Book Review: Terminal by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs

Terminal
Author: Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs
Series: Virals (Book 5)
Publication: Puffin Books; Reprint edition (March 1, 2016)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: This last Virals novel sees the kids facing a group of rival Virals and trying to escape agents of some secret government agency that wants to uncover their secrets. The first thing Tory, Hi, Shelton, and Ben have to do is find out who the other Virals are. Those Virals have set a number of traps for our heroes with the goal of turning them over to the government agents.

Their first suspicion is that Chance is one of these new Virals. After all, he has connections to the same illegal research that created them in the first place. Also, to keep herself and her friends safe, Tory had convinced him that what he saw when they were flaring were signs of his mental illness. Besides wanting to prove his own sanity, Chance is fascinated with Tory. His research led to his becoming a viral with his fired lab partner as another Viral.

Besides trying to outwit government agents, Tory has to deal with a few personal issues. Both Ben and Chance want to be her boyfriend and they are constantly fighting and distrusting each other. Tory can't convince them that this is the absolute wrong time to pick a boyfriend. Also, Kit has proposed to Whitney and Tory is faced with having a woman she doesn't connect with as her stepmother. Tory is just getting used to the idea that Kit is her father. This is one more big change that she really doesn't need in her life.

The Virals need to make some very tough decisions in this one. I liked that they had to weigh lots of options and that the decision had consequences. This was a great conclusion to an engaging series.

Favorite Quote:

Impulsively, I stepped forward and hugged Whitney. "Thank you."

I caught a flash of surprise in her eyes before they closed as she squeezed me back. Then I pulled free, feeling my own emotions roil.

No one could ever replace my mother.

But that didn't mean I couldn't let others in.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.