The Terminal Man

The Terminal Man

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton was about the neuropsychiatry section of a hospital doing a breakthrough surgery to help reverse the effects of psychomotor epilepsy. The patient's name was Harry Benson.

Harry Benson had psychomotor epilepsy because he hit his head in a car accident and it resulted in brain damage. Harry was a good subject for the operation because he was brilliant, being a computer programmer with top-level government security clearance. The type of epilepsy that he had caused him to black out for periods of time and during his blackouts he would become extremely violent and when he woke up he remembered nothing. The operation would involve the inserting of two electrodes into the brain along with a microcomputer in his neck and a plutonium power pack located under his shoulder.

Harry had his operation soon after he was admitted to the hospital. The operation took roughly three hours and in that time they drilled into his head and inserted the electrodes. They also put in the microcomputer and the power pack at this time. After the operation was over Harry was heavily sedated and put in a room. After the sedatives wore off Harry went into a closet and stole an orderly's gown and left the hospital. Harry killed a woman named Angela Black after he went to her apartment to pick her up.

After the investigation of the murder of Angela Black Dr. Ross went home to take a shower. When Dr. Ross got out of the shower she found Harry standing in her living room. The computer in Harry's neck was somehow malfunctioning and shocking him every few minutes. When the computer shocked him enough times it would cause a seizure. After a few minutes of talking to Dr. Ross, Harry had a seizure and attacked her. While Harry was choking her she reached and turned on the microwave, which messed up the atomic power pack in his shoulder and caused him to pass out.

When all of the doctors got back to the hospital they got a phone call from Harry that came from inside the hospital. They soon figured out that he was in the basement near the main computer. The cops and Dr. Ross went down to the basement to find Benson. When they found Harry he ran away and a cop went after him. Dr. Ross went into the computer section and found the main computer smashed. Suddenly Benson came