Customer Reviews

Jack: Secret Circles (Repairman Jack Novels)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book if you have enjoyed the Repairman Jack series. Geared for young adults, but enjoyable by all as well. Gives some fun backstory to the intriguing saga.

Even with his young Jack novels, F. Paul Wilson has a winner in Jack: Secret Circles. Showing us what led Young Jack to becoming Repairman Jack proves to be just as fascinating as the novels that show him in his adult years. What fun it is to read & discover lost memories along with Repairman Jack of his childhood as he begins to put things together moving toward the final showdown. This book is another page turner as young Jack & his friends go off on adventures that keep you in suspense while taking you back to the 1980's & Reaganomics & Rubiks cubes!! If you're a Repairman Jack lover, you'll love this book!!

F. Paul Wilson has contracted to write 3 JACK YA books.
This is Book nbr 2. It is for the 9 to 16yr old age group.

Jack is BECOMING our anti-hero Repairman Jack but he is
not him yet. Jack is 14yrs old and it is 1983.

The spear still has all its branches.

Jack has always been surrounded by the OTHERNESS but
was never aware of it.

Mrs. Clevenger & her 3 legged dog, Mr. Foster, Walt & the
Septimus Order have always watched him. Some of them have
helped him and some have harmed him.

Only we know how much pain,sorrow and adventure awaits Jack
in the future.

In this book a 5yr old boy is missing. Jack and Weezy find an
ancient pyramid.

Jack starts doing yard work for the Septimus Order. Maybe he
can find out what secrets the lodge building holds.

The scary piney lights are streaking across the Barrens.

Jack/Weezy & Eddie see, hear & smell some kind of creature while
in the woods but can't figure out what it is.

What is THE MYSTERY MACHINE ?

This is a nice read. I'am 60yrs old and I enjoy reading about Jack
as a young person. I think you will enjoy meeting Jack at this age
also.

I believe that DR. Wilson (5-17-46) has written 44 books so far. I
have 27 of them. He is a family physician and sold his 1st book in
1970. He mainly writes Horror and SF.

Even though written for a "young adult" market. Anyone who is a fan of Repairman Jack would love this book! Secret Histories and Secret Circles clues us into how Jack became the way he is. It also sets up alot of what's to come in his life.
While an awesome book, it is very short and I managed to get through it in around 3.5 hours. So, I am glad that I did not pay full price for it, but got it on sale.
I have already preordered the 3rd in the series from Amazon (it comes out Feb 2011) and am looking forward to recieving it!

As with the previous title, Jack: Secret Histories, we get another well crafted plot, believable characters you can relate to, and plenty of mystery and adventure.
While the language, and descriptions of violence and gore, have been toned down for the young adult audience, F. Paul Wilson hasn't compromised the quality of the writing and storytelling. The tension was enough that I found myself literally gripping the arm of my chair as events played out through the story.
Throughout the story, connections are made between young Jack, The Adversary Cycle, the adult Repairman Jack series, older books like "The Touch," and even the impossible to find "Freak Show."
An extremely gratifying read for a long time fan, and a terrific addition to the overall mythology. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an intro to F. Paul Wilson's fictional world, or anyone looking for a great story and an easy read.

If you are a fan of the Repairman Jack series, than you will definitely enjoy this "Prequel" series that is aimed at young adults. It gives a little backstory that fleshes out how Repairman Jack became the man he is.

"Jack: Secret Circles" is the second of F.Paul Wilson's first-ever foray into young adult fiction. As a long-time fan of FPW'S Repairman Jack novels that feature the adult Jack, I bought both Jack:Secret Histories and Jack:Secret Circles for my 9 year old son, figuring that I would read them after he did. I assumed that we would both like them. That turned out to be an understatement.

As YA fiction, both are much better than good. They are clearly different than the regular RJ series. The language is squeaky clean, the violence is almost non-existent, and Jack, Weezy, Eddie and their families exude Beaver Cleaver wholesomeness. Completely appropriate for YA readers. But FPW has really hit a home run with these books, especially Jack: Secret Circles. Despite being sanitized for younger readers, the books have the same fast pacing and suspense as those of the "regular" RJ series. My son liked both of them very much. I loved them. And as a fan of the regular series, I found that they were almost indispensable as they contained a great deal of the backstory relevant to "The Secret History of the Wold", a term actually introduced to Jack by Weezy in the first YA title. As in the regular RJ series, there are many plot elements and characters, both large and small, that are self-referential, closely tied in to events in the adult RJ books, particularly the last 4 or 5 RJ novels as well as those of the "Adversary Cycle" .

It's fascinating to see Jack as a young man beginning to develop into the man he will become. And also fascinating that FPW can write for YAs without any condescension and still have the novels enjoyable to adults. Well done, FPW! I can't wait for the next YA Jack. HIghly recommended.

JMT

Ever since Jack first discovered the pyramid, nothing has
been the same for Jack or the town of Johnson. A chain of
unexplained murders fire up the suspicion against the Lodge
- a secret society that was the first to settle in Johnson.
In Jack: Secret Circles, things have begun to simmer down
since the murders. That is until Cody disappears. Jack had
seen Cody ride home, but didn't make sure he got there. Now
Cody has disappeared and chaos is aroused in Johnson. Once
again, the Lodge and pyramid is linked to all this. Along
with that, Mr. Vivino is abusing his family and no one knows
about it. Now, Jack must find a way to save Cody, Mrs. V,
and her daughter. But since Jack is dealing with a secret
society and a man running for public office, things won't be
solved very easily.

As the mystery began to unfold, I picked up interest. The beginning of the novel was slow and seemed to go on forever. But as new twists changed the
course of the story, the suspense began to increase. One
example of a twist is when Cody goes missing. From there,
things begin to heat up and new secrets are discovered when
Jack and Weezy go looking in the Lodge. But the secrets are
found gradually and over a long period of time. Sometimes
the discovery of one secret would happen long before the
next. For this, I wouldn't say this novel is a page-turner.
I think it is more of a book that slowly increases suspense
as you read into it. I recommend this book to any who is
willing to read to the middle of the book before actually
getting to the climax. Jack: Secret Circles is a good novel,
but it isn't amazingly exciting.

Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer
Flamingnet Book Reviews [...]

A teenage "Repairman" Jack is on his way to his friend Weezy's house when he sees five year old Cody Bockman riding his bicycle near the Barriers, an area that is filled with strange things. Jack tells Cody to go home as the child is to young to be so far from his home. He watched the child to insure he is heading towards home. Jack and Weezy enter the Barrens, a land mass that is eerie and filled with strange creatures. They find a giant stone pyramid with the same identical markings that was on as a smaller pyramid they found and lost last month.

A stranger went into the Barriers only to lose his way and he was unable to escape for a few days. He tells the teens of a creature that was following him so he hid in a tree. They get him out, but Cody is missing. A search leads to Cody's bike in the Barrens; a search there proves fruitless. Weezy convinces Jack to break into the building of the mysterious Ancient Septimus Fraternal Order to retrieve the little pyramid that Jack thought he saw on the mantle. When they break in, the duo meets much more than they expected.

Readers of the Repairman Jack saga will learn how it all began when the hero was a teen. Targeted for young adults (as was the Secret Histories) fans of all ages will appreciate Secret Circles especially if they want to know Jack. He has dealt with the supernatural and unexplained as a teenager so the teen became the adult still fighting as a warrior for the Light. As Jack adapts to whatever cause he must face, his readers will relish observing his Repairman roots.

Harriet Klausner

Jack: Secret Circles is the second book in F.Paul Wilson's young adult series about Repairman Jack. I thought it was very entertaining. Fan's will enjoy it.