Terminal Man

Harry Benson is a patient with brain damage that causes him to have violent seizures. When Benson has these seizures he is capable of committing the grisliest murders without thinking twice. The Neuropsychiatric Research Unit at the Los Angeles Hospital believes it can cure Benson's seizures with an operation to put mind-controlling electrodes in his brain. Unfortunately, the operation is unsuccessful and Benson escapes from the hospital to go on a rampage.
Michael Crichton is at his best in the Terminal Man. As the plot builds, this book becomes extremely fast-paced and suspenseful, which I found very enjoyable. Crichton leaves you hanging on his every word as Benson runs loose on the streets of LA with several members of the hospital and the entire police force chasing after him. Terminal Man is an extremely well written book. The plot of the book is much like Congo, another book in the Crichton series, with its exciting plot and big ending. I thought this was one of the best books Michael Crichton has written.

Fantastic Michael Crichton novel!

I only read this novel because of how much I loved a few of his other ones, but this story definitely did not disappoint!

If you have enjoyed his prior stories, you will love this Crichton classic. He is an incredible novelist, and you will love this book if you are a Crichton fan!

Enjoy!

I David, have grand mal epilepsy w/ 2 brain surgeries. The Terminal Man easily got me intrigued to how Crichton displays it. I am a big fan of his works, but this specific one made me disappointed in his sci-fi novels. Since this was written in the early 1970s (I think 1972), I wasn't surprised at the many rumors/faults about this condition.

AWESOME book! But make sure you have the time set aside as it is VERY difficult to put it down!! I would recommend this book to anybody that loves a suspenseful read! As usual author Michael Crichton hit it right out of the park! The characters are very well described which makes it easy to love some and not so much love for others.

Crichton definitely let me down this time. While not too farfetched, the scenario of the story is presented in the fashion of a cheap '80's horror flick, making it seem very unrealistic. Another case of the "escaped experiment" goes bad when Crichton tries to pitch a moral about the dangers of technology. The whole book is one big cliche, that is almost saved by moments of suspense.

Michael Crichton is a great writer and I usually enjoy his books. The Terminal Man was no different. While not as exciting and suspenseful as Jurassic Park, it still made for a good read. There weren't a lot of technical explanations to be distracted by, but he included enough for the reader to understand what was going on. I felt as if I was a part of the story as an outsider looking in. While the story started off extremely slow, it still was bearable to read. And even though the ending was a little predictable, I never lost interest. This was a book that I could put down for a few days and not be lost when I started again. It is a good book for anyone, but if you're a student looking for something that doesn't bore you then this is a book you should try.

When I read words from Michael Crichton, I can visualize them all. I imagine visually the entire story. His stories are technical and flowing. This book is highly recommended. I won't bother to tell you about the book because you should read without knowing to make it more exciting. This book is for techincal thinkers who can visualize.

Although The Terminal Man has an interesting and suspenseful plot, in this reviewer's opinion the book suffers from a major defect: the author's obvious dislike of law enforcement. Most of the 'cops' in the story are described as being incompetent, lazy, and/or not too bright. While there are certainly a few police officers like this in real life, author Crichton appears to want his readers to believe that MOST American cops fall into these categories. Mr Crichton is, of course, free to have his own opinion of law enforcement, but his constant criticism of the 'cops' in this book is both unnecessary and annoying. If not for this big distraction, I'd have given the book four or even five stars. Related thought: In real life, one has to wonder who Mr. Crichton would try to call if his home was being broken into by a drugged-out armed criminal......?

I just finished this book...finally & with great disappointment. What a lame ending. I thought about not even finishing it, but kept hoping that it would get better. Well, it didn't. Many other reviewers mentioned the outdated technology, which is true, but outdated technology isn't what ruins a story, a lame story is what ruins a story. And speaking of lame, Andromeda Strain is just as bad as Terminal Man. If you want suspense & action, read Jurassic Park & The Lost World.

Classic Crichton. This is one of his earlier books and isn't quite as refined as his later offerings. A good example is character development. It's decent in this book, but Crichton gets a lot better at it. Also, the science is more complex than in other Crichton books, but still not beyond a collegiate level.
It's interesting to read this book 30 years after it was written and compare Crichton's vision with the actual course of computer advancement.
Don't make this the first Chrichton book you read, but do read it if you like the author.

Terminal Man, although by no means Crichton's best, is a good book and fun to read. If, like I said, you love Crichton, you will like this book, but probably only like it, not love it. It ranks right up there with Andromedra Strain on my list (good, but not great). Worth reading.

Perhaps this book appeared to be a futuristic medical thriller when it first came out, but now it seems like a bad 1950s horror movie. The story involves brain surgery gone bad, with a mix of artificial intelligence and mind control. The end of the story was very predictable and played out exactly as I suspected from the very beginning of the book.

This was a pretty good book. The ending was very appropriate, with a lot of symbolism in Harry Benson's disillusionment as well as his murderous capabilities. The medical jargon is NOT too technical to handle, the ending is NOT disappointing, and it makes you feel like a genius after reading it. My only qualm is the characters. It feels like it went under heavy editing in order to make it shorter. All in all a good book, with some serious insight on machine vs man.

A man suffers from seizures that make him go psycho. I found this an ok book. I liked some of his other books better.

On the positive side action packed ending.

On the negative side it takes too long to get to the good part.

I think that Michael Crichton's Terminal Man is a great book. It is definitly one of Mr. Crichton's best works, although, all of his books are really good. It is a page turning thriller from start to end. The only weak point is the ending. But all things considered it is a great book.

this book was superbly written and kept me at the edge of my seat,but some where in the middle it loses its hold and goes wayward,with great difficulty micheal gets his story on the right track but i guess it is too late to get 5 on 5. any way worth reading.

Michael Crichton wrote this, so it's basically good: he keeps your focus on one main event while dropping in characters and events around it, maintains a serious tone and even uses the word "tension" a lot, lots of ticking clocks, simple sentences but with very carefully chosen words that add up to more than the sum of their parts - but the problem is that the book is fairly short - and even given that, not much happens in it.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS, this para: the main problem is that the "villain/threat" really isn't that scary. I was expecting some kind of superintelligent evil sadist who can shut down computers with a touch or something, maybe operated by remote control by a sinister government agency, but ... we're given a perfectly ordinary, "meek and pudgy", 34 year old computer scientist. With the proportional strength of same. His "intelligence" is built up a bit (an IQ of 144! He'll kill us all!), but he just comes across as a normal guy who sometimes loses control because of his malfunctioning brain-electrodes and beats people to death with lamps, then wanders off. I'd be scared to be in the same room with him, but seen through the pages of a book, he seems kind of pitiful, frankly: it's odd that Crichton felt the need to stretch 1971's computer tech to the limit to create a character slightly less scary than, say, an escaped bear.

Some people complained about the tech being dated, but I enjoyed seeing what people thought about computers in the 1970s. Maybe the most surprising thing is how little has changed: computers are mysterious, improving rapidly, are currently "very advanced", and will probably become as complex as human brains in the next 15 years or so ... plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose ...