The Terminal Man

I have been an avid fan of Crichton's for a long time and decided to peruse his older material. Terminal man was written in 1972 and Crichton's writing skill has come a long way since then. Well, perhaps the audience is much different from that of the 1970's. I couldn't finish this one. Characters were not engaging, a majority of the book was spent on describing the technology, so very little plot actually occurs until the end, at which point, I no longer cared. Would not recommend to those who are fans of Crichton's faster paced books like Jurassic Park.

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.

After I read the book, I felt a lot smarter! I expected the book to be all words and no action, but gee, I was wrong! Lot's of thrilling and unexpected scenes.
Harry Benson is a physcomotor epilectic who with violent seisures is operated on as a stage "3" patient. The Terminal Man, by Michael Crichton, is truly an exellent book!
I liked the book because it moved fast, and the ending was not as obvious as that was expected.
I recommend this book for anyone from grade 7 (12-13age) and up.
5 Stars.
Summary~~
Harry Benson, a physcomotor epilectic, has commited several crimes during his seizures. Drs. Morris and Ellis attempt to stop a seizure by inserting an electrode to stimulate parts of his brain before a seizure occrurs. This book takes place in the early 1970's in Los Angeles.

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.

I read this book as a teenager when it came out in the 70's and really, really loved it. I have not re-read it so I won't give a detailed review. But I've read hundreds of books and the fact that I even remember it at all says something!! As I remember, it was very entertaining and compelling - a real page-turner.

I don't remember this one so well, but it did catch my attention. Another good one from Crichton, but it did not have much room to work with given the topic. All that aside the "Terminal Man" and the hospital are talked about in such a way that I kept reading. It was the last Crichton book I have read to date.

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.

This wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, but it didn't nearly have the intense drama of the others I have read from Crichton. I was not on the edge of my seat, unable to put the book down.
Unless you have read most of his others, hold off on this one.

I am a huge fan of Crichton, but I felt that this one wasn't his best book. It had a great storyline, and was well written, but I felt it was a little boring, slow, and the ending was terrible. I'll give it only three stars instead of one because I do like Crichton.

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.

This is by far not a book in the same league with Jurassic Park or The Lost World but it is an interesting book that, for some strange reason, satisfied my action craving mind. Most of the book centers around the medical area of the story but still kept me reading at full speed until the exciting ending. I liked it.

Michael Crichton had such incredible foresight. This book was written in 1972 and is just as contemporary and modern in 2002. It is a quick read and very fast-paced. Not his best, but pretty close and worthy of 4*'s.

The idea of this book may have been something that blew people's mind back in the seventies, but by the last page I sat thinking, "Is that it?". I can see this story as some Sci Fi channel tv episode that might play at 3 in the morning. Besides the tecnological aspects, it seems like I've read or seen this story a hundred times and the whole book is just moment after moment when you think some kind of climax might be about to happen but instead it turns into some lame scene leaving you wishing you would have bought Crichton's "Sphere" instead.

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.

I read this book a while ago... I don't remember much about it right now, but I think it was okay. It's a book about controlling a person's mental disease with computer-controlled electrodes, but didn't turn out to be such a good idea. Poor guy...!

Yet another one of Crichton's thriller.

Maybe 20 years ago this was a wonderful read but right now as we know and use computers is some kind of silly story. The medical part was so tiny because MC wanted to write about computers not a medical thriller.

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 feel this book could have been better. I have read many other of Micheal Crichton books and he is by far my favorite writer, I just feel that this book had to much scientific stuff for the average reader to follow. Especially if its thier first time reading one of his books. Again I dont think its his best, and the characters could have been better formed. The ending needed some work also.

I didn't enjoy Terminal Man as much as the other Crichton books. It had some neat parts, but it still is my leasy favorite Crichton. I've heard other people say they like it a lot, so it just might be my opinion. You'll have to try it out yourself.

I thought it took quite a while for this book to get started and I thought it was okay until the end. For me it seemed like Chricton was eager to finish this book and get on with his next novel wich was "the great train robbery". If you want to chat about this IM me at my E-mail adress.I read this in one day becase when it got good illt was hard for me to stop.

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.

I just read this book in 2008 so its from like from the Dark Ages. Obsolete technology and cardboard characters. I guess I was expecting so much more from the delightful experience of reading Jurassic Park, Sphere and Prey.

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.

This was a great book! The only thing that I found was wrong with it is that it had a very weak ending. Otherwise this book had a great story. It went along steady and strong. Overall a very great book.