Review: gritty and Intense Horror
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 2, 2014
I was given this book free through LibraryThing Member Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.This story can fit into a myriad of genres, such as Horror, fantasy/Sci-Fi, YA, Supernatural thriller etc. The premise is original, where a secret military squad, answering directly to the President, is responsible for solving crimes in the here and now, by conversing with the dead. The way this is done, is by using a combination of terminally ill military personnel, and sending them on a final mission into the afterlife, in search of people who died with important information, and having them relay that information to the resident seer (A gambling Gypsy who converses with the dead through a crystal door knob), before entering the final stage of their respective afterlife.The main arc in The Terminals: Spark, is the relentless, bloody search for a serial killer who died without revealing where he had hidden a busload of kidnapped children. Hillar the Killer, the serial killer in question, was also a Gnostic, and in order to find him, the "Terminal" or Euth being sent, must also be a Gnostic, or at least be an expert in Gnostic afterlife beliefs. An interesting storyline to be sure, but also extremely dark, and not for the weak of heart, especially those upset by stories of kidnapped children being tortured and killed.Michael F.Stewart combines sobering violence, with ironic psychological commentary dealing with suicide, murder, government secrecy, spiritualism and morality. The language is colorful, and at times is downright amusing, such the sentence "the general's office stank like someone had left a used colostomy bag on a radiator to cook."  This is not a feel-good, happy ending type of book, but if you like your horror-thrillers dark, quick paced and thought-provoking, I would highly suggest jumping on board for the ride.The last page of the epilogue will straighten your spine, and if you are like me, will make you yearn for volume 2 of the Terminals series.Read review on my blog the Thugbrarian review @ [...]