The Tomb [Paperback]

F. Paul Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1986

Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Gia, Repairman Jack doesn’t deal with appliances. He fixes situations—situations that too often land him in deadly danger. His latest fix is finding a stolen necklace which, unknown to him, is more than a simple piece of jewelry.

Some might say it’s cursed, others might call it blessed. The quest leads Jack to a rusty freighter on Manhattan’s West Side docks. What he finds in its hold threatens his sanity and the city around him. But worst of all, it threatens Gia’s daughter Vicky, the last surviving member of a bloodline marked for extinction.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the Repairman Jack novels:

“The Tomb is one of the best all-out adventure stories I’ve read in years.”
—Stephen King (President of the Repairman Jack fan club)

"Hugely entertaining.”
—Dean Koontz

“Jack is righteous!”
—Andrew Vachss

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

F. Paul Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and virtually everything in between. His books include the Repairman Jack novels, including Ground Zero and Fatal Error; the Adversary cycle, including The Keep; and a young adult series featuring the teenage Jack. Wilson has won the Prometheus Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Inkpot Award from the San Diego ComiCon, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers of America, among other honors. He lives in Wall, New Jersey.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jove (October 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515088765
• ISBN-13: 978-0515088762
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,101,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Start of Something REALLY Good, June 27, 2003

By 

James Choma - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Tomb (Repairman Jack Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first in F. Paul Wilson's books concerning Repairman Jack, a character that has become one of the most interesting literary creations since James Bond.

Repairman Jack is a fixer of situations -- situations wherein someone has gotten a raw deal and wants to set things right. He has no social security number, no credit cards, pays no taxes, and makes every attempt to avoid the spotlight whenever possible.

The Wesphalen family is living under a curse; a death curse placed a century ago in retaliation for the murderous acts committed by a greedy ancestor.

Kusim Bhakti and his sister have come to New York City to carry out the curse and wipe out the rest of the Westphalen line. To assist with this task, Kusim has brought with him the Rakoshi, perversions of the human species brought about eons ago from the Otherness. You'll discover more about the Otherness in the books that follow.

As it turns out, Kusim hires Jack to track down the thief that mugged his mother and return the necklace that was stolen. Kusim tells Jack its return is a matter of lie and death. Jack succeeds and returns the heirloom to Kusim's bedridden mother. Jack is paid the rest of his price and assumes the job is done. Little does he know he'll meet with Kusim (plus some really mean Rakoshi) again on different terms.

Gia Westphalen has broken off her relationship with Jack, yet her daughter Vicky (the last of the Westphalen line) loves him like a father. Jack still loves Gia and can't bear the thought of never seeing Vicky again. As it turns out, Jack becomes intimately involved with the Westphalens again, protecting Vicky from Kusim and his Rakoshi.

This is an excellent read, and the series only gets better. You don't necessarily have to start here, the other books can be read separately, but this probably the best place to start to fully enjoy the rest of the books.

You'll find once you finish the book, you'll be asking yourself, Tomb? What's this have to do with a tomb? Wilson had inteneded to call the book "Rakoshi," but his editor requested that he change the name to "The Tomb," thinking it'd sell better. Whatever the case, it's a great beginning to a series that gets better with each book. Enjoy!

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repairman Jack...what a guy!, August 21, 2000

By 

Alexia (Northern NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Tomb (Repairman Jack Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book I've read by F. Paul Wilson, but it won't be the last! What a talented writer! Repairman Jack is one of the best characters I've read about in quite awhile!

Repairman Jack is so believable and down-to-earth that the supernatural angle of the story took me by surprise. Yes, I had read the back cover, but the story was so enthralling that I was blindsided by the horror part. There I was, racing along, totally drawn into Jack's world when...oh my gosh...he's...she's...that's a ...wow! What a story!

Without giving away any of the surprises, suffice it to say that this was another one of those books that will keep you up all night to finish. Very well done, and I look forward to reading more Repairman Jack stories.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like detective fiction, July 15, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tomb (Repairman Jack Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

F. Paul Wilson is a horror writer and "The Tomb" has some supernatural elements to it. But the book reads more like detective fiction. Repairman Jack is one of the more appealing and memorable fictional characters I've come across and his "profession" reminded me of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee. And like any good hero of detective fiction, Jack's psyche is haunted by dark and troubling events from his past that WIlson covers in detail. This is an exciting book that should be read for the quality of its storytelling alone.