Gwen Farris works in a supervisor position for Pace Pharmaceuticals. She gives Stephen Tarbell some negative feedback during his performance evaluation, which incites the man. He becomes belligerent and accuses her of unsavory acts to get her job, a job that should have been his. His anger over the evaluation simmers throughout the day and explodes in the parking lot when he comes up behind Gwen and puts a knife to her throat. She will change his evaluation to an outstanding status or suffer the consequences.

Gwen goes home and calls the Human Resources officer to report Tarbell's attack. She is asked not to go to the police, but to let Pace Pharmaceuticals handle the issue internally. Gwen agrees and thinks that the private investigator hired by her company has her back and Tarbell will be taken care of. However, Tarbell is smarter than the investigators and manages to turn the tables on Gwen. Soon her credibility is questioned, she loses her job, her husband is attacked and Tarbell is not going to stop until Gwen is dead. Gwen must take matters into her own hands to stop this psychopath, but will she succeed?

Simon Wood's TERMINATED is thrilling. It is like a ride that grabs your heart and squeezes, sending you breathlessly along the roller coaster with twists and turns and immediate dips that make you gasp. We know that violence in the workplace does happen. The mere thought that work pressures and a bad evaluation could make someone snap to the point of murder puts a chill down the spine. Having read three other Simon Wood thrillers, I knew that between this book cover, I would find a few exhilarating hours of reading pleasure. Any book by this author is a keeper.