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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780312374594
ISBN number: 0312374593
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: October 30, 2007
Publishing house: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 350923
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, “I poisoned your drink.”
She tells Jack that unless she can keep someone within ten feet of her at all times, she’ll die. And if he wants the antidote, he’ll have to take her back to his hotel room and promise to stay by her side.
Jack thinks: psycho. But as the violent night wears on, and he encounters a relentless government assassin, a threatening voice on a cell phone, a deadly waitress, dirty cops, and shady cab drivers . . .
He begins to believe her.
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Rated by buyers 
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Four stars because it was a fun, light read. The premise (read Amazon's description) is interesting and the science fiction elements are believable in the setting of this book. Beware, though, if you have a weak stomach!
It seemed to end with a sequel on the horizon, but none yet. I liked it well enough to try another by Swierczynski one of these days.
Rated by buyers 
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Man oh man, what a cool book. The action starts at the very first sentence and keeps pulsing until the very last. Ultraviolence at its very finest. Great characters and a great story taking place in my favorite city, Philly. I sure hope this guy keeps on writing novels. Lots of fun for anyone who is a fan of Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, or Kill Bill.
Rated by buyers -
From all indications, we seem to be in the midst of a noir/pulp renaissance. Hard Case Crime, established in 2004, has been publishing and re-introducing out-of-print pulp novels to the 21st century. In the case of yours truly, it is an introduction, not a re-introduction. New technologies (podcasting, online magazines) have, ironically, replicated the delivery methods of old-school pulp magazines back in the golden age of pulp fiction. The climate of this very first decade of the 21t century has a shadow over it, the shadow of two burning buildings that no longer stand. When those towers fell, new things emerged (wire tapping of American civilians, memos on how to redefine torture, Abu Garib) that have brought with it a certain sense of paranoia. These factors, and more, have created a climate where authors, new and old, have tried to put in print and words the zeitgeist of this decade. And one of those trailblazers is Duane Swierczynski.
Swierczynski is the author of three previous novels, Secret Dead Men, The Wheelman, and The Blonde, as well as some titles from Marvel Comics (Cable, Iron Fist) but Severance Package is the very first novel of his that I have read. And it's a doozy. First off, the cover. I love old-school painted cover art, the kind that graced the covers of pulp fiction long ago and the kind that Hard Case Crime is bringing back. Severance Package, a trade paperback, has that neat textured paper, the kind that you'd find in an art store. Not coincidentally, the cover art looks like a comic book. The synopsis and the About the author section are basic type font but the other lettering, the teaser, and the blurbs all appear to have been inked by Jack Kirby. That's a cool vibe to imbue and it is a tantalizing entry to this novel.
The vibe continues throughout the book. Here's the basic premise: the company that Jamie Debroux works for is, in reality, a front for a grey ops unit. They've been outed and, as such, they all have to die. You have a choice, the boss man says: drink a mimosa and fall asleep or get shot in the head with the gun my assistant is now holding. With that in mind, the novel is interspersed with a list of the employees' names. With each death (yeah, there are some deaths in here), that name is crossed off. What's fascinating as a reader is you don't know who is the person crossing off the names.
The action, as you would expect, starts off with a bang. On his Secret Dead Blog, Swierczynski posts a running feature called "Opening Shots" where he transcribes the very first paragraph of certain novels as a way to get a reader hooked. I'll give you the opening sentence of Severance Package and see if you don't want to read more:
His name was Paul Lewis and he didn't know he had seen minutes to live.
This opening chapter also has one of a half dozen or so illustrations, done in black-and-white comic book style, by Dennis Calero, that depict a scene of the book. Well, we get to see, as well as read, what happens to Paul Lewis. Let me just say this: considering all the damage other characters endure during this book, it's one of the more peaceful ways to go.
The prose is quick but not dirty. I found myself flying through pages, looking up after an hour and finding out that I'd read more than 60 pages. That's quite fast for me, usually a slow reader. But the pace is pedal-to-the-metal, pell-mell into a brick wall. It's breezy in its way, quickly jumping into the heads of all the characters, even one unnamed character late in the book. It's a good feature, breathing life into characters that, usually, only have minutes to live. As the story progresses and you witness the various violent actions, it's kind of fun to guess how the subsequent character's demise will come. Believe me: there's one you won't see coming. Moreover, there's a certain time shift going on in places. Swierczynski will follow one character through an entire scene then jump into another character's POV. That second character likely was a silent witness to the actions of the very first character, thus, we get a second opinion on certain actions. It's a neat way of giving certain scenes depth.
The Ending: I can't tell you about the ending. A good ending to a bad book or movie can salvage my opinion of the work. A bad ending to a good book/movie can ruin the entire experience. I'll say this about the ending of Severance Package: I loved the book...and the ending kicked me in the crotch. I didn't see it coming...but I should have. You might. But try not to think too much. This is a fantastic book. Just enjoy the hell out of it half as much as Swierczynski enjoyed writing it.
It's pulp fiction, pure and simple, just like they used to write in the old days. [...]
Rated by buyers -
The Blonde hits the ground running at a break-neck speed, as any novel that begins with the words "I poisoned your drink" should. The problem is, the tension and action of the very first half of the book doesn't maintain the entire way through.
It seems that at about the halfway point, after a rather major event occurs to the titular blonde of the book, Swierczynski realized that he had more or less ended his story, but he didn't want to have a novella on his hands.
So, to counter this, he just keeps piling on the weirdness, capping it off with one of the main characters stitching his face up with rainbow-colored thread from a kids' craft set. I stayed with the book, but at certain points it just seemed like he was trying to make the book weird and therefore stretch it by about 100 pages.
He also seems to break his own rules within the book. Let me explain:
(I'll try to be as spoiler free, here, but it is somewhat tough to do in this section.)
The main plotline of the book involves The Blonde being infected with nanomachines that will kill her if she is ever more than 10 feet away from another person for more than 10 seconds. During the process of the book, she also infects Jack Eisley, the man she meets in the airport bar, with the same nanomachines. During a run-in with the trained killer Kowalski, The Blonde eludes his capture and is away from people for more than the allowed time, thus leaving her entirely paralized.
OK, so that's the rule: get away from people, and the nanomachines snap your medulla oblongata.
The problem is, after this happens to The Blonde, the same thing happens to Jack Eisley multiple times, with Jack suffering no ill effects other than a few seconds of incredible pain.
The rules of the book are broken, then...so we're expected to believe a double standard for these nanomachines.
Still, even if the book asks you to up your suspension of disbelief more and more as the tale unfurls, it remains satisfying through the entire novel.
Swierczynski is a very talented writer, and the quick, clipped language of the book makes it an incredibly quick and pleasurable read. Even though he gets his story muddied up and a bit ridiculous by the end, Swierczynski's prose stays cracking and intense until the big finish.
Rated by buyers -
I'm sure that you think hired assassins have an easy life: Good hours, high pay, a life of travel. Take Kowalski. He's been hired to do a job, and is hard on his victim's trail when one by one people start getting in his way. Well he simply has to take them out in order to continue his pursuit. It makes his job a lot more difficult.
While he's dashing around just trying to complete his assignment we switch to two other characters in the book who have ingested something that makes it important that they never get more than ten feet away from each other. Failure to do so results in some horrible physical pains that can result in death. What? You want me to explain this in a little more detail? No way. To make this couple's life more difficult there are also people who would like to eliminate them. So, every twenty pages or so this guy and gal get trapped by a bad guy or two. Time after time they manage to escape certain death. How are they going to get out of this one you frequently ask yourself. There's one time where you think they are goners for sure. The evil one holds up his pistol, cocks it, takes aim, and....is overwhelmed by a sudden attack of diarrhea and runs for the nearest toilet. Whew, another close call.
Doesn't sound like this story is very realistic? You bet it isn't. It's an unbelievably fast paced novel that has you laughing constantly. I'd tell you a bit more about the plot, but I just don't know how to do it. The plot defies description. Buy this book, or Kowalski will come looking for you.
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