CONSPIRACIES [CD-ROM]

F. Paul Wilson (Author)

Product Details

• CD-ROM
• Publisher: Gaunlet Press (January 1, 1999)
• ASIN: B000WFKVJI
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born toward the end of the Jurassic Period and raised in New Jersey where I misspent my youth playing with matches, poring over Uncle Scrooge and E.C. comics, reading Lovecraft, Matheson, Bradbury, and Heinlein, listening to Chuck Berry and Alan Freed, and watching Soupy Sales and horror movies. I sold my first story in the Cretaceous Period and have been writing ever since. (Even that dinosaur-killer asteroid couldn't stop me.)

I've written in just about every genre - science fiction, fantasy, horror, a children's Christmas book (with a monster, of course), medical thrillers, political thrillers, even a religious thriller (long before that DaVinci thing). So far I've got about 33 books and 100 or so short stories under my name in 24 languages.

THE KEEP, THE TOMB, HARBINGERS, and BY THE SWORD all appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers List. WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS won the first Prometheus Award in 1979; THE TOMB received the Porgie Award from The West Coast Review of Books. My novelette "Aftershock" received the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. DYDEETOWN WORLD was on the young adult recommended reading lists of the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, among others (God knows why). I received the prestigious Inkpot Award from San Diego ComiCon and the Pioneer Award from the RT Booklovers Convention. I'm listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who's Who in America. (That plus $3 will buy you a girly coffee at Starbuck's.)

My novel THE KEEP was made into a visually striking but otherwise incomprehensible movie (screenplay and direction by Michael Mann) from Paramount in 1983. My original teleplay "Glim-Glim" first aired on Monsters. An adaptation of my short story "Menage a Trois" was part of the pilot for The Hunger series that debuted on Showtime in July 1997.

And then there's the epic saga of the Repairman Jack film. After 14 years in development hell with half a dozen writers and at least a dozen scripts, THE TOMB is finally moving toward production as "Repairman Jack" from Beacon Films and Touchstone. The plan is to make Jack a franchise character. (Gotta tell you: all the years of this has worn me out.)

I've done a few collaborations too. One with Steve Spruill on NIGHTKILL, and a bunch with Matthew J. Costello. Matt and I did world design, characters, and story arcs for Sci-Fi Channel's FTL NewsFeed, a daily newscast set 150 years in the future. An FTL NewsFeed was the first program broadcast by the new channel when it launched in September 1992. We took over scripting the Newsfeeds (the equivalent of a 4-1/2 hour movie per year) in 1994 and continued until its cancellation in December 1996.

We did script and design for MATHQUEST WITH ALADDIN (Disney Interactive - 1997) with voices by Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters, and the same for The Interactive DARK HALF for Orion Pictures, based on the Stephen King novel, but this project was orphaned when MGM bought Orion. (It's officially vaporware now.) We even wrote a stageplay, "Syzygy," which opened in St. Augustine, Florida, in March, 2000.

I'm tired of talking about myself, so I'll close by saying that I live and work at the Jersey Shore where I'm usually pounding away on a new Repairman Jack novel and haunting eBay for strange clocks and Daddy Warbucks memorabilia. (No, we don't have a cat.)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Wilson's Best, August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Conspiracies (Hardcover)

"Conspiracies" freaked me out; I loved it. And Repairman Jack certainly needs no introduction for this one, a book sinking deep into all conspiracies and beginning to weave together F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack Novels and The Adversary Cycle.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Kind of Hero, March 1, 2000

By 

Tony - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conspiracies: A Repairman Jack Novel (Hardcover)

I continue to be amazed by the Repairman Jack novels. "Legacies" was nothing like "The Tomb", and "Conspiracies" is nothing like the other two. Each one is a new experience with a different rhythm. I especially love the weird paranormal ingredients in "Conspiracies" that were missing in "Legacies."

What I don't get, though, is why a reader (see one of the other reviews) would want Wilson to remake Repairman Jack (whom Dean Koonts says is "one of the most original and intriguing characters to arise out of contemporary fiction") into a Remo Williams retread. Some people just don't get it.

Don't listen, Mr. Wilson. Keep Repairman Jack just as he is: an original.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repairman Jack is back and he is better than ever, January 21, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conspiracies: A Repairman Jack Novel (Hardcover)

No database contains information on Repairman Jack, who applies unorthodox methods to fix problems for people. Jack blends so well into the scenery, no one notices him, let alone remembers seeing him. Though a pragmatic person anchored into the material plane, Jack has battled some supernatural creatures in his time.

Jack's latest case comes to him via his home page on the Internet, which allows the Repairman to advertise, but remain invisible. Lewis Ehlers desperately wants to find his missing spouse Melanie. She appeared on his TV screen while he watched the Weather Channel and appealed to him to obtain the services of Jack. The Repairman accepts the case and soon attends a conspiracy buff conference where Melanie is scheduled to make an appearance. Jack meets the usual crazies, but also senses a malignant supernatural essence trying to crash the barrier into this world. Only Jack can hope to stop the creature from succeeding, but his odds of surviving the counter is slim.

Anyone who has ever read a Repairman Jack tale wonders what makes the man tick? He appears to be a normal person just by the nature of his conversations with his friends, but the average individual does not spend an inordinate amount of time making sure no trace exists of his ever being anywhere. Thus, Jack remains one of the most enigmatic characters around as readers realize they don't know Jack. Placing this puzzling protagonist inside a non-stop, action-packed thriller like CONSPIRACIES leave the audience wanting more novels starring Jack. As with his TOMB AND LEGACIES, F. Paul Wilson provides the audience with a triumphant tale starring a quirky hero who deserves wide fan attention.

Harriet Klausner