More Nice Words For TERMINATED

Horror fans might not be familiar with Simon Wood, the author of Terminated, but they may recognize his pen name, Simon Janus. Under that name Wood has written some excellent small press horror novels, one of his more popular was the excellent novel, The Scrubs. Being a huge fan of Wood’s horror output I was extremely curious about his thrillers and wondered if I would care for them as much, so when this one was released I jumped on it.

Terminated is an action packed thriller that centers on the story of Gwen, a newly promoted Manager Of Quality Assurance at Pace Pharmaceuticals. One of Gwen’s tasks is to give performance reviews of the employee’s who work for her, and one of those employees is Stephen Tarbell, a man she had beat out for the promotion.

Tarbell’s performance review is poor and unfortunately for Gwen, he doesn’t care for it at all. Tarbell believes he was the best person for the job and that Gwen only received the promotion because she was woman. He asks her to change the review and when she refuses, Tarbell decides to not only get mad, but to get even.

Like a freight train leaving the station with a full head of steam, it doesn’t take long for Terminated to reach full throttle. From the very start of this locomotive-like thriller there is no let up in the action or the tension. For instance, in the lead off chapter of the novel readers are jolted when reading of Tarbell’s first assault on Gwen, and from there on, the novels plotting escalates, subjecting the readers to a steady pounding of emotional and physical violence.

Wood’s does a superb job creating tension throughout Terminated with action scenes that are inventive and believable. His characters are realistic, especially Gwen, who is written as a smart, professional businesswoman who never sacrifices her sensibilities as a mother and a wife in her struggles.

If you’re a Simon Janus fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Terminated, and if you’re a lover of superb action oriented thrillers, Terminated will be right up your alley.

T.T. Zuma for Horrorworld
Published courtesy of Horrorworld.org