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When You Go Through Dark Times
A Study in Terminal follows a young man who has faced many hardships and is forced to realize that life won’t always follow the path you laid. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
One inspiration was working with at-risk youth when I was just out of high school. I particularly remember watching this fifteen year old boy who was basically a father to his younger siblings. And it hit me that there weren’t many YA books for him — a boy who was forced to grow up early and was faced with adult situations at a young age.
Another inspiration was personal mental health battles in my own life and realizing how life is hard and dark and broken, but there is still light and the brokenness still has a chance to become beautiful.
Sean Brogan is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character’s
Development? First off, thank you for being so kind! I love Sean. He’s my baby. I wanted him to come to terms with facing his own humanity but realize he wasn’t alone in the first place. When you go through dark times you can be deceived into thinking you’re alone — which is so far from the truth. There’s a moment in ASIT when Sean is hit with the realization there was someone who was walking alongside him, and it was a very powerful moment for me personally. I’m always writing to answer my own questions, and that’s what happened with Sean’s character — to direct a broken character who has felt alone all his life to suddenly realize that there was someone who understood.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
You are never alone. That there is beauty in brokenness. That healing is possible. That sometimes you have to let people meet you in your darkness. Oftentimes we hide our brokenness out of shame or fear, and I wanted people to realize that to heal sometimes means admitting how human we are.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Haha, I wish I knew. Life has been insane for me, but I’m working on two different books — one being the second book following ASIT. So we shall see…
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
He plans to slip into the sleepy town of Lake Fort, West Virginia as quietly as he did ten years before, but his life has never gone as planned. Sean never expects to see Rina, the blue-haired sister of his childhood best friend who makes it her mission to rescue the lost things. A hopeful dreamer who sits on the roof and watches the sunset, she represents all the things that he has lost. As Sean spends time in the lakeside town that has haunted his dreams since he was a little boy, he has no choice but to face the pain that he buried from a life cut off too soon. In the blink of an eye, with a gun to his head, Sean is forced to confront what it means to fight for the will to live when your world has gone dark.
An anthem for those of us who have been left behind, A Study in Terminal is a vulnerable story about the human condition that reminds us that to beat your past, you first must turn around and face it.
A Study in Terminal
At only 19, Sean Brogan already knew more than his fair share of hardships. Childhood trauma, poor life choices, and the burning need to just feel loved had led him down a path that twisted and turned until it became a maze he could no longer escape. Now, faced with the tenth anniversary of the event that had shaped every current facet of his life, Sean makes the decision to face the demons he’s always avoided in a battle he has no expectations of winning. As he rides into a home he hasn’t seen in years, he is forced to realize all over again that life won’t always follow the path you laid.
A Study in Terminal by Kara Linaburg is a story about lost childhood, guilt, regret, depression, and the redemption that can possibly come from confronting each of them head on. The book pulls no punches from the very first page, opening with Sean as he prepares himself for death, then continues on to illuminate his journey to that point, often in a tone of gut-wrenching honesty. Linaburg uses frequent flashbacks to build tension and mystery about Sean’s life, teasing the events that have brought him to the present moment in time and giving the book an air of intrigue that makes the heavy subject matter take less of a mental toll.
At its core, A Study in Terminal explores the theme of death and all the associated traumas that come with one that is both unexpected and violent. However, it doesn’t neglect to shine a light on the other side of the coin and eventually also touches on ideas of self-love, acceptance, and the power that comes from forgiveness. It manages to pack a lot of layers into its pages without creating confusion or slowing down the action. As a result, Linaburg has created a tightly wound and efficient story where even the most minor characters play an important role to the plot progression and have an impactful place in Sean’s life.
If I have any criticism of the book, it’s only that Linaburg was so good at building tension and pacing her reveals that I almost expected something more nefarious and scandalous to be in Sean’s past. I loved the references to his famous, distant family relation and I would have enjoyed more of an exploration into that, although I completely understand why it would not have made sense in the context of the narrative. This book gets a an easy recommendation from me!
Pages: 211 | ASIN : B09PMK43V7
LITERARY TITAN 