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A review by krisrid
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
4.0
This was my first - and THE first - Repairman Jack book, and I really enjoyed it. Well written and super-exciting.
Repairman Jack isn't your average repairman. He doesn't fix appliances or broken fences. He "fixes" things for people who can't, or won't go to the regular authorities for help with problems. Jack is the last resort for people who are desperate for help and have nowhere else to go.
Jack doesn't exist as far as the "normal" world is concerned. He doesn't have a bank account, a social security number or any legitimate identification, and the IRS doesn't even know he exists. But even so, he's the answer to a prayer for the people who need his help . . . if they can find him, that is.
In this book, Jack is approached by a diplomat from India. He tells Jack his grandmother has been mugged and brutally beaten and is at death's door in the hospital. What he asks of Jack is odd, however. One of the things the mugger took is a necklace his grandmother was wearing. He tells Jack the necklace is a family heirloom and of great sentimental value and he wants Jack to find it and return it to her before she dies. And just to make it more complicated he tells Jack he MUST find the necklace and get it back around her neck within 24 hours or she will be dead and it will be too late.
Jack takes the assignment, never for a moment believing he has a hope in hell of finding a particular mugger in a city the size of New York, not to mention any hope that the necklace is still in one piece, in 24 hours. And yet, he does!
Once the necklace is returned, however, everything gets weird very fast. The grandmother is spirited secretly out of the hospital and the diplomat goes back to his work at the U.N.
And Jack goes back to trying to convince his ex-girlfriend Gia to give their relationship another try. When Gia found out what Jack's life is REALLY all about, she could not get past the violence and the secrecy his work involves and she definitely doesn't want him or his work around her young daughter, Vicky. Unfortunately, Vicky adores Jack and can't accept his departure from their lives. So between Jack and Vicky, Gia's having a hard time keeping Jack away, especially since she really loves him.
Then, one of Gia's two beloved and elderly aunts by marriage [to her rich but rotten ex-husband now living in London] disappears from their townhouse without a trace. Gia is desperate enough to ask Jack for help finding her.
And Jack is happy to help, especially since if he finds Aunt Grace, he hopes Gia will give them another chance. But once he starts investigating, the trail leads back to the Indian diplomat and his younger and beautiful sister. Jack can't figure out what's going on.
When he finally does figure out what is happening, he can't believe it. The things he sees and learns can't be real - they just can't! [No spoilers - you'll have to read the book to find out].
Things really heat up when Vicky is taken by the same evil that got Aunt Grace. At that point Repairman Jack goes full force and doesn't care who he has to go through to get Vicky back.
The story is extremely fast-paced and thrilling. Once the facts about what's going on are revealed, the book moves like lightening and the events really grab you and drag you along with them at 90 miles an hour. Towards the end I realized I was actually holding my breath and that doesn't happen to me very often.
There are some aspects of this story that require you to suspend disbelief about what is possible in the real world. But if you can go with Hamlet and embrace his reminder that: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosopy," well then, this is a great thriller with a terrifically exciting plot and great characters. I will definitely read other books in this series and recommend them to others.
Repairman Jack isn't your average repairman. He doesn't fix appliances or broken fences. He "fixes" things for people who can't, or won't go to the regular authorities for help with problems. Jack is the last resort for people who are desperate for help and have nowhere else to go.
Jack doesn't exist as far as the "normal" world is concerned. He doesn't have a bank account, a social security number or any legitimate identification, and the IRS doesn't even know he exists. But even so, he's the answer to a prayer for the people who need his help . . . if they can find him, that is.
In this book, Jack is approached by a diplomat from India. He tells Jack his grandmother has been mugged and brutally beaten and is at death's door in the hospital. What he asks of Jack is odd, however. One of the things the mugger took is a necklace his grandmother was wearing. He tells Jack the necklace is a family heirloom and of great sentimental value and he wants Jack to find it and return it to her before she dies. And just to make it more complicated he tells Jack he MUST find the necklace and get it back around her neck within 24 hours or she will be dead and it will be too late.
Jack takes the assignment, never for a moment believing he has a hope in hell of finding a particular mugger in a city the size of New York, not to mention any hope that the necklace is still in one piece, in 24 hours. And yet, he does!
Once the necklace is returned, however, everything gets weird very fast. The grandmother is spirited secretly out of the hospital and the diplomat goes back to his work at the U.N.
And Jack goes back to trying to convince his ex-girlfriend Gia to give their relationship another try. When Gia found out what Jack's life is REALLY all about, she could not get past the violence and the secrecy his work involves and she definitely doesn't want him or his work around her young daughter, Vicky. Unfortunately, Vicky adores Jack and can't accept his departure from their lives. So between Jack and Vicky, Gia's having a hard time keeping Jack away, especially since she really loves him.
Then, one of Gia's two beloved and elderly aunts by marriage [to her rich but rotten ex-husband now living in London] disappears from their townhouse without a trace. Gia is desperate enough to ask Jack for help finding her.
And Jack is happy to help, especially since if he finds Aunt Grace, he hopes Gia will give them another chance. But once he starts investigating, the trail leads back to the Indian diplomat and his younger and beautiful sister. Jack can't figure out what's going on.
When he finally does figure out what is happening, he can't believe it. The things he sees and learns can't be real - they just can't! [No spoilers - you'll have to read the book to find out].
Things really heat up when Vicky is taken by the same evil that got Aunt Grace. At that point Repairman Jack goes full force and doesn't care who he has to go through to get Vicky back.
The story is extremely fast-paced and thrilling. Once the facts about what's going on are revealed, the book moves like lightening and the events really grab you and drag you along with them at 90 miles an hour. Towards the end I realized I was actually holding my breath and that doesn't happen to me very often.
There are some aspects of this story that require you to suspend disbelief about what is possible in the real world. But if you can go with Hamlet and embrace his reminder that: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosopy," well then, this is a great thriller with a terrifically exciting plot and great characters. I will definitely read other books in this series and recommend them to others.