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Severance Package (2008)

Severance Package (2008)

Book Info

Rating
3.65 of 5 Votes: 1
Your rating
ISBN
0312343809 (ISBN13: 9780312343804)
Language
English
Publisher
minotaur books

About book Severance Package (2008)

So, what do you do when your boss drags you to work on a Saturday morning and announces that you have two choices -- drink poison and die OR let him shoot you in the head (and die). Which do you pick?I chose to read SEVERANCE PACKAGE purely based on the fact that I read Swierczynski's THE BLONDE a few years back and found it to be one of those thrilling kind of reads that you devour in a sitting but never quite pick up again -- and somehow, this was exactly what I wanted at the time I selected this novel. That, and the fact that the cover ROCKS, of course.Well, this group of employees at their seemingly mundane little job are told, oh yeah, this is actually a cover for a top secret anti-terrorism group -- but, we're getting shut down and none of us are getting out alive. Just to make sure that nobody happens to escape, David (the boss) has managed to booby trap every exit with various poisons, bombs, and questionable forms of chemical warfare. Clearly, he has been planning this day for quite a while now.Except, there's always a wild care -- and this time it's Molly, the allegedly mild mannered assistant with the tame ponytail and the conservative wardrobe. Molly has something to prove, and she's ready to chop off body parts and blow a few brains to pieces to ensure that SHE is the one to carry out David's evil plans.But, quiet guy Jamie has a new baby at home, and he's desperate to find a way out of this mess... no matter what it takes...I don't really read a lot of action packed/thriller/psycho crime type novels, and it's really not my favorite genre -- but Duane Swierczynski has proven that he knows what he's doing with his mad storytelling skills, I think. Sure, SEVERANCE PACKAGE may not be a novel that instills any type of emotional reaction, or one that stays with me for years to come -- and yes, the characters might be flat and the plot might be utterly ridiculous, but if you're going adventure, crime, and insanity, none of those things may matter a bit to you, right? And in the end, it really is a fun book.

David Murphy has called a mandatory Saturday meeting for his key employees. Everyone's pretty pissed about this (who wants to work on a SATURDAY?!) but that's before they get there. When they arrive, they learn that the elevator's been disabled, there's a bomb on the stairway exits and they have two choices: drink poison for a fast, painless death or get shot in the head (which may be fast and painless or may not. Hard to tell).A blurb on the back says that this book "begs for the next Tarantino to direct" and I completely agree. It definitely seems like a Tarantino movie (or his future replacement) and that's basically all you need to know about this book and the insane level of violence in it.Because the employees? They do not go gentle into that good night. There are a lot of unexpected twists throughout, and it seems like pretty much everyone has a secret (which generally tends to be an affinity with a weapon). One of the things I really like is when authors have characters cross over from book to book. There's a cameo here from one of the minor characters in The Blonde (which itself is connected to The Wheelman). I love feeling like it's a real world I'm reading about. (Except for the fact that Duane Swierczynski writes about a world I don't really want to be part of, since I am not a fan of real world violence.)I'm a little mad at everyone I know who has read Duane Swierczynski and didn't clue me in about how insanely awesome his books are. Still, I guess the important thing is that I'm here now. I've read everything except for one other book, and I'm hoping to read that one soon.Highly recommended (if you have a strong stomach. If not, remember, I DID warn you about the violence and the blood.)

Do You like book Severance Package (2008)?

There's been a terrible mix-up. Author Duane Swierczynski seems to have submitted this screenplay to a publishing house, and it somehow got printed and marketed as a book. Rife with cliche, Severance Package is about a wimp whose boss decides to kill his company. Cheesy, comic-book violence prevails, which I guess is supposed to be both fun and shocking.Maybe it's because I just finished a *real* violent book reading with literary value (Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle), but Severance Package just seemed kind of... lame. You've seen this story a thousand times. Save your eyes a night of hard work and go watch something with Angelina Jolie in it instead.
—rachel

This is a fun read. It took me about 3.5 over a couple of days to read it. Its faced paced, fun, bloody, and overall recommended for people who enjoy these types of pulpy things. There are some glaring plot holes and inconsistencies with the characters throughout. Also, the author attempts to inject personality and character in the character but falls short of doing so. However I feel that this is the literary equivalent to movies like the Transformers. All brawn and no brain. If you go in expecting that, you will be pleased. I know I was.
—Rob Young

Another GR reviewer wrote:"There's been a terrible mix-up. Author Duane Swierczynski seems to have submitted this screenplay to a publishing house, and it somehow got printed and marketed as a book."...and she is dead on. I like Swierczynski's sense of the absurd, and this book had the potential to be really fun in a day-at-work gets all crazy-ass psycho-violent sense. It did not live up to that potential, however. The separate story threads never really come together in a worthwhile fashion and the ending is enough of a joke to make the staunchest adherents to the deus ex machina school cringe.
—Seizure Romero

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