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trevert's review against another edition
4.0
As excellent as every other Repairman Jack book. Repairman Jack books are like Jack Reacher books with a horror element added, and you can basically pick one out of a box blindfolded and know it will be good. In this one, Jack gets embroiled with a pair of fake mediums, brothers who run a flimflam seance op but start having real problems with a real haunting, plus a child murdering cult.
buildhergender's review against another edition
5.0
Another great repairman Jack novel.
Gia is in trouble, and so is Jacks child?
A group of child kidnappers are stealing kids, but not for the reason everyone suspects.
A couple of high tech scam artists who pretend to control the paranormal will now face it.
Jack will need to get over his sisters death if he wants to get out of this one alive.
Gia is in trouble, and so is Jacks child?
A group of child kidnappers are stealing kids, but not for the reason everyone suspects.
A couple of high tech scam artists who pretend to control the paranormal will now face it.
Jack will need to get over his sisters death if he wants to get out of this one alive.
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
4.0
I've been reading these Repairman Jack novels in no particular order over the past several years. This one is the most fun of all the ones I've read so far. It has a lot more humorous dialogue, and manages to be both whimsical and seriously creepy at the same time. And the little twist at the end was perfect! I'm surprised Wilson didn't go anywhere with the Lom reference, though. He probably just threw that in to amuse alert readers like me. :)
The main plot deals with a haunted house and ring of evil men seeking immortality. There's a snappy little subplot that takes a jab at so-called psychics and the people foolish enough to waste money on them. I don't believe in ghosts or psychic abilities, so this was all a fun ride for me. If you DO believe in ghosts, this one might make you lose a little sleep.
I think this book makes a great stand-alone story if you're not the uptight sort who's afraid you might be missing something. All you really need to know is that Repairman Jack does not officially exist. He went off the radar at age 21, so there are no records, no way to trace him. The series has an underlying theme about battling forces called the Otherness and the Ally, but they don't play a part in this particular installment.
The main plot deals with a haunted house and ring of evil men seeking immortality. There's a snappy little subplot that takes a jab at so-called psychics and the people foolish enough to waste money on them. I don't believe in ghosts or psychic abilities, so this was all a fun ride for me. If you DO believe in ghosts, this one might make you lose a little sleep.
I think this book makes a great stand-alone story if you're not the uptight sort who's afraid you might be missing something. All you really need to know is that Repairman Jack does not officially exist. He went off the radar at age 21, so there are no records, no way to trace him. The series has an underlying theme about battling forces called the Otherness and the Ally, but they don't play a part in this particular installment.
zade's review against another edition
3.0
Wilson's Repairman Jack novels present me with quite a dilemma. I don't at all care for supernatural or horror stories, but I really like Jack. I came into the series backwards, first reading the recently written prequels describing Jack's early days in NYC. These novels I enjoyed a lot. They are almost entirely free of supernatural elements and really emphasize Jack's moral code and his particular abhorrence for anyone who hurts children. As a fan of Andrew Vachss (both his fiction and his real work), I have a soft spot for tales in which child abusers, rapists, and traffickers get their comeuppance since they so rarely do in real life. The prequels really suit this taste, as does the second book in the series, Legacies. Legacies also has the benefit of having little to no supernatural element, just a bit of fringe science.
The Haunted Air is the 6th entry in the series and finds Jack faced with impending fatherhood and potentially the end of his fix-it career. One of his final jobs involves helping a pair of fake psychics find out which of their competitors is trying to run them out of business or kill them. Of course, it's never that simple as it turns out their house really does seem to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered child. Thus, here we find both the horror/supernatural element for which Wilson is famous and the morality of hunting down those who hurt children. While the investigative element of the story did balance somewhat the supernatural element, it wasn't enough to make the book truly enjoyable for me. The story was written well and the characters, especially the Kaplan brothers, were engaging. I found the heavy-handed use of "bad things are coming, the world as you know it will end in a couple of years due to some supernatural catastrophe" ethos distracting. Without it, the story could have been pretty interesting, even with the ghost, but by the end of the book, I was pretty sure I don't want to read any more of the series. If evil is going to take over the world, I'd rather enjoy something positive in the meantime.
For fans of horror and supernatural stories, this would likely be a fine choice. My 3-star rating has more to do with my personal taste than with Wilson's talent. And I'm grateful to him for infusing his stories with a moral core that seems to be lacking in much of contemporary horror fiction.
The Haunted Air is the 6th entry in the series and finds Jack faced with impending fatherhood and potentially the end of his fix-it career. One of his final jobs involves helping a pair of fake psychics find out which of their competitors is trying to run them out of business or kill them. Of course, it's never that simple as it turns out their house really does seem to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered child. Thus, here we find both the horror/supernatural element for which Wilson is famous and the morality of hunting down those who hurt children. While the investigative element of the story did balance somewhat the supernatural element, it wasn't enough to make the book truly enjoyable for me. The story was written well and the characters, especially the Kaplan brothers, were engaging. I found the heavy-handed use of "bad things are coming, the world as you know it will end in a couple of years due to some supernatural catastrophe" ethos distracting. Without it, the story could have been pretty interesting, even with the ghost, but by the end of the book, I was pretty sure I don't want to read any more of the series. If evil is going to take over the world, I'd rather enjoy something positive in the meantime.
For fans of horror and supernatural stories, this would likely be a fine choice. My 3-star rating has more to do with my personal taste than with Wilson's talent. And I'm grateful to him for infusing his stories with a moral core that seems to be lacking in much of contemporary horror fiction.
corvus_corone's review against another edition
4.0
In a series of books that I've really enjoyed reading The Haunted Air is among the better ones. Lyle and Charlie were great characters and I hope to see them in coming books. The dialogue was snappy and well written and it pushes the entire series forward.
braydin's review
4.0
Jack tangles with some con artist psychics and gets involved in a ghost story along the way. Wilson does well after an installment of Repairman Jack that didn't resonate with me. Well paced and interesting throughout.
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