Terminated

I am sad to learn that Terminated concludes Rachel Caine’s Revivalist series. This has a been a fabulous trilogy that overrided my aversion to all things zombie with great characters and an exciting mix of action, conspiracy with the lightest touch of romance. I enjoyed Working Stiff and Two Weeks’ Notice immensely and I hoped that Terminated would provide the conclusion the series deserved.

Picking up where Two Weeks’ Notice left off, Terminated begins as Bryn and her allies flee the compound where Bryn and Riley have been held prisoner and tortured by Patrick’s psychopathic ex wife, Jane. Eluding capture by Jane and her cohorts will not be easy, and what follows includes pitched fire fights, ambushes and explosions where the show more action is fast paced, the tension high and the body count mounts. Bryn herself is shot point blank in the head, hit by a truck, blown up, shot again (again and again), severely burnt in a brush fire and forced to burrow into her own stomach.

Complicating everything is the secret Bryn and Riley are keeping. During their time in the base they were infected with a new mutation of the Returne. This new strain is self replicating and requires feeding with protein – raw steak, human flesh – the nanites don’t discriminate and now Bryn has to worry about turning on her people.

The end game for Bryn and her allies, Joe, Patrick, Manny, Pansy, Annalie and Liam, is finding the cure for Returne and thwarting the plans of those who are determined to build a new world order. It’s a hell of a wild ride to get there and the resolution is the perfect payoff.

With the story complete, I have no hesitation in recommending The Revivalist trilogy. The combination of urban fantasy, page turning action and kickass characters is irresistible, don’t even try. show less

Terminated
3.5 Stars

Overall, a satisfying conclusion to the series, but does not really live up to the promise of the first two books.

To begin with, the entire first half with Bryn & Co. on the run is a series of disjointed capture/escape scenes strung together for no apparent reason. There are also one or two plot discrepancies it is Chandra and not Riley who infected Bryn with the nanite upgrade, and why does Bryn need to explain the upgrade again when she did so at the end of Two Weeks’ Notice, and the mystery of Bryn and Annie’s sister Sharon comes out of nowhere. There is also no follow up to the Mercer and Fast Freddy storyline.

Thankfully, the plot development improves at the halfway mark with the search for a “cure”, and show more the resolution to the Returne epidemic is realistic although somewhat Deus Ex Machina Manny the supposed genius just suddenly thinks of hacking the nanites and turning them off. Finally, Jane’s comeuppance is exceedingly gratifying as is the ending to Bryn and Pat's romance. show less

The end of TWO WEEKS NOTICE left Bryn and Riley dosed with improved version of Returné. The new version is like a ticking bomb that is just waiting to go off. Bryn and her allies are running from assassin's and trying to stay alive while trying to find a way to kill Jane once and for all.

This is another character driven series in my opinion. Each one brings something new and not one of them is unaffected by events at any turn. Bryn's background has helped her to stay strong and get through things no average person would be able to handle. Patrick surprises me with his protectiveness at every turn. Bryn and Patrick work well together but have a lot to work through. Joe is just awesome. He does not have to be there yet he is right by show more Bryn and Patrick's side at every turn. He has his own struggles to work through in TERMINATED and I was super proud of the way he handled himself. Riley is a big mystery most of the time. I never knew where she stood at any given moment and that made me nervous. Manny and Pansy I think shocked me the most in TERMINATED. Especially Pansy. I don't want to get too much into it but Pansy goes above and beyond and I was surprised at how much she cared about what happened to people.

The ending was very satisfying. Bryn was extremely brave in her decisions and her willingness to do what most would not. I felt like everything was wrapped up nicely and everyone that should have been there at the end was there. Great end to a great series. What will Rachel bring us next? show less

At the end of the second book, Bryn had been exposed to an upgrade of Returne that has made her stronger and more impervious to physical harm. It has also made her less human. She and her team are now on a desperate run to find the cure to all the Returne victims.

This book is just as action packed as the first 2 in the trilogy. It is a bit on the depressing side because no matter how many times they slip through the fingers of the enemy there is one more trap waiting. I It was exciting none the less. However, I took away 1/2 star because I thought she took the easy way out on the end. It could have been better.

This is the third in this series. I was a little turned off at the end of book two, as all of a sudden not only were they returned to life, but the new Returne' turns them into flesh-eating replicators. I was apprehensive about getting into this third book. 'Terminated' starts off with action as the other two books did, culminating in the chase to stop the bad guys from making more of the revived. Standard situations sort of repeated using things like self-sacrifice because they can not be killed. I wondered at how/where Caine was going with the story line, and was glad this brings a halt to the series. The end seemed pretty quick and easily done, as if the author needed to end it as soon as possible.... too far-fetched for my fantasy show more loving mind even.

I'm not into romancey type stories, and this one was fairly light, though infatuation between characters is needed in some of the character building. Totally understand the guy liking a good looking girl .... but having sex with a dead person, even though they are seemingly life-like? Kinda grossed me out a bit. Just that thought in the back of my head saying "Ewww... couldn't you wait til the end of book three to do this?" show less

Listened for Fun (Audible)
Tracking Books Read Review (Short)
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00

Audio Rating: 4.50

First Thought when Finished: Terminated ended in a way that wrapped up the trilogy in the most perfect of ways! BRAVO! (Also there was a moment there that I was bit scared).

Overall Thoughts: YES YES YES! This is the way a series should end! There were tears, laughter, OMG moments, and "is she really going to do that? Say she isn't going to do that" moments. I can't really talk about the book without giving anything away so here is what you need to know before reading:

1)Do not read these out of order. There are only 3 so do yourself a favor and read the whole series.
2)You will need MULTIPLE Kleenexes show more unless you have a heart made of stone.
3)The end will surprise you. I don't mind spoilers but try to read this one spoiler free.
4)Read even if you don't like zombies. This isn't a true zombie book but more like what the series title says: Revivalist (people who have been revived after death).

Audio Thoughts:

Narrated by Julia Whelan /Length 9 hrs and 52 mins

I sound like a broken record but Julia really did nail this narration. She was the Revivalist crew. You would not go wrong listening to these on audiobook.

Final Thought: Hands down my favorite series (so far) by Rachel Caine. show less

Terminited
Revivalist, Book 3

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Hoopla via HC Public Library
Dates Read: 4/5/24 - 4/7/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Julia Whelan

The Characters:

Brynn:
Patrick “Pat”:
Joe,

The Story:
The last installment in the trilogy. There is a bit too much cat and mouse for me. I thought I was losing interest but turns out I was just missing Pat. The ending wrapped up very abruptly. I think an epilogue would have been nice just to tie everything together.