decidedly pulpy elements to it. It's fun although somewhat brutal at times -- of course, that's part of the fun. There are some interesting spy elements to it but the main antagonist stretches the suspension of disbelief at times. I'm still trying to figure out how big her bracelet is. The author does manage to give a little, much-welcome depth to the antagonist's character towards the end of the book.
Overall, if you're interested in action combined with More...
Overall, if you're interested in action combined with More...
Aug 17, 2010
Chris
rated it:
I bought this book while I was extremely frustrated with my place of employment and because the author’s last name is barely pronounceable (like mine). One reviewer on the cover leaf stated that the book begged to be the next Tarantino movie. I thought it would be a fun read.
Although I read the whole thing and was intrigued from the cover to the last page, I was by no means impressed. Mixed metaphors, bad puns, lame one-liners... This book reads like a conversation with some c More...
Although I read the whole thing and was intrigued from the cover to the last page, I was by no means impressed. Mixed metaphors, bad puns, lame one-liners... This book reads like a conversation with some c More...
Nov 22, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it:
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Feb 23, 2011
Jason (FNORDinc)
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Oct 13, 2008
Kevin
rated it:
I read this book in record time (for me).... less than 48 hours... I pretty much couldn't put it down.
While the book had "mindless" violence, this is exactly the kind of book that I could see being made into a movie. Unfortunately, you had the stories of about 10 characters packed into a 260-page book, so you didn't really get to know each character. On the other hand, you didn't need to. You learned just enough to make you sympathize with their situation... being trapp More...
While the book had "mindless" violence, this is exactly the kind of book that I could see being made into a movie. Unfortunately, you had the stories of about 10 characters packed into a 260-page book, so you didn't really get to know each character. On the other hand, you didn't need to. You learned just enough to make you sympathize with their situation... being trapp More...
Aug 25, 2008
Gary
rated it:
By now you've read all the adjectives describing Swiercynski's latest creative spin on mayhem: graphically brutal, uber-violent, twisted, and over-the-top. And yeah, it reads like a comic book - or at least like Frank Miller's remarkably distorted gore fest in film: "Sin City". But I couldn't help feeling that in Swierczynski's beautifully warped mind "Severance Package" is his idea of a love story - a totally off-the-rails dissection of love gone bad in ways that we mere mor
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Aug 11, 2008
Jim
rated it:
A cover operation for a nameless anti-terrorist organization obliterates in gruesome fashion.
Trying to review something like this is quite challenge. 263 pages of senseless violence done very effectively is still senseless violence. The only socially redeeming aspect of this is that the book takes the concept to an extreme that it is hard to imagine anyone exceeding:
"Molly screamed -- a howling geyser of rage that seemed like it had been building up under a mountai More...
Trying to review something like this is quite challenge. 263 pages of senseless violence done very effectively is still senseless violence. The only socially redeeming aspect of this is that the book takes the concept to an extreme that it is hard to imagine anyone exceeding:
"Molly screamed -- a howling geyser of rage that seemed like it had been building up under a mountai More...
Jun 12, 2008
Trin
rated it:
Mindless violence thinly disguised with a plot about spies or something. Basically: the boss of a financial company that’s actually the cover for a CIA splinter cell—paging Arvin Sloane—has been given orders to liquidate his branch, so he calls a group of employees—some agents and some not—into work on a Saturday, tells them the doors have all been rigged with sarin gas, and gives them the option of drinking poisoned champagne or being shot in the head. But there’s a rogue rogue agent in their m
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Jun 21, 2008
Jim
rated it:
The latest in a loose series that started with THE WHEEL MAN, Duane Swierczynski continues peeling off the layers of the secret organization known as "CI6."
Jamie DeBroux reports to work at the end of paternity leave for a "management meeting." There, his boss reveals that they are the front company for a super-secret intelligence agency. The company is being shut down, and to protect national security, everyone in the room is to be killed. They have two choices More...
Jamie DeBroux reports to work at the end of paternity leave for a "management meeting." There, his boss reveals that they are the front company for a super-secret intelligence agency. The company is being shut down, and to protect national security, everyone in the room is to be killed. They have two choices More...
Sep 04, 2008
Debi
rated it:
I love gallows humor. And Duane Swierczynski delivers. It's film noir meets TV's The Office, with a healthy dose of superfluous bedlam. The plot requires one to suspend disbelief, but it's over-the-top funny. Talk about taking fluid rounds (after-work drinking) a step to far, Duane does it with great style. I wonder if he'll be at B'Con 2008 and can I buy him a beer?
Now I'm the girl who likes Jason Statham, Sam Jackson, and Frank Miller movies. Duane's novels have the feel of graphic More...
Now I'm the girl who likes Jason Statham, Sam Jackson, and Frank Miller movies. Duane's novels have the feel of graphic More...
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May 06, 2010
Will
rated it:
"Ever wanted to kill your boss, well this time the feeling is mutual."
Super fast read, the author doesn't waste any time to create characters, set up plot, or paint the picture.
Bodies start dropping and blood starts flying, and you are sure that no one is going to make it out alive.
Nothing to intellectually stimulating, but you don't read a book like this for the self-analysis.
Super fast read, the author doesn't waste any time to create characters, set up plot, or paint the picture.
Bodies start dropping and blood starts flying, and you are sure that no one is going to make it out alive.
Nothing to intellectually stimulating, but you don't read a book like this for the self-analysis.
Jan 18, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
This is a real brain candy type of book -- a little gruesome, but it completely sucks you into the character's attempts to survive. None of the characters have any real depth since each seems to hinge on a major personality characteristic or two and a handful of plot strings, but this is not the sort of story that would work with a bunch of in depth soul searching.
