Terminator Salvation

By: Alan Dean Foster

The third novel in the Terminator Salvation Series Timeline.  Marcus Wright is a convicted killer sentenced to die, and the sentence is carried out by lethal injection.  So how is it that he can wake up years later, and find himself in a world that has suffered a nuclear holocaust?

Plot: After being put to death in 2003, Marcus Wright wakes up in 2018 where the world is destroyed, and machines rule the earth.  While wandering aimlessly, Marcus stumbles upon a teenager named Kyle Reese, and a nine year old mute girl named Star.  While trying to escape Los Angeles, Kyle & Star are captured by a harvester and transported to Skynet Central in San Francisco.

While en route to rescue Kyle and Star, Marcus meets a resistance pilot named Blair Williams, who tells him of her resistance cell, and how they may be able to help Marcus rescue his two friends.  While at the edge of the resistance camp, Marcus steps on a mine.  When he wakes up, he gets to meet the legendary John Connor, who revels to Marcus a secret about the purpose of Marcus' second life.

Review:  The book has a better ending than the movie.  If you have only seen the movie, then you should read the book.  It will give you all the details.  Truly well written, but when it comes to movie-to-book adaptation, Alan Dean Foster is the master, with his "get to the point" type style of writing, which can even keep the non-reader's eyes glued to every page.