Infernal

Well there are evidently two or more of these INFERNAL things!!! Be sure this is the one you want… its a real mess to try and order it. Two books same author but very similar title.
Now I know that ONE; Infernal is only an outline
And the other is a full book. Who Knew?
Be warned ..

Like a lot of the other readers here, I first became acquainted with F. Paul Wilson back during the mid-eighties when he first wrote The Keep and The Tomb. Once he started with the “Repairman Jack” series in earnest several years ago, I devoured each new novel like a pit bull with a bag of Vanilla wafers. I’ve become an avid supporter of Repairman Jack, giving all of the books–up until Infernal–either a four-star or five-star rating. I’ve also been overly anxious for the Repairman Jack movie to finally come out with Viggo Mortensen playing the title role. Unfortunately, I’ve just found out that the Mortensen film is now a thing of the past and that new plans are underway to bring Repairman Jack to the big screen.

With regards to Infernal, I hate to admit it, but I was bored just about all the way through this rather thick novel. There wasn’t the usual amount of action that readers of this series have come to expect. The book starts off great with Jack’s father being murdered in an airport massacre by Moslem fanatics. I initially thought that Jack would go on a killing rampage to avenge his father’s death. No such luck. Instead, Jack’s brother, Tom, shows up to claim their father’s body (remember Jack has no legal identity and lives underneath society’s radar) and to induce Jack to help him recover some money that’s hidden in a Bermuda bank account. Jack’s brother is the type of blowhard that everyone loves to hate. This man has few redeeming qualities about him and almost immediately starts off by hitting on Gia in front of his brother. Anyway, the two brothers borrow an ocean-going speedboat and make their way to Bermuda, only to discover that the U.S. authorities are one step ahead of Tom, who’s likely to soon end up in jail. Unable to get to his hidden funds, Tom decides to salvage the whole trip by locating a sunken Spanish ship with the aid of a secret map and finding the prized possession that was the ship’s only cargo before being deliberately sunk. Against Jack’s better judgment, he helps his brother to find the ancient artifact. Jack’s instincts tell him to leave damn thing at the bottom of the sea, but Tom’s determined to bring the artifact back to the States and hopefully to make some money off of it. The artifact, however, is dangerous to those unaware of its power. Before long the people closest to Jack’s heart will find themselves at the mercy of the artifact, with Jack struggling to find a way to save them. Along with that, an acquaintance of Jack’s discovers the identity of the men who massacre the people at the airport. If nothing else, Repairman Jack will want to extract revenge on those who killed his father.

Except for the airport massacre at the beginning of the novel, not a lot really happens till almost two-hundred-and-seventy-five pages into the book. That’s when Jack and his brother find the ancient artifact off the coast of Bermuda. Things slow down again until the artifact affects the health of Gia (Jack’s fianc) and her daughter, Vicky, and Jack has to quickly search for a remedy. Even then, any long-time reader of the series will be able to guess what’s going to happen. I already had a copy of Harbingers (the next Repairman Jack novel) to read, so I knew that Jack and his family didn’t die in Infernal. It was an easy step in guessing who does. The confrontation where Jack and his friend, Joey, take on the Arab killers didn’t quite ring true to me. It seemed tacked on in order to wrap up the incident at the beginning of the book. In fact, I guess you could say that the whole book didn’t ring true. I usually read a Repairman Jack novel pretty fast, but this one took me almost two weeks to finish. Though Mr. Wilson’s writing is excellent, the story line was boring to me. I had little interest in what was happening. I think a lot of other readers felt the same way. I’m hoping Harbingers will be a more exciting book than this one was. Like me, I suspect the fans of Repairman Jack will be forced to read Infernal just to keep abreast of the series. My advice is not to be too disappointed if the book doesn’t live up to your expectations.

Wilson delivers as always. The action is breath-taking. He gives us characters that we can love and hate and then gives us a glimpse into their soul. His characters seem more real than some of the people I see on a daily basis. In addition to a great story, I always feel like Wilson gives me more insight into human behavior at its best and worst.

Early on I was beginning to suspect that the plot would be baldly straightforward. Unfortunately, the foreboding was justified; the plot is minimal, without any cleverness, or unexpected twists. The ending was telegraphed early and often. Not much in the way of redeeming characters; less Abe, Gia, and Vicky than I’d prefer. Brother Tom was not interesting; one dimensional, and unpleasant.

My expectations had been high, as I had enjoyed its predecessor in the series, Criss Cross (I think). I would just have soon skipped this one.

A weak three stars.

I just finished Infernal and I enjoyed it so much I
was sorry it didn’t have more chapters.
I have ordered the next in series and I am excited about starting it. Repairman Jack has became one of my top of the list favourite reads.

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