Gateways

Repairman Jack #7

by F. Paul Wilson

Following The Haunted Air, New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson returns with another riveting episode in the saga of Repairman Jack, the secretive, ingenious, and heroic champion of those whose problems no one else can solve. In Gateways, Jack learns that his father is in a coma after a car accident in Florida. They've been on the outs, but this is his dad, so he heads south. In the hospital he meets Anya, one of his father's neighbors. She's a weird old duck who seems to know an awful lot about his father, and even a lot about Jack. Jack's arrival does not go unnoticed. A young woman named Semelee, who has strange talents and lives in an isolated area of the Everglades with a group of misshapen men, feels his presence. She senses that he's "special," like her.Anya takes Jack back to Dad's senior community, Gateways South, which borders on the Everglades. Florida is going through an unusual drought. There's a ban on watering; everything is brown and wilting, but Anya's lawn is a deep green. Who is Anya? Who is Semelee, and what is her connection to the recent strange deaths of Gateways residents-killed by birds, spiders, and snakes during the past year? And what are the "lights" Jack keeps hearing about? Lights that emanate twice a year from a sinkhole deep in the Everglades . . . lights from another place, another reality.If he is to protect his father from becoming the next fatality at Gateways, there are questions Jack must answer, secrets he must uncover. Secrets . . . Jack has plenty of his own, and along the way he learns that even his father has secrets.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal

380 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first Repairman Jack and it's unlikely there will be a second as this was slow and too gory for my tastes. 2 of 10 stars

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my friends who see this on my "update" will realize that I started this last night after I finished the "Repairman Jack" book that preceded it. The Haunted Air. That one I gave 5 stars...this one gets 4. I'll say why a little later, but suffice it to say that it's still and excellent book and I've already gone to my shelves and pulled the next volume in the series down. They've been waiting there to be read a long time and I've become involved of late. The books seem to me to start out pretty well and then grow in interest, at least they have for me.

Here Jack is still involved in his life changing situation that has been coming on aiming him (apparently) toward an enforced joining of modern society. Of course events in his life twist out of control again (as you'll know if you've read the books in order up to this point Jack has been told there are no more coincidences in his life . A call comes from his estranged brother (while Jack is estranged from his whole family he seems to have been especially estranged from his older brother) telling him his father is in a coma. He's been left that way from an auto accident...a hit and run. Jack's brother (a judge) tells Jack that he can't possibly get away to go (even if their dad is on death's doorstep) and he can't tell Jack why. Of course Jack can't very well become self righteous as he's been off the radar since he left home after his mother's death...his mother's murder.

And (of course) there's more to this than meets the eye and the Otherness raises it's ugly (and deadly) head. More of the background and more details of the overall mystery are revealed here, but it's still coming out slowly. The story winds itself out and is on the whole a very satisfying read. Here we get a self contained story that doesn't depend on a cliff hanger ending to bring you back for the next book. This story is told but there is a larger more sinister and much larger story unwinding in the background or more accurately that this story is but a chapter in.

So, if I like it so well why'd I give this one a 4 star rating when I gave the last a 5 star rating? Well I admit here it's a matter of taste. Some of you will not only not agree with me but the reason I dropped a star will actually be your favorite part.

Let me use an illustration, some years ago I used to like the TV show Law and Order (before it became nothing but political propaganda. When it turned into nothing more than a political platform I stopped watching it. That is not what I'm referring to, not what happened here.) The reason I liked Law and Order is that it was a police procedural. We had a crime, we had a police investigation and then we had a prosecution. We followed the story from start to finish. We didn't find out about how the characters were doing with their lovers, their marriages were never discussed much less watched. There wasn't a heart rending story of sick parents or child custody or whatever. It was a police story without all the personal stories. See, I know a lot of you prefer the TV police stories that concentrate on that. So here I had to wade through a lot of that, enough that I thought it dragged the story down. It flattened the pace of the story in several places. ( Though I'm sure there will be more of this as we're going to go through the story of Gia's pregnancy, her insistence that Jack get "on the grid" and what looks to be the Otherness setting out to get to jack by killing/destroying anyone he cares about.)

But as I said I like this/these books and plan to jump right into the next...so, highly recommended.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

The Repairman Jack series continues to be one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Wilson has created a hero in Jack that is simply awesome. The series is mostly action and thriller with a tiny albeit major supernatural line at it's heart. Gateways is a fun edition to the series as we get some well needed father and son bonding. The Everglades make for an awesome setting for Jack and his Dad. Gateways leans heavier on the supernatural side than most of the other books. The Otherness is front and center. The relationship being explored between Jack and his Father Tom has been a missing element to the series that could really make it more. Semelee was a twisted and interesting antagonist that played well with Jack.

I hope that this book is the start of more between Jack and Tom. I love the series, The Otherness, and most importantly, the writing of F.Paul Wilson. Highly recommended!

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Repairman Jack! While this series has had some ups and downs, the ups outweigh the downs by far, and Gateways is a very good installment in the series. Wilson's easy prose and interesting characters really make this series; that plus episodes of intense action and the supernatural.

Jack is finishing up a repair job in NYC when he gets a call from his brother that his father, who recently moved to Florida, has been in an accident and in a coma. Guiltily, Jack heads down to Miami and the everglades to see whats what. Traveling is always an issue for a man with no identity, but Jack employs some fake ID and rolls. When he gets down to his father's place, he meets his neighbor-- a spirited old lady and her little dog. While his dad is still in the hospital, the old lady and Jack have some rather profound discussions-- she seems to have even more secrets than Jack!

Jack tries to figure out what happened to his Dad; apparently, it was a hit and run late at night in the swamp, but Jack's tingle of something being off starts to ring. He finds some discrepancies among the facts and gets more suspicious when the community where Dad lives starts showing his house as they assume he is dead. Clearly, there is something going on! Also, we are introduced very early to a strange woman who lives in the everglades along with her clan of mildly to severely deformed people (she being the only woman there). What is the connection? Just a hint-- the otherness is back and makes an appearance!

If you have followed the series so far, you will not be disappointed. 4 strong stars!!

[M.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is one nit-picky detail that's been bugging me in the last few books. Jack is wanting to become a citizen before his kid is born. Fine. But he needs a social security number to do so. He claims he doesn't have one, but wouldn't his parents have gotten him one? I had my soc card when I was ten. He didn't drop out of society until he was in college or thereabouts.

He's also concerned that the IRS will come after him for not paying taxes, but he's never had a 'legal' job or if he has, it hasn't been very long. I can't imagine he actually owes a lot of back taxes if he's never had a normal job. Nor does he own property, so he shouldn't have property taxes.

I can see the government being interested if he's been up to illegal stuff while he's been on the outskirts, but if there's no proof of any illegally activity, I don't see what they can really do to do him.

But perhaps there are things I don't know about for this kind of situation. It's just the soc number thing really bugs me. He should have one, he just needs to find it again.

[Dave TN · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but it is my least favorite of the series so far.

[Jadewik · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jack learns his father is in a coma, he flies to Florida and is immersed in a whirlwind of conspiracy surrounding the accident that put his dad in a coma.

Another Repairman Jack success story. I really love this character. This isn't my favorite book in the series. Like the other books in the series, it flows smooth and fast and really keeps the reader interested throughout. You don't learn so much about Jack in this book; however, you do learn a lot about his father.

The one thing that I found unpleasant about this book was the "hick-speak" used when reading certain characters' points-of-view. I think it fit for this particular story, but it bothered me. Irv was Oyv and I had to say the dog's name half a dozen times each time I saw it.

Aside from that, I loved the unique story. The "chew wasps" were great creatures. I loved the Eye Shells and that whole aspect. I also liked the series plot developments even if I wasn't so keen on at least one of them. It's been a while since I've read a Repairman Jack novel. Reading this one really makes me want to finish the series (what's written so far), but I need to finish some other things first.

[Sarah Mika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book so much that I re-read it as soon as I finished it. We finally meet Jack's father in this one, and he's awesome! It turns out Jack is more like his dad than he ever would have thought.

[Already Overbooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

You are not the one!

[Grant Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment gives us a lot more in the war between The Ally and The Otherness that Jack has become involved in. Another mysterious old lady with a dog makes an appearance as in "Hosts" and "The Haunted Air" but this time she's a main character and Jack finally gets to ask some questions. It's also confirmed for anagram fans that Sal Roma is Rasalom of Wilson's parallel "Adversary" series. We get to learn a lot about Jack's father (as he learns a lot about Jack!) and we get a glimpse of his brother Tom, not much, but enough to know there's something going on there that'll play a part in a later installment. Jack's intention to keep his family safe through dissociation (especially after Kate's death) isn't going pan out that way I fear.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack's father is in a coma, the victim of a hit and run accident in Florida, and Jack goes down to investigate. He meets his father's neighbor, Anya, who tells Jack there is more to his father than he knows, which proves to be true. Meanwhile some mutants in the Everglades, both human and non-human, become involved in Jack's continuing battle against the dark.

[NumberLord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Repairman Jack novel. Not only do we have a decent story, but we find out just a little more about Jack and the Otherness. And we even get a guest appearance by Rasalom!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack is asked by his brother to check on his father, living in Florida and the victim of a hit-and-run driver. What follows is weird: a clan of folks living in the Everglades, one of whom has strange powers, older people in a retirement community meeting premature deaths, and Jack's strained relationship with his dad. Good story and action.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone needs their very own Repairman Jack to help clean up those messy situations.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack works to save his father, His father works to save Jack, The wildlife of Florida is harnessed to purposes of the other and greed.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another awesome installment in the Repairman Jack series! I think the thing that popped it up a notch was the new location. It was exciting to see Jack travel and how he would handle things in a different setting and climate. This one definitely gave a few more glimpses into the Otherness. Plus, it shows how far a reach this thing is effecting.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack has learned that his father is in a coma. When Jack arrives at the hospital, he meets Anya who is one of his father's neighbors. She is an unusual woman in that she seems to know a lot about Jack's father and Jack himself. Meanwhile, a young lady Semelee has a vision of Jack coming. She has strange talents besides living with an assortment of strange looking men in the Everglades that depend on her. Semelee knows that Jack is "special" like her. There is a ban on watering their lawns, but Anya's yard is green and healthy looking. Who is Anya? Who is Semelee? Is Semelee connected to the strange deaths in town? There are lights that "turn on" in the Everglades. If Jack sees them will he be piece that they are real? What are those lights? If he is to protect his father, he must discover the hidden secrets. His father has secrets too. Will he discover why people disappear?

This novel is a great thriller. There are elements of supernatural in the story. It is a horror novel but not a horror story as it also includes a mystery. It's a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book as I wanted to know what was going to happen to Jack.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read!

[Joe Shoults · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the Repairman Jack series books are fantastic. As soon as you finish one book, you'll want to start the next. While each is a standalone story in the RJ "universe", they follow a story arc and should therefore be read in order.

The 1982 movie The Keep is based on the book of the same name, and is set in the RJ universe. The Keep is not a Repairman Jack story, but introduces characters that will be important in the RJ series. The Keep is the first novel in a series parallel to the Repairman Jack series by the same author, Dr. F. Paul Wilson M.D. This series is referred to as "The Adversary Cycle". The RJ series "spins off" the Adversary Cycle, then the paths of the two series intertwine very neatly. Of course, this means you must read both series, and you will(!) be very entertained by both separately, as well as how they work together.

The first RJ story, The Tomb, aka Rakoshi,was written in 1984 without expectation of a sequel. After 14 years of fan pressure, along with the realization that he had a lot of ideas built up that lined up perfectly for RJ, author F. Paul Wilson penned a streak of at least one RJ book per year for 15 years straight. He released Young Adult versions of RJ stories, as well as backstories of RJ's youth and origin story. Dr. Wilson continues to release more RJ stories through 2019 with The Last Christmas.

So where to start? Since one series spawns another, then they intertwine, there's some debate as to the best order, but all agree to start with The Keep.

Suggestion 1:
The Keep > Reborn > Reprisal > The Tomb* 
Suggestion 2:
The Keep > The Tomb > The Touch > Reborn

* (then spin off on the RJ series)

F. Paul Wilson is/was a medical doctor, and medical themes often appear in RJ and Adversary novels. He cites among his influences:John W. Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, and Robert Ludlum.

Links

(warning: some wikipedia articles can be spoilery. even descriptions of Jack and what motivates him are things that you learn from reading the books, so the wikipedia description contains what I regard as inherent spoilers )

Adversary Series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adv...
RJ: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4086...

Reviewer's side note:
I recommend that you do not watch the movie The Keep until you have read the book. The movie had such potential, with a star-studded cast, but got hacked up by the studio and basically destroyed, as the final product was disjointed and often made no sense. However, after reading the book, it makes sense and is pretty cool, despite the flaws.

[Chris Tweitmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Gateways: A Repairman Jack Novel (#7),” by F. Paul Wilson

“Gateways” is the 7th book in this excellent series, first recommended to me by Pete Lefevre. Just in case you don’t know him, Repairman Jack is not a handyman; he is a fixer. When you have a problem you can’t solve (being blackmailed, a missing person, etc.) that’s of a nature where involving the authorities is not your best option, Jack is your man. Not easy to locate but always resourceful and trustworthy, Jack gets the job done.

Jack attempts to have a life while trying to remain anonymous and untraceable by any government agency, but it isn’t easy. Things have gotten harder as this series begins and Jack gets tangled up in something supernatural where the fate of the universe might just be at stake. Every book in this series is a blast and better than the last.

This particular book revolves around Jack’s relationship with his father — someone he hasn’t really been in contact with since he began his life as a fixer. Set primarily in Florida rather than per usual in New York, Jack comes to his father’s aid after having been in a near-fatal auto accident. But as always things are not what they seem. There are no coincidences with Jack. Something otherworldly lies behind a white-haired girl named Semelee that Jack encounters and her strange group of misshapen young adults called the Clan, that live in the Everglades.

To say any more would be to spoil this book. A great read!

[Glen Usher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repairman Jack answers a call to help his father, who lives in a retirement home that borders upon the Southern Swamplands of the Everglades. He is comatose after an inexplicable accident that happened on a deserted backroad in the swampy marshland that is now in the grip of an insatiable drought!
It turns out there is an evil conspiracy afoot with regards to the sinister corporation that runs the retirement home and a clan of murderous hicks that inhabit a forgotten bayou in the swampy backwaters. They are all mutants to varying degrees, led by a beautiful and white haired half-native American girl called Semlee who has a traumatic past.
Their little corner of the desolate swamp is a portal to the “Otherness’’, that other dimesion with which Jack has all-too much previous experience. But some revelations come to light about Jack’s dad, and he finds he’s not as alone as he first thought!
Great tale, up there with CONSPIRACIES. F.Paul Wilson in top form as always.

[Jamie Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that when I started this cosmic horror adventure that I'd also be getting a genuinely heartwarming father/son reunion drama, similar to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that was just gravy. Man, I dig the way Wilson writes, and this entry is just as strong as anything else between The Keep and Nightworld. I really wish I could go back and read this series in order, but they're still a ton of fun. Characters in this book talk and act the way real men do, and the ideas they have about life are fully relatable.

If you enjoy Lee Child's Jack Reacher books but find yourself thinking, "These would be even better if he also had to fight supernatural monsters," Repairman Jack is your guy.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle novel in the multi-volume run-up to the apocalypse sees Repairman Jack reunite with his father at a retirement complex in Florida where residents keep getting killed by suddenly vicious Everglades animals. As with every Jack novel, Wilson could use an editor to turn this from good but overlong pulp to great, more concise pulp. Wilson does know how to stage an action scene, and the books are addictive popcorn fare. Jack remains an appealing quasi-Everyman pulp hero, more Avenger than Doc Savage. One does have to tolerate Wilson's just-left-of-libertarian ramblings, generally provided through Jack's evaluation of life and society. Recommended.

[Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this installment. Jack is taken closer to the Otherness, and the identity of The One. He is introduced to some backwater mutants, people that lived close enough to a Nexus point to cause mutations, while looking in to his father's near fatal car crash. He uncovers some strange things going on at the old folks community where his dad has moved.

I liked that this tale told a self defined story that peppered in enough of the mythos F. P. Wilson has created, that it had a clearly defined end but also leaves me wanting more.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darn Good

Repairman Jack is every man’s James Bond. In Gateways Jack is out of his element, the big city, and cast down to the Florida Everglades. Usually, when a storyline changes drastically, there’s a drop off in story quality, not so in Gateways.
Book seven is different, and it’s good, we get an insight to Jack and his relationship with his father.
The story is well told and character details perfect.
Jack is one of the best good bad guys in print.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this 7th entry in the series expecting it to be my last. I’d found most of the books average even though Jack is an interesting character. I still rated this average but there was enough mythos/world building advancement to hook me into reading the next book 🤷‍♂️.

That said, I did find the track of the hurricane in the story completely unbelievable … I know! And in a fantasy novel no less 🤣!

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been two plus years (I believe) since I last read a Repairman Jack book (although I rated them all highly).

I'm not sure why I waited so long, this series is so good! Although we miss some of the local characters due to Jack traveling to Florida, we get to see his family side, get a great story & have a visit from an old nemesis.

[EvilCartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good: Gia is hardly in the book at all.
The bad: she manages to do an entire book’s worth of nagging in the few pages that she is in.

I love the RJ books for the most part, yet reading them makes me wonder how much the author’s wife nags him all the time.

[Lee Belbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was misclassified in my library. I thought I was reading “Gateway” by Frederick Pohl (as that is what it said). Instead, I was reading this book. Ha. An oddity, which fits this story well. I was expecting SF and got fantasy. Not bad though. I could happily read more in the series.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third book of this series that I’ve read and it’s becoming a favorite. Repairman Jack is a captivating character who stretches the boundaries when serving a client. Not a lot different from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher in many ways. Looking forward to reading more of this series.