Product Description

“You know why we hate you? Not because you don’t know what we know, but because, if you did, you wouldn’t give a damn.

So I’m sitting here, waiting to commit extortion, and planning a lot worse. I’m what you’d call a criminal. That’s why I’ll never be you. And I’m proud of it.” --from Terminal

When the former shot-caller of the country’s most feared white supremacist prison gang contacts Burke, he comes with references ... and the promise of a huge score. Terminally ill, the ex-con needs major cash to gamble on the long-shot possibility of a cure that’s available only in Switzerland. The only card he has to play is a small-time degenerate who paid for protection when they were in prison together. That professional bottom-feeder claims he personally buried the body of a thirteen-year-old girl who had been raped, tortured, and finally killed by three rich men more than thirty years ago--and that he’s holding irrefutable proof. But such a complicated extortion scheme needs the hand of a specialist crew, so Burke is offered a piece of the action.

He and his outlaw family put together a lethal plan. If they can pull it off, Burke gets the two things he lives for: Money and Revenge. If not, “terminal” could prove to be more than just one man’s diagnosis.

Terminal is a blistering thriller that forces Burke back in time--to keep a blood-commitment to a brother from his prison past, and to avenge the “cold-cased” rape-murder of a teenage girl.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126927 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-25
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Vachss's 17th Burke novel (after 2006's Mask Murder) combines gritty realism with an over-the-top depiction of an omniscient spy network. Claude Dremdell, a white supremacist whose sole hope against his terminal illness is a pricy experimental Swiss treatment, ropes Burke into a plot to extort money from three wealthy men who years earlier committed a brutal murder (loosely based on the real-life Martha Moxley case), but were never suspected. Armed with only fragmentary evidence in the form of two checks, Burke turns for help to an Israeli intelligence operation working covertly in the U.S. with superhuman powers of information gathering. Lengthy tirades about the failures of the criminal justice system under the current Bush administration will distract even those who agree with them. In the end, the violent vengeance Burke seeks overshadows the worthy points Vachss makes about the continuing horrific sexual abuse of the young.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
This would make an excellent short story--too bad its a full novel. David Joe Wirth reads with gritted teeth as befits the story of tough-guy Burke, who moves in a world of tough guys. Even the dogs are tough. And theres no relief in this relentless book. Wirth never lets listeners forget the underlying pain. The story of a terminally ill con looking for a final score could be told quickly, but half the book is filler. Vachss shifts time and place without warning. Tangents go nowhere and confuse a complex plot. Fans will recognize Vachsss obsession with exposing crimes against children. But the crimes are so graphically detailed that youll need a shower and a stiff drink after listening. M.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Andrew Vachss is a great writer, not just because he writes fine novels with a sharp, original, and gripping prose style but also for the undisputed fact that he is a true warrior for the protection of children. His books never graphically display abuse, never wallow in it, but they always force us to look at the results of that abuse, how it changes, demoralizes, and destroys the innocent.

"Long may this man write. Long may he protect children. He is one of a few who can lay legitimate claim to having changed laws and ways of thinking about child abuse, a real hero who has shone a harsh light on the cockroaches who scuttle about in the dark. His 'fiction' is more than kick-ass entertainment; it has, literally, changed the world for the better."

--Joe R. Lansdale, author of Sunset and Sawdust


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Pulls no punches
Ever since my wife brought me "Hard Candy" while in the hospital I have been hooked on Andrew Vachss' writing.
While many writers in this genre get tedious with their characters after a while, Vachss keeps his main man Burke refreshingly alive and different with each new novel!
I make it the top choice each year for Christmas, birthday and Father's Day when asked what I want the reply is always "See if there is a new Vachss book out there first, if so , that's what I want! I have read them all and am looking forward to his new one coming out in December 2008!
Enjoy!
Christopher J.Whedon

Best Burke yet!
Vacchs' Burke books keep getting better! Like the characters themselves, the stories mature with each passing book. This one is terrific, especially the cliffhanger ending! So ... when's the next one?!

Burked by Burke
This is the weakest of all the Burke novels. What is little more than a short story has been extended by the author, Vacchs, into a work that is 1/3 story and 2/3 polemics. I agree that abusers and destoyers of children all are of the lowest of the low in society and should be persecuted and prosecuted until they are removed from our world and locked away forever.

What I do not agree with is an author who creates a work of supposed fiction and then spends most of the work providing factual details to support his agendas. All that Vacchs says, as author, belongs in a nonficton work which should include additional information exploring Vacchs' ideas for dealing with child abusers; he has extensive knowledge and experience from which we all could benefit. But, he ought not to pack it into a so-called "novel."

I was expecting something of the caliber of Flood, which came out in 1985, and all of the subsequent novels. Terminal Burked me, blind-sided me, drawing upon Vacchs's name and reputation to entice me into entering the novel. I just wish I weren't hammered so hard by the author. Instead, I wish I would have been finessed by Burke, making the author's points through his actions.