Fear City

Repairman Jack: The Early Years #3

by F. Paul Wilson

Rage, terror, and these are the stones upon which F. Paul Wilson builds the concluding chapter of Repairman The Early Years, the prequel trilogy focusing on the formative years of Wilson's globally popular supernatural troubleshooter.

The strands of Jack's life, established in the first two books, Cold City and Dark City, are now woven into a complete pattern.

Centered around an obscure group of malcontents intent on creating a terrible explosion in New York City in 1993, Fear City shows the final stages of young Jack becoming Repairman Jack. It is a dark and terrible story, full of plots and needless mayhem, with secret agents, a freelance torturer, a secret society as old as human history, love, death, and a very bleak triumph. Jack threads his way through this intricate maze, as people he loves are stripped away from him in a way that presages the later epic series of novels.

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

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2014

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

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

And the 3rd in the Repairman Jack prequels. We find out how he became a "Repairman" and also how he became a..."Jack".

Having met our basic characters and set up the way Jack will operate we now slide back into the original series. these work well filling in some details and fitting with the things we already know about jack. These would work fine as a place to start the Repairman Jack books (though you will not have the Urban Fantasy flavor that is mostly the genre the rest of the series fits comfortably into. Finishing with "some tied up" points and still leaving that flavor of something more going on just out of sight these are good readable books.

Enjoy.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book best of the Repairman Jack prequel trilogy. Jack bumps into his former friend with benefits, Cristin Ott, and makes a lunch date. When she fails to appear, Jack decides to investigate leading him into serious trouble, crossing paths with Arab terrorists, current and former secret agents, the Septimus Order, the men behind the slave traders, and the Mafia. Jack is devastated to learn that his leniency in not killing Reggie was the biggest mistake of his young life. I hope FPW will write more Repairman Jack stories at some point, but this is it for now.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I really like Wilson's idea that there's a secret history behind the real events we've all seen.
But I'm not so keen on the implementation.

Maybe I'm not being fair. My only other R-Jack novel was #7, Gateway. But this one appeared in front of me and seemed like an interesting complement, maybe a chance to convince me to read them all. Alas, the cover doesn't tell you that it's #3 of a prequel trilogy. The inside cover does, but in red on black, which I tend to skip. As it turned out, I don't feel as if I missed anything; I'm not a completist.

So ... Wilson's a doctor. I guess that allows him some accuracy in the many, many scenes of torture and maiming and dismemberment. Maybe HE should have been the author named Butcher. Lookit, I've read Correia and Butcher and lots of other books with nasty, violent scenes - but this one's over the top nasty. There's some weak "he deserved it" stuff, and at the end our hero has a brief, brief moment of wondering if there's a better way; but when all is said and done this is just violence porn. It's cheesy video-game story-telling. It's "24," with a plot that requires torture to be effective for interrogation - and when it's not effective, more extreme torture will be.

I can only hope that some readers out there will find this an outlet for their suppressed rage and hate, and maybe not go out and make it real.

There's a plot, I admit it. The "secret history" makes that easy. Real events, even some real people, stitched together with "Hey, it could have gone like this." And I admit that it could indeed have, and that's OK.

I don't like Jack as a semi-hero. And in this one he's not only implausibly good at mayhem, but also seems to have the Sherlock genes, as in "Hmmm, a teaspoon and a piece of string, let me think ... Yes! He's in the false cupboard behind the large portrait on the north wall of suite 2044 in the Penumbra Arms, and he'll be coming out at 6:22 p.m. carrying a large melon and a cavalry lance."

There's also way, way too much of characters Just Happening to be at the right place at the right time. All over Manhattan and Jersey, and we keep getting, "hey, there he is again!"

There's also a lot of travel description that made me think of Westlake's Dortmunder series, also set in Manhattan, where his getaway driver always explains in great detail how he got to the meeting (well, at that time of day on a Tuesday you don't wanna take the Stuyvesant because the left lane clogs up with people going to seniors' day at Walmart, so instead I swing up 44th and take a left at Seventh and then follow 42nd up to the Snaeveler Parkway and ... )

Apparently some threads from books 1 & 2 are carried forward nicely here, and I give credit for that.

The book may make SF/F readers ask if there's a difference between (a) slow, detailed nasty torture and killing of an everyday human, and (b) wholesale slaughter of the enemy in battle, whether they be non-human (orcs, demons, etc) killed up close or humans (Imperial stormtroopers, say) killed at a distance by a plasma cannon or a magical fireball. I'm starting to dislike both anyway.

Does the nasty make the book more gritty and tense? Maybe for some, but I've read plenty of gritty, tense books that didn't have to stoop so low. I think I'm ready for some more books where there are one or two murders offstage and we get to see people solve it. Or where a situation develops and is resolved by more traditional means. Maybe I'm just getting old, or maybe I've grown up. This book no doubt has a large and enthusiastic audience, but I'm not part of it. Repairman Jack will have to carry on without me.

[Garry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally found this one in a used book store in Omaha. It had been a few years since I read the last one so it took a while for me to wrap my mind around the situation and characters. That may have diminished my enjoyment somewhat.
In this volume, we finish up the origin of Repairman Jack, including the ubiquitous ad. It was not a bad series. It felt more like a revenge fantasy in this one, with torture scenes I skipped over. But than there has always been a revenge element in these novels.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another fun and thrilling Repairman Jack story. I was happy to see the ending of the unneeded and uninteresting romantic side plot. Wilson really went for broke with this novel and didn't pull any punches.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I has a HUGE sad that this is the last Repairman Jack full novel that we will probably ever see. F. Paul may write some short stories here and there, but I get why the story and story arc was over. (But the romantic is me wanted to see where Jack and Gia went from here.) If you haven't read the series, I wouldn't start with this book, I would start with the Young Jack trilogy and work your way up through the entire series through the end of the series. Something like 23 books I think, it was an incredible ride for Jack and his readers with a lot of great FIX-ITs along the way, as well as some really fun side characters. (Santa Jack is a classic fixit and I saw it is out in ebook right now.)

I will miss Abe(where I would always go to get my under-the-table-gun porn), Julio(who's bar I couldn't do without to get drunk-under-the-table and where all the yuppies would never go) and the Ashe Brothers who really made me appreciate how you could recycle old tires and used motor oil in the most creative of ways.(All The Rage)

A big Thank you F. Paul for all these wonderful stories and I don't know how you kept it all straight considering that Jack was a one time character that was never meant to walk off the page after The Tomb. As well as, writing the Young Jack and New Jack trilogies after the entire series was basically finished. You did an awesome job of making sure those books flowed seamlessly into the story arc of the series. I urge you to not miss this series or you will be sorry!! :-)

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final novel in the Repairman Jack prequel trilogy was everything I had hoped for and come to expect from one of these RJ books. It’s exciting, it’s dramatic, it’s touching, and it’s deadly. Jack’s formerly peripheral involvement in what came to be the real-life parking garage bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993 comes to center stage in his life. It has been quite a journey for him, starting rather innocently but taking one serious turn after another until the brutal reality of his future starts to set in. Along the way, he also completes his journey into becoming the actual Repairman Jack of the core series.

I haven’t always had good luck with prequel stories. It seems that often they are so focused on dropping easter eggs and hints about what the reader has already read. It’s as if the author gets caught up in the “see what I did there?” mentality and forgets to actually write a good, cohesive story on its own merits. That is not the case here. While there a couple of such nuggets here and there, they are very low key and many readers may not even notice them. This trilogy can certainly be read prior to the main series but it works extremely well if read afterwards, in the order of publication.

I’ve been reading these books at a steady pace for a number of years, along with the associated “Adversary Cycle” series, and I still do have the YA trilogy to read (another prequel from Jack’s teen years) as well as a volume of short stories. But the main books have now been heartily consumed and I don’t hesitate to rank this overall series among my all-time favorites. They are not for everybody, I understand, and they are not perfect, but every time I finish one I leave with a tremendous sense of satisfaction. For me, that’s what I want from a reading experience.

And so my own journey with Jack has also come to an end. Or has it? I just read this month in the author’s newsletter that he might have an idea for another Jack story. He’s never closed the door on further adventures, as long as they take place before the events of Nightworld. I, for one, will be among the first in line to read it.

[Steve Moseley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the first "Repairman Jack: The Early Years".

The story corresponds to the 1993 event of the bombing of the World Trade Centers and is much more grittier that the previous installments.

In this book we learn a lot of new things about Jack, including how he got his nickname "Repairman".

I haven't read any "Repairman Jack" novels, so I am going to skip to those next.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid ending to the trilogy, mixing fiction with actual events. Rounded out the early years of repairman Jack.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picks up the pace a little bit from the previous two; expected, being the third act and all, but still, average. Certainly not the author's best Jack work. Now, concerning the entire trilogy:

Overall, I didn't care for it. There were bits here and there that were pretty good. Mostly the bits with Jack and Abe and Jack and Julio. But there were far, far too many words expended on the love interest, who was annoying and dull (a trait common to Wilson's female characters). There were also far too many words expended on the mob characters, just to shoehorn them into the third act. I cared about them almost as little as about the love interest.

Possible spoilers after this point:

There were way too many words expended on the co-antagonists, the terrorists. If I were inclined, I'd do a word count on all three books, and see just how many were devoted to these been there, done that villains. They, as well as their co-antagonists, The Order, were not interesting. Spending an excessive amount of time on boring characters is a waste of time, because they are boring characters. At least 75% of the words used on the antagonists could have been used to further explain the development of Jack to us. You know, the reason we were reading the damn books in the first place?

But no, we had to spend time on these characters, and they had to tie into both the young Jack books, and the later Jack books, because in his attempt to tie his novels together and elevate Jack's status in the entire Adversary Cycle, Wilson kind of folded in on himself and lost sight of what made Jack an interesting character.

Jack was an extraordinary ordinary guy who suddenly found himself in very extraordinary circumstances (in "The Tomb", to this day a most excellent book). And occasionally finding himself in even more extraordinary situations, but still well-grounded, with interesting non-supernatural fixes going on. But, as is so very often then case in serial fiction, we slowly find out that, SURPRISE!!!! Jack's "special". Forces beyond our ken are forging him into a weapon (a spear has no branches, except for those real popular ones). And then, of course, we discover SHOCK! that he may actually be special from birth! And we find the focus more and more on the "coincidences" that are not, and on how he has a possible Destiny (TM), while moving further and further away from what made him interesting. Along the way, we get treated more and more to the author's ever-growing pseudo-Libertarian/Anarchist preaching, the same thing over and over and over and over.

And I'm not even really going to get into how much of a focus Islamic terrorists gained over the course of the trilogy and the entire Jack saga, except to say that the entire aspect of the books seemed lazy more than anything. Tying Jack and his story into events at the World Trade Center wasn't clever, innovative, or well-executed. The terrorists of those events may as well have just been the Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Arc. Faceless badguys with no real personalities that it's easy to hate, and okay to kill, because fuck terrorists. And there's a place for that kind of villain. But it's not in the Repairman Jack books. I expect more and better of the author.

Honestly, the impression I have from all of the prequel novels, and the later "current" Jack novels is that Wilson lost interest in writing the character a good while ago. Sadly, that took a character that was fun to read about and turned him into a drag.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author F. Paul Wilson brings the Repairman Jack novels to a close with this final volume of the early years. At least for the forseeable future. Never an open ended series, Wilson promises that if an idea occurs, a new novel man appear from time to time. Just not one a year.

The young Jack is still forging alliances that will help him on down the road.

Here, he's out to find out who murdered a young woman he'd known since high school and had had a two year relationship with, learning after her death that she'd been a call girl. She was found tortured, hands lopped off, face destroyed with acid, and a section of skin from the back of her neck gone, one that had held an odd tattoo.

He finds terrorists, mobsters, an old enemy, and the first path crossing with the Septimus Order, an organization that plays a huge part in the main series.

I'm going to miss old Jack, but trust that F. Paul Wilson will continue to deliver us wonderful thrillers.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. I enjoyed the other Early Jack novels, but this one really cut to the bone emotionally in a way only the original Jack novels did. Now, I can finally do it: Time for Nightworld and the end of the Repairman Jack saga...

[14 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking.
Awesome.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly decent story about incompetents who somehow manage to explode a bomb in the World Trade Towers in the 90s. 5 of 10 stars

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this second prequel trilogy (mid-quel?), I could never shake the impression that this would have been a decent stand alone novel that got divided up and stretched into three books none of which was satisfactory on their own. For Fear City, we're continuing to spend time with Italian Mafiosos, radical Islamic terrorists, and Jack hobnobbing with his secretive girlfriend. If you haven't read the previous two books, you'll spend a good deal of time wondering why you should care about those first two sets of characters.

On the positive side, the original of Repairman Jack's nickname is pretty fun, all of the scenes with Abe worked well, and there's a creepy torture doctor that fit within the paranormal reality of these books. Less successful was all of the bad guy stuff. In the later books after 9/11, Wilson's seemed to really focus on the radical Muslims as villains and they feel shoehorned into this storyline. The ending in particular with Jack racing to defuse a terrorist bomb seemed to fly in the face of the type of lay low, mind his own business guy that Jack is in the rest of the books in the series.

Upon completing this one, I've read all of the Jack novels, as well as the adversary cycle. What I really enjoyed about this series were the recurring characters that populated Jack's world and the creative solutions that Jack used to "fix" problems for his customers. Even the worse books in the series provided enough fun moments to make it worth reading, with this book definitely being one of the less great entries in the series.

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt really torn about my reaction to this book. Again, like the others in this series, I only read the Jack POV bits & felt like I missed nothing (some of the reveals even worked better, I think). Probably the best out of this prequel trilogy, and weirdly both more self-contained yet also more dependent on everything that's come before (in ways that aren't immediately obvious). Pretty ballsy of Wilson to include the real-life WTC bombing from '93. (Probably not a surprise to anyone who knew the names of those involved, since I think they've been supporting characters since book one.)

Probably my favorite part of these early books is seeing Jack's dark side so close to the surface. I think I know what this signifies, but I'd forgotten it in the "later" books because of how well Jack learns to control it.

Mostly I'm looking forward to going back to the 2000s version of Jack & seeing how things work out.

[Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final book in the Repairman Jack: The Early Years wraps up the storylines and explains the start of Repairmant Jack's life as a fixer.

I wasn't a big fan of this trilogy--I thought the storylines were a bit meandering. I get that the books were planned as a trilogy, but unlike most of the other RJ books, none of these stood on their own. But this book, I thought, felt rushed at times. Characters leave the picture rather abruptly, almost as if Wilson was on a deadline and just had to wrap things up. Maybe that's not the case, but it felt that way to me.

That said, Wilson is a phenomenal writer. His writing style is very engaging and he writes such dynamic characters. I've never gotten bored by an F. Paul Wilson novel. I will say that I did enjoy seeing where some of the storylines went with this novel. After 3 books, I found myself going "ah, that's where this is headed."

So, in summation, this isn't Wilson's best work, but it's worth a read if you enjoy his other novels.

[Steven Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The “wrap-up” book of the Repairman Jack Early Years prequels, and the last book on this theme for some time, per the author’s foreword. Some surprising character developments, but too convenient for real plausibility. More detracting from the suspense of the story than intriguing. It’s a fun, action-packed read. Good stuff, but not quite at the same calibre of some other mystery/adventure writers. I did bump the rating up a star because at least the ending did tie up the loose ends plausibly, and the story did have internal consistency. I don’t really care for fiction “based on real events” - tell me the documentary or spin a tale, but don’t try to infuse realism into fiction by relating it to actual events as primary storylines. But, the success of the series is not in doubt, and I will continue to read into this character’s adventures from time to time.

[M. Sprouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read a Repairman Jack novel in almost 7 years. I used to read them while my dog use to sit at my feet, my bedside or when we by the river camping. When my old buddy died, I couldn't bring myself to read them anymore. Well time heals and I picked this one up. I forgot just how good a Repairman Jack story can be.

This is probably the best of the "Early Years" trilogy. The plot pulls you into the action and it's hard to put the book down. I almost gave it 5 stars. Unfortunately, like the entire Repairman Jack timeline there is an inconsistent amount of the ... let's say supernatural? The author always leaves me wanting more of "The Order" and "The One" etc.,etc. This wanting is okay for a book or two, but the whole series? The bombing story is engaging, but oh so predictable. Still this book reminded me why I've read at least 29 books by F. Paul Wilson.

[John Michael Strubhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to put this one down. Wilson wraps up this trilogy very nicely. As promised, all debts are paid, and all accounts are settled. This story is based on the first bombing of the WTC in 1993. Wilson gets the feel of the early nineties accurately enough that I feel at home reading it. Repairman Jack comes into his own even though he doesn't like the title much. The ancillary characters are more believable than the actual people they are based on. As Wilson notes in the afterward, you can't make this kind of stuff up, because no one would accept it as fiction. The whole thing certainly makes me wonder what it is that draws people into jihad if they aren't psychotic to begin with. Like Weinberg said, "Science flies you to the moon and religion flies you into buildings."

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1993 and Jack is still trying to make his way in the world, attempting to get his "fixer" operation off the ground. The Muslim extremists, Mafiosos and Septimus Order he's already run into are all still very much in play. As a plot to blow up prominent building in New York City, all those story lines will intertwine and put Jack and all he holds dear in danger.
The final novel in the Repairman Jack series, this was one of the most brutal. Blending fact with fiction, the story of the World Trade Center bombers crosses Jack's path, bringing him closer to the Order than he ever knew. Though shocking at times as to how stark and rough things get for Jack, the story does set the stage for how he eventually became the tough "repairman" of the series.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book before Jack properly becomes Repairman Jack. Also a fictionalised retelling of the World Trade Centre bombing.

I was in two minds to give 3 or 4 stars. In the end 4 as it closes everything nicely in the trilogy and sets up the ongoing sequence.

That said, parts of the book are difficult reading and feel a bit clumsy. Almost trying too hard to get everything to fit together.

Worth reading if you want to know how the character mentally becomes his future self, and if you've read the first two parts of course! One for the completists.

I did however love the tie-in to Black Wind, one of the author's best books!

[Mystery Theater · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least 4 stars. Wilson's incredible genius at weaving many threads into a single narrative is on full display here. Not that all sub plots pull together for a single climax, but that they all fill Jack's life so that you never know which ones might collide or how. Sooo much going on here, handled so well. Applause.

[Joy St John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Jack!

I'm a long-time Repairman Jack fan- even named our family dog ( a pug, now 10 years old) repairman Jack or just Jack, so how could I not love this book? As usual, F. Paul Wilson does not disappoint. Jack, the character, has been a member of our family for over 20 years since I fist discovered Night World. I highly recommend you make him part of yours!

[1dkm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Missed these the first time I read repairman jack series. I actually think I may have liked them better after reading the entire series as I did. It was cool to see how jack becomes jack in ny and how he meets his friends from the original series. In fact, after reading these prequels, I may re-read the series again!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel begins with a time jump, and while it lets the plot develop the characters do not seem to have changed at all from the previous novel. This is made up for by the twists and turns of the plot, paced very tightly. It’s a pitty that there is so much tragedy in the protagonists life, as I prefer happy ends.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack the repairman comes into his own. This book is brutal, engrossing, realistic and great. Shows just how good the FBI is or is not. Gives the reader a look at incompetence at high levels. Based on a true story that will make you cringe.

[Kurk Prater · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Repairman Jack Series is a great roller coaster ride of being both having hints of supernatural happenings along with a great adventure story....

as an addition to the series, these pre-history books are awesome

Keeping an eye out for Women with dogs still....

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I finished this prequel, I began reading the original Repairman Jack series hoping to learn more about the "Secret History of the World" cabal, but so far nothing has come up. This trilogy was excellent in my opinion with lots of plot twists and turns.

[Victor Borgeest · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read enjoyed it