“5 stars… another outstanding novel from author Michaelbrent Collings…” – Horror After DarkAll passengers, please prepare for departure…An employee, a cop, and six passengers; a prisoner, a stowaway, and a madman.“A great read.” – Sci-Fi and ScaryThese are the people waiting at the Lawton bus terminal. “If you need a fast-paced thriller that chills and keeps you guessing, look no …
“If you need a fast-paced thriller that chills and keeps you guessing, look no further…” – Horror Novel Reviews
Mostly late-night travelers who want nothing more than to get to their destinations, and employees who want nothing more than to get through the graveyard shift.
“[Collings] brings the reader close in and doesn’t want them to leave… I’d give this an A.” – Horror Drive-In
But when a strange, otherworldly fog rolls in, the night changes to nightmare. Because something hides in the fog. Something powerful. Something strange. Something… inhuman.
“Fun novel, fast paced… Great story, recommended.” – Hellnotes
Soon, those in the terminal have been cut off from the rest of the world. No phones, no computers. Just ten strangers in the terminal… and The Other.
“Terminal is a hard-edged, brutal, sometimes exceptionally violent thrill-fest of a novel that I blazed through…” – Inkheist Book Reviews
The Other is the force in the mist. The Other is the thing that has captured them. And The Other wants to play a game.
“[A]n intense, creepy, and twisty read… the suspense will have you on the edge of your seat.” – A Book Lover’s Life
The rules are simple:
1) The people in the terminal must choose a single person from among them. That person will live. The rest will die.
2) Anyone who attempts to leave the terminal before the final vote will die.
3) The final vote… must be unanimous.
5 stars! “[A] nightmarish tale that was both captivating and frightening and also a novel that I would highly recommend!” – The Genre Minx
A nightmare. And getting worse, because the best way to make a vote unanimous… is to kill the other voters.
Welcome to the Terminal.
“Another win for [Collings]… Excellent!” – The Raven Podcast
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OMG I will never ever wait in a bus terminal or any other terminal again – seriously! This just scares the bejesus out of you because Mr Collings is a master at creating and building his characters which makes you like them but then can you trust them because you also like the other person involved at that time! I loved this book and all of the other books I have read by him but are you aware that, during this terrible time, Mr Collings has put ALL of his books on sale for 99 cents and as a thank you to him, as well as those of you who willl be needing good books to read, I have bought every single one of his books, including the ones I could have read for free on KU, and was hoping that those of you who can, also help – join me! He cannot keep this up much longer unless we pitch in and help – you with me – sure you are! His books are brilliant!
The Other: All in favor? ME: Aye!!
A group of people are in the middle of nowhere, USA, inside a bus terminal. A creepy fog comes rolling in and then, not surprisingly, a bus. This is no ordinary bus, though, and this is no ordinary fog either. Before they know it, they’re trapped together, they’re running out of time and only one of them will survive. What is going on here? You’ll have to read this to find out!
I’ve read a few books by this author before, so I went into this one knowing that it would probably feature short chapters and memorable characters. As the story progresses, we get to know each of the people stuck at the terminal and we learn how they got there. I also knew that I couldn’t trust any of it! Little by little we discover the secrets of each individual and this is what makes this different from your average thriller of this type: the characters.
I read one review where someone noted that this character background stuff was boring and got in the way of the action, but for me? If I want to see action, I’ll go see a Terminator film. Part of what makes a good book for me is characters I care about. Even though many in this group were not good people, their background provided reasons why they got where they were. They weren’t perfect but they were human.
I did find a little bit of repetition, but when you have one situation presented in different points of view, that can happen. I didn’t find it overly bothersome, but because of it I did deduct one star.
Once I sat down last night to read the last third of the book-I knew I was going to stay sat until I finished it. I was turning pages like a hurricane wind came through and when everything wrapped up? I felt sad that it was over.
TERMINAL is a fun, fast-paced, mystery-thriller and I had a great time reading it!
Recommended!
*Thanks to the author for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
TERMINAL, by Michaelbrent Collings is another of his spellbinding horror novels that brings a unique twist to the genre. Trapped in a terminal, waiting for a bus to arrive, ten people are about to become trapped in a “game” to the death. One that brings nothing more than amusement to those pulling the strings.
“. . . turned back to the fog . . . and it was not dead . . . the word “alive” wasn’t insane at all . . . ”
In this tale, I could picture being told: “This is what it was like, in the TWILIGHT ZONE.” (cue eerie music).
The first thing that served to alert these strangers about to be traveling that all was not “normal”, was a dense wall of fog rolling in, but stopping just shy of the actual building–equidistant all around.
“. . . didn’t know what would cause such a strange atmospheric event, but then, he didn’t really want to know . . . ”
The beginning half or so of the book really builds on the individual characters, and–to some extent–the “Watchers” and the others, in the fog. That is to say, we are aware that “something(s) are out there, in charge of the event unfolding. The knowledge does not extend further than this, its secrets and motivations remain a mystery to even the reader.
“There are other Watchers, of course, but this one is here now . . . ”
This is precisely why the novel is so effective in pulling us into the terminal–with the others trapped–allowing us to feel the fear and desperation as it increases its hold on them.
“. . . the unknown must always be feared. Survival demands it.”
Collings has a great mix of personalities in his characters, allowing for the positive, the hopeful, the frightened, the determined, the clever, and those that heave already given up hope, to all show their reactions to this in individual ways.
“. . . What do you do when the world stops obeying normal world rules?”
The one thing they all believe for certain is what the unknown in the fog conveys to them as “instructions”. Only one of them may live–the rest must die. The one chosen to survive must be voted unanimously by all–Living–beings in there.
With human nature being what it is, it’s obvious that this is not a choice they will readily embrace.
“There were infinite ways a person could be damaged.”
While the universal fear of whatever was controlling the fog is omnipresent, our characters’ emotions and decisions are ever changing as time winds down. Collings is quite adept at developing personalities of all kinds, and he certainly does not disappoint here. In some novels, it’s a struggle to remember the names and lives of the individual people; however, I found that this was not an issue here, as each was so memorable, I still remember them all weeks later. For an author, is there any higher praise than that?
“Isolation can be every bit as deadly as any gun or knife.”
Overall, TERMINAL easily delivered on its premise of horror, terror, a threatening atmosphere, and believable characters. From the very beginning I felt the pull of the storyline draw me in, and was easily immersed in the various situations that each individual player faced. There were some truths exposed that I’d expected, but even better were the twists that I never even suspected. When you read as much of a genre as I do, that is something that really elevates the story, and has me appreciating its execution even more.
“. . . Sooner or later everyone needs to hide something.”
This is another outstanding novel from author Michaelbrent Collings–one that I can easily see myself re-reading in the future.
“It. Never. Ends.”
Highly recommended.
What a disturbing story! Having a group of people who don’t really know each other put into a situation where they have to vote,unanimously, who will live! On the reverse side, the author gives us a glimpse of what or who is orchestrating the “cycle” as they call it! Watching as the behavior of the group deteriorate. Fascinating!
Having read a number of this authors books now I was expecting a rollicking good tale. .. and I got one.
A small group of people share an out-of-the-way bus terminal awaiting their rides. Before their bus can come though, comes the fog … and the decision. Only 1 can leave, and the vote has to be anonymous…
Give yourself time when you start this tale because you won’t want to put it down.
Fabulous read! The people were so real, you felt like you knew them, and the twists are gut-wrenching. Horrifying, but it such a way that you can’t stop reading, and can’t look away. Highly recommend.
A mysterious fog is moving in and those at the Lawton bus terminal are finding it impossible to leave. Trapped in the Terminal with no way out, they are contacted by “The Other”, and given a mysterious statement and figure out that only one of them is going to be allowed to leave. We follow them through their stories, learning their pasts, and how they interact with each other. In tense situations, it’s almost always a sure thing that people will start to turn on each other. So who can we trust?
This was an interesting story because we are given very little. Slowly, everyone starts to lose their creature comforts, electricity, the ability to use their phones, and even their games. They can’t leave, because the thick fog swallows them up where they are promptly killed.
We’re not exactly sure what the fog is, and we have a feeling that it’s otherworldly, the people in the terminal believe that too. It was interesting to get to know all the characters, to learn their backstories in life, and for some, their crimes. It was almost as if these specific people were chosen to be here. I found myself rooting for Adam specifically, but he surprised me in the end. I will leave it at that as I don’t want to spoil anything. There definitely is a mystery element along with the horror, because people’s things start disappearing, and with a thief in the mix, we don’t know who to trust. I found Collings’ inclusion of actual government projects that have occurred throughout time a nice added feature to the book, and while I knew of quite a few of them, there were a couple more recent ones that I did not. It’s hard to believe a government would do such things, and it adds another layer of “what is going on here?” to the book. Terminal is a fun read that keeps you guessing on many levels.