Customer Reviews

Infernal: A Repairman Jack Novel (Repairman Jack Novels)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After publishing his outstanding horror debut, The Keep, in 1981, F. Paul Wilson subsequently added five more books to what came to be known as the "Adversary Cycle": The Tomb (1984), The Touch (1986), Reborn (1990), Reprisal (1991), and Nightworld (1992). Those books introduced several concepts that came to form the core of much of Wilson's fictional universe: the ancient, evil entity called Rasalom, his eternal opponent Glaeken, the town of Monroe, Long Island (Wilson's analog of Arkham, Oxrun Station, and Castle Rock), the wandering healing spirit known as the Dat-tay-vao (first seen in The Touch), and the modern pulp hero known as Repairman Jack.

Jack, who labors mightily to conceal his existence from the world, made his first appearance in The Tomb. Left near death at the end of that novel, Jack reappeared in Nightworld, playing a key role in frustrating Rasalom's bid to enslave humanity. Jack's fans proving persistent, Wilson responded with a new Repairman Jack novel, titled Legacies in 1998, following it with Conspiracies (1999), All the Rage (2000), Hosts (2001), The Haunted Air (2002), Gateways (2003) and CrissCross (2004). Set between the events in The Tomb and Nightworld, the books chronicle Jack's growing awareness of the battle between Rasalom and the entity he refers to as "the Otherness" or " the Ally." Similar to the late Isaac Asimov, Wilson is working to link the bulk of his fictional output, subtly revising the books in the Adversary Cycle to fit the new continuity he is creating through his Repairman Jack novels.

Infernal, the eighth installment in Jack's ongoing saga, opens innocently enough, with Jack arriving at the airport to pick up his father, whom readers got to know in Gateways. To avoid spoilers, no more will be said about the sobering events depicted in the book's first few pages--suffice it to say that those happenings will change Jack's outlook on life forever. They will also bring the Repairman's ne'er-do-well older brother Tom back into his life, resulting in an uneasy alliance between the siblings that places all Jack holds dear into jeopardy.

This book will be most appreciated by long standing fans of the series, as Wilson relies heavily on past events and relationships to power the novel, even as he maneuvers his character into position for the windup of the series. That's not to say that it doesn't work fine as a stand alone novel, only that the reading experience will be enhanced for those who are familiar with past events in the series (and, as an aside, for Charles Dickens fans!).

While I can understand the negative criticisms posted here the only thing I will agree with is that this book isn't one of the better RJ books. I think the main reason people are disappointed with INFERNAL is because it doesn't follow F. Paul Wilson's usual formula for the RJ series (i.e. several "fix-it" jobs while the main job involves The Otherness). While the book is very one-dimensional I have to give credit to Paul for changing the formula a bit to try and give the RJ series a bit of freshness.

While the change doesn't completely work it is one of the darker RJ books leading up to NIGHTWORLD, an extremely dark and disturbing novel.

So if you're new to Repairman Jack INFERNAL wouldn't be the first novel I'd recommend. You'd do yourself a favor to go with THE TOMB, ALL THE RAGE or CRISSCROSS first. Save INFERNAL for a day when you're ready for a change in RJ's style.

I've always been a fan of F. Paul Wilson, but I really fell in love with his Repairman Jack Series ever since I read the first one. Like all series, some of the novels are better that others and some can skirt around the edge of almost being a little too metaphysical, but the action never disappoints. And after way too many 'goody two shoes' detectives, it's always refreshing to see a protagonist who will take satisfaction in blowing the bad guy's head off just because it feels good to even up the score. And with Infernal, Jack gets caught up in a very realistic cycle of revenge that serves to make his character only more believable.
As always Jack is tough and competent and willing to break lots of rules to get the job done.
And if that means putting a bad guy underground to save a good guy (or girl), he's not going to think twice. There is no second guessing for him. He sees the world of good and evil in pretty basic shades of black and white.
But once again there are the two loves of his life to keep him from teetering over the edge. First of course is his intended bride to be and her - and also by intention, his surrogate daughter Vicky. In addition to helping him show the one little chink in his armor towards his well hidden but faintly glimmering vulnerable side, are these two people that he would (and does) do literarily anything for... even more than the various family members who appear through-out this book and the series. The family members are also interesting but perhaps the brother is perhaps just a little too scummy to make the reader believe that they came from the same family. But outside of that minor point, Infernal is another great Repairman Jack novel that makes you wish that you had Jack's number the next time you need a 'special' little job done!

I've read several less-than-rave reviews of this installment of the Repairman Jack series. Honestly, I can't understand why any Jack fan would consider this a second rate effort. I've read all the RJ novels, and I found Infernal to be one of the more satisfying.

The change of pace was refreshing. Not only does Wilson make the best use ever of various characters' perspectives, but he does a great job of contrasting Jack's unconventional but strong moral sense with that of his neer-do-well but successful brother.

I read this in one day, but I almost couldn't finish it through my tears. This is only the second Repairman Jack novel I've read: I read the first one (The Tomb) and this is like, the ninth, I think, so obviously a whole lot has gone on that I don't know about yet and there are lots of references to the past, but I got the gist of what had gone on before. This one is a real angst-fest.

If you're not familiar with the character, Repairman Jack is, as the name implies, a repairman. He doesn't fix appliances, though, as some people assume. No, Jack fixes situations. Basically, he's the guy you call when someone has done you wrong and the law can't do anything about it. And he's good at his job.

I can't say much about the plot without giving too much away, but it involves Jack's brother Tom. What a piece of work he is. Due to tragic circumstances beyond Jack's control, he is forced to call his brother back to New York to take care of some business for him. Unfortunately, this leads to Tom tricking his little brother into an outrageous treasure hunt. What they find isn't much of a treasure, however, and leads to one gut-wrenching nightmare that disrupts (and endangers) not only Jack's life, but the lives of his girlfriend Gia and her daughter Vicky as well.

The ending is a tiny bit Deus ex Machina, but it's sort of plausible in the context of the world Jack lives in. I'm left wondering if we'll see any more of Tom in the future - see if he cleans up his act.

This one is a fast-paced, non-stop tear-jerker that I highly recommend.

I have read all of the books in this series and I have to totally disagree with the poor reviews. I thought it really added a lot of depth to all of the characters, most especially Gia. I don't understand why others didn't like it, but I have to totally disagree with their opinions. I'm sorry I listened to them, because I didn't buy the book until now, and that was really stupid. I missed a great story for a long time. I won't repeat that mistake.

Being a gun collector, one of the first things I usually find to dislike in a mystery novel is their lack of understanding about guns. In this case, Mr. Wilson has the guns down pat.

There's a terrorist incident at the airport. The bad guys use Tavor-2's as their guns. What? Tavor-2? Yes, Tavor-2 is the brand new Israli weapon designed to replace the M-16 and Galil guns now in use. Then in another situation the hero grabs a revolver and holds on for dear life keeping the cylinder from rotating and thus preventing a revolver from shooting. Yup! That would keep a revolver from shooting. As you pull the trigger the cylinder turns to bring a cartridge into position. If you hold on tightly, it won't shoot. Anyone who writes of things that well makes me tend to want to like the book.

After that, there's Repairman Jack and the rest of his world. I realize that this is fiction, but his living off to the side where no one even knows his real name is quite interesting. Whenever he does anything, he has to keep in mind that his ID is not real. He has to be careful around everyone he knows, even his own family.

The story is a blend of action, adventure and just a touch of the occult. A most plesant way to spend a few hours.

F. Paul Wilson's fantastic 9th Repairman Jack novel is yet another breath of fresh air in sheer storytelling. This series has it all, from terrific characterizations to elements of sci-fi. horror, and fantasy, all rolled up to make this a urban merc fiction series that is second to none.

It is no wonder such literary giants such as Stephen King and Dean Koontz are even huge fans. Wilson is a dynamo in this field. There hasn't been a bad Repairman Jack novel yet. Even Infernal, with its lack of major action and adventure that I normally crave, makes little difference when the story and characters themselves make the reader easily immerse themselves into the fantastic plotline and newcomer characters.

Such as Jack's brother, Tom. This latest entry character to the series is very believable - like always - and he is the exact opposite of his urban merc brother, Jack. The storyline goes from New York to the Bermuda Triangle, and has various elements that keep the reader intrigued until the very last word in the novel. Twists and turns abound with the new threat of Jack's brother, Tom from getting Jack exposed, to an alien 'thing' long lost for centuries that Jack and Tom bring up from the ocean's depths, and even post 9/11 terrorists that do more damage to Jack's family from the get-go.

All these elements mesh so well together, and so seamlessly, that create yet another top-notch reading experience for tons of readers. My husband and I are newlyweds to this awesome series, and we can't wait to sink our teeth into the next novel, Harbingers, when it comes out in paperback next month.

So, for this novel Infernal, we give 5 stars for overall storyline, but 4 stars because there wasn't enough action and adventure like in past novels. Can't wait until this Otherness and the Adversary finally meet.

I love stories involving creepy/mystical books, devices, machines, etc. The Lilitongue is a REALLY creepy invention -- my only gripe is I wish Wilson had of gone into more detail about the other Infernal devices. Maybe in the future......?

This is one of those great books that I had to know what was going to happen next with each turn of the page. I think I zipped through this in about 2 or 3 days.