You Don't Know Jack

Many years ago, I read (and loved) F. Paul Wilson's The Tomb. For those of you not familiar with it, that book features a character called Repairman Jack, who fixes problems for people. Unfortunately for Jack, those problems usually seem to feature some sort of supernatural element. Wilson went on to write a whole series about repairman Jack, but I didn't find out about it until recently when I saw Infernal at my grocery store and picked up since I knew I needed some more reading material.

Infernal is the ninth Repairman Jack novel. Since I've never read volumes 2-8, some of the material in the book was a little confusing. Like wondering exactly what in the hell "The Otherness" is. Still, there were only a few minor points like that, and they don't detract from the story too much.

The book introduces Jacks brother Tom, who is a grade-A asshole. We also get to see their father get murdered by some Islamic terrorists (which is what reunites the brothers). Jack and Tom end up taking a little trip to Bermuda, where they find a magical grapefruit-like thing called the Lillitongue of Gazpacho (or something like that), which causes all kinds of trouble.

I like this book, and I definitely recommend reading it. However, I'd recommend reading Repairman Jack volumes 1-8 first. Volumes 1 & 2 are currently available in cheap $4.99 editions (at least at my local store, Amazon doesn't seem to list them) as are a few of Wilson's other books. I've already got a copy of Repairman Jack volume 2: All the Rage, and a copy of Wilson's The Keep, because they were so cheap. Infernal is well worth reading, so I give it four and a half yo-yos.