Conspiracies

Conspiracies (Repairman Jack 3) by F. Paul Wilson

Before this book, I read one of F. Paul Wilson’s “Young Jack” novels and a collection of his Secret History of the World short stories. I found the occultic, supernatural hints intriguing. So I decided to give the Repairman Jack stories a shot.

This is an enjoyable read. It launches into the story almost immediately and then sets a fast pace throughout the story. The story introduces us to “Repairman Jack,” who makes a living “fixing” things for people. In this book, Jack has a client whose sister is the victim of domestic violence and another client whose wife has disappeared. The two stories are unrelated, but provide energy to the story as Jack flips from one to the other.

The vanished wife plot is the main story of this book. The wife was a member of a group that believes in every conspiracy known to man. Jack has already had a run-in with the supernatural before this story opens, but in this story, he learns more about the supernatural world hiding just around the corner from this one. Thus, the reader gets acquainted with the “Adversary,” “the Twins,” the “Otherness,” and the cluster of strange births in 1968.

The story is a fun read in the action-adventure genre. The character of Jack is not developed. We know nothing about his background or his abilities. He doesn’t seem particularly competent, except with respect to passing as ordinary and knowing about guns. For all his attempts to be a man of mystery, Jack is a nerd with a love of kitsch. I don’t get the sense that he has a background as a “spook” or in the military. Nonetheless, this story seems to offer a taste of a tantalizing, mysterious world.

Jacks back doing what he does best, just being Jack. Having Jack involved in a conspiracy convention was highly entertaining. The plot was gripping and cornered my attention the entire time. Conspiracies brought back elements from previous Repairman Jack stories and started to connect some of the dots. You dont have to have read any of the previous stories, but it will make everything more enjoyable. The next book is a must.

As good and exciting as book two was, book three is equally… boring. It wasn’t bad persay, but the vast majority of the book was spent in conversations about conspiracies theories. While seemingly interesting, the undercurrent of unbelievability in each made them feel like wasted page space (which they were). More wasted page space occurred with ‘fake’ dream sequences (at least 4). Add to it a poorly paced, rapid-fire, ending that led to more questions then plot resolutions and the book was completely meh.

The only saving grace is the book sets the stage for a larger story further down the road.

I continue to be amazed by the quality of work coming from F. Paul Wilson. While I still favour his quick reads like The Terry, Healer, Virgin, or Wheels Within Wheels most of the time the Repairman Jack series is amazing. What gets to me is Wilson’s ability to avoid getting stuck in a rut or repeating himself. All of the first five books in the series are wonderful but all show sufficient variety to be fresh even though Wilson uses a similar formula as the driver of plot through all of his novels.

For those who are not familiar with Wilson’s series, Repariman Jack is a ‘fixer’ who makes wrong things right. While his family is mistakenly under the impression that he is an underachiever who fixes appliances his customers depend on him to get out of some serious trouble. Jack lives off the grid in NY City. He has no real driver’s license, no social security number, no passport, and no ID of any kind that can be found in a government database. He gets paid in cash and ‘saves’ by taping gold coins to his plumbing pipes. He uses guns when he needs to but prefers to settle matters with the least amount of violence possible. In Conspiracies we see Wilson fill in some of the details that were missing in The Tomb and are introduced to another important character who will make more appearances in later novels. Wilson is not a ‘great writer’ as far as your literature professors are concerned but to normal readers who want to enjoy a book with interesting characters, a good plot, and unusual ideas Wilson’s books are more than good enough.

I like he Repairman Jack breaks his own rule about not getting involved in a,possible divorce, but takes the missing person case anyway. Where did Melanie go?. Why was she so.fascinated by a lunatic fringe convention? Why is Jack.the only one who.can help? Who’s the mysterious Roma and what has he got to.do.with Melanie? This is a tense, scary sf/_horror novel..I read The Keep when it first came out. Somehow I missed the Jack.books. Well.worth the time to read this one. Lots of action and a protagonist who tips the scale toward justice for those who cannot get it a my other way. Fast-paced,,original.McGuffin, truly nasty villains. Will read the rest.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member