Guest Review: Terminal by Kathy Reichs (Young Adult, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

October 2015, Arrow, 400 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Themes: friendship, adventure, drama, violence, good vs. evil, teen life, special abilities, animals, family,  following clues, growing up, danger, science and technology.

Summary from Penguin Random House
The gripping finale to Kathy and Brendan Reichs’ New York Times bestselling VIRALS series

The Virals are back—but they’re not the only pack in town anymore. Terminal finds Tory Brennan and the rest of the Morris Island gang tracking a pack of rogue Virals who call themselves the Trinity. The new pack was infected by a strain of supervirus created by Tory’s nemesis and sometimes-crush, Chance Clayborne, who accidentally infected himself, too.

These red-eyed Virals have openly challenged Tory’s pack for domination of Charleston, and they’ll stop at nothing to bring their rivals down—even if that means giving them up to a shadowy government agency intent on learning the secret to the Virals’ powers. Surviving it all is going to test the limits of the gang’s abilities.

In the riveting conclusion to the Virals series, Tory and the others are nearing an impossible choice—and the ultimate showdown.

Review by Laura, one of Nayu's friends who absolutely adores the Bones TV series based on Kathy's book series. 

I have enjoyed reading the Virals series by Kathy Reichs and her son Brendan, so I was delighted when my lovely friend Nayu asked if I wanted to read the most recent instalment.  Following a great cliff hanger at the end of book four, Exposure, in which we learned that Chance Claybourne, a former crush of Tory Brennan’s, had been infected with a different strain of the canine supervirus which had already changed Tory and her friends, I couldn’t wait to start reading Terminal.

In the fifth book Tory and her pack face another difficult adventure.  They are no longer the only group of Virals.  Another pack, the Trinity, goad and taunt them, wanting to show their dominance in the town of Charleston.  I enjoyed this new take on the usual “good vs. evil” story and the group’s realisation that their individual powers are not a match for the opposing red-eyed gang.  I am also very proud that I figured out the twist and identified the female member of the Trinity before she was revealed! (You will have to read it for yourself to find out!)

Whilst trying to stop the new Viral pack from revealing the secrets of their enhanced powers, Tory and her friends are also trying to learn more about the virus that infected them and what this might mean for their futures.  Meanwhile, the Trinity are luring a government agency to Tory’s pack which could potentially mean that their abilities would be known to the world and used to create others like them.  This book delves deeper into the science of the supervirus and how it impacts on those who are infected.  The Virals also have to make a big decision whether to keep their powers and continue to be hunted, or take an antidote and lose their abilities for good.

I also enjoyed to growing relationships between the group of friends and the different reactions of each member of the group to Chance becoming Viral.  It was interesting how Reichs explored the different emotions of acceptance and trust and played these against the characters who were less willing to allow Chance into the original pack.  I loved that we saw more of the relationships between Tory, Ben and Chance develop and was very pleased with how it all turned out in the end (no spoilers – sorry!)

As I came to the end of the book, I felt a little sad as I thought this could be the last book of the series.  However, by the last line I was punching the air and whooping!  Kathy and Brendan Reichs caught me out again with a brilliant twist! Can’t wait to see how the series continues. (Nayu: sadly it is the last book, but maybe there will be a sequel eventually!) 

Find out more on Kathy's website.